The two Japanese automakers first linked up in the early 2000s, but Toyota and Subaru’s partnership is intensifying as they enter the age of the electric vehicle.
From the July/August 2022 issue of Car and Driver.
Since Toyota first purchased a stake in Subaru, the two automakers have been getting awfully cozy. They may seem like odd partners, Toyota with its massive market share and Subaru a quirky small brand (Subaru sold 860,000 vehicles in 2021, compared with Toyota’s 10.5 million sales). But as any romance reader knows, opposites attract, and the two companies have formed a symbiotic relationship over the past decade and a half. The collaboration initially focused on a pair of affordable rear-wheel-drive sports cars but has shifted towards electrification as the auto industry enters a new era of propulsion.Here’s how the “Toyobaru” love story goes:
Illustration by T.M. Detwiler