Subaru Open To Investment Into Toyota–Mazda EV Company

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Subaru Corp would be open to investment into a joint Toyota-Mazda electric vehicle company if it were approached, the company’s CEO Yasuyuki Yoshinaga revealed a few days ago to reporters at the Tokyo Motor Show.

The exact words used by the Subaru CEO in relation to a possible request to invest in a Toyota-Mazda joint venture focused on plug-in electric vehicles were that Subaru would “consider positively” the opportunity, as reported by Reuters. That’s a somewhat ambiguous tune of phrase, but one that seems to suggest interest by the Subaru exec.

This news follows a recent announcement by Toyota Motor Corp and Mazda Motor Corp that a joint venture focused on developing new plug-in electric vehicle tech was being formed — meant to allow the two companies to catch up with rivals in the sector, through the pooling of resources and talent.

As it stands — regardless of any possible investment into the Toyota-Mazda joint venture — Subaru will still reportedly be sending several engineers to cooperate on the project. To explain, as you’ll recall, Subaru has been in a capital alliance with Toyota since back in 2006, so the two firms aren’t exactly strangers even though they remain “competitors” in a way.

Given that reality, it seems fairly likely that Subaru is going to end up becoming more closely involved with the Toyota-Mazda joint venture one way or another. Well, that would seem to be a reasonable guess at any rate, but who can say for sure?

In related news, see: “Subaru Could Offer Plug-In Hybrid By 2018, All-Electric Car By 2021” and “India’s Largest Auto Manufacturer Commits To Electric Vehicles, But Offers No Timelines.”