This joint project will help Subaru, the smallest Japanese automaker, to invest in and develop a line of all-electric, all-wheel drive models, focusing on the global shift towards lower emission vehicles. Toyota currently owns a 16.77 percent share in Subaru Corporation and plans to purchase additional shares to own 20 percent. Subaru will produce these all-wheel drive vehicles under their own brand and use Toyota technology to design new eco-performance models. The first all-electric vehicles in this collaboration will focus on the development of new mid-size and large SUVs. Toyota’s hybrid technology was already being used in Subaru’s Crosstrek Hybrid SUV. The two Japanese companies will also work together on battery electric vehicles which use Subaru’s all-wheel drive and Toyota’s electrification technologies. This expanded relationship will see the companies manufacture newer generations of those two cars and will bring them together to develop technology for autonomous vehicles. The automakers started their partnership back in 2005 resulting in the development of the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ sports cars. Toyota and Subaru recently announced that they will work together to build all-electric vehicles, develop driverless cars and acquire even more stock in each other’s companies. Subaru and Toyota Join Forces on New Electric SUVs