Toyota owns a small chunk of Suzuki, and it will lean on its smaller counterpart for help in the extremely challenging EV market. Toyota said that Suzuki would supply its first electric SUV, which is expected to arrive in several global markets next year.
Suzuki will build the Toyota-badged EV at its Indian facility in Gujarat starting in the Spring. Toyota noted that the new EV would be “a nimble SUV with the sharp driving characteristics of a BEV.” It will ride on a platform jointly developed between Daihatsu, Suzuki, and Toyota.
The SUV will be launched as part of Toyota’s effort to launch ten new EVs by 2026 and will be offered “worldwide.” Toyota has also extended its partnership with Subaru—in which it owns a significant stake—to build a new SUV in 2026.
Suzuki’s CEO, Atsushi Osaki, said the partnership would help it continue to grow in the EV space, noting that “there is a huge risk for us to go it alone in this field.” The move will help Toyota deliver more new electric models, as it was extremely cautious early on and hasn’t offered the depth of EV models many competitors have, especially Chinese companies.
Toyota’s deep pockets and global reach put it in a better competitive position than many other automakers, but the Chinese auto industry is a force to be reckoned with. Government subsidies and readily available raw materials in the country have given its automakers a solid platform to compete against Western companies, which have so far seemed to be caught flat-footed.
[Images: Toyota]
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