Toyota will assemble the new Subaru three-row electric SUV from 2025
According to sources familiar with the matter, Toyota will begin building Subaru’s new three-row electric SUV in 2025, shortly after production of its own larger EV model begins.
Subaru’s electric SUV is expected to receive its batteries from Toyota’s new battery plant in North Carolina. The plant was originally announced for 2021. The automaker invested an additional $2.1 billion in it earlier this year, bringing the total to nearly $6 billion. The North Carolina plant will produce lithium-ion batteries on six production lines (although four are dedicated to hybrids).
Adapting to Biden’s IRA: the end of the story…
With final assembly in Kentucky and batteries sourced from the North Carolina plant, Toyota and Subaru’s new three-row electric SUVs, automakers’ models could qualify for the $7 tax credit. $500 for electric vehicles. And this, while neither the bZ4X nor the Solterra EVs are eligible.
A way to adapt to the measures taken by the Biden administration officially to fight against inflation (Inflation Reduction Act) but above all to impose – in a great surge of protectionism – local production of batteries and vehicles as pre- required for the granting of financial support.
Toyota’s own 3-row electric SUV in 2025
At the end of May, the Japanese manufacturer announced that it would assemble its own three-row electric SUV, which should also see the light of day in 2025. Currently, the model responds – temporarily – to the sweet name of bZ5X.
Common Subaru/Toyota platform
The move comes as Subaru teamed up with Toyota in 2019 to develop a new platform with the goal of launching a few electric SUV models under each brand.
The Japanese automaker’s first two electric SUVs, the Toyota bZ4X and the Subaru Solterra, were built around this platform, known as e-TNGA. Toyota assembled both vehicles on the same line at its Motomachi assembly plant in Japan.
Production was suspended last June after it was discovered that wheel hub bolts could loosen under certain driving conditions, which could cause the wheel to fall off while the vehicle is in motion.
The temporary shutdown lasted more than four months, with Toyota resuming sales last October.
New Toyota and Subaru models announced
While no further details were revealed about the new three-row electric SUV, Subaru has pledged to launch at least four electric crossovers in the United States by the end of 2026.
Toyota meanwhile plans to launch ten new electric models, aiming for 1.5 million electric vehicle sales by 2026. The automaker recently announced EV plans including plans for a dedicated platform, generation, manufacturing improvements and other innovations, with the goal of increasing competitiveness.
Subaru, for its part, is aiming for 40% of its global sales to be electric by the end of the decade, with plans for an all-electric lineup by the “early 2030s”.
Our opinion, by leblogauto.com
Toyota owns about 20% of Subaru and is looking to position the automaker and itself in the EV segment while there is still time.
Japanese automakers have already fallen behind in China, the world’s biggest market for electric vehicles, but some are stepping up their efforts there now, fearing the market will slip away from them.
The production of electric vehicles and batteries in the United States will therefore be able to allow Toyota to take advantage of the tax credit provided by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which will help it to be competitive as United States is heading towards an all-electric future.
Source: Automotive News
