Subaru taps Toyota to help with small car production
With soaring gas prices around the globe, Toyota, makers of the Aygo, Vitz and Yaris, plans to work jointly with Subaru in the creation and production of a B-segment vehicle. According to the Associated Press, the fruits of their union will begin in 2008, with only European consumers getting a version of the mini-Subie.
For those of you not keeping tabs on who owns what with who, Toyota purchased an 8.7 percent stake in Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru's parent company) when General Motors sold their shares in late 2005. As Toyota is now the largest shareholder of the company, this may be the first of many joint products to come from the two automakers, with the Camry beginning to be build at F.H.I.'s site in Indiana in 2007.
[Source: The Auto Channel]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
AnonymousInsights 2:15PM (8/17/2006)
Guess they want to enter the 'recall' game, too?
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DC_1 2:23PM (8/17/2006)
Who cares!!!
All Subaru are FUGLY, Sound like S#$T and made for lesbians.
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Whydrive 2:35PM (8/17/2006)
Maybe they'll take the beautiful designs of Subaru and mate it with the awesome handling of Toyota.
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flat_out 2:50PM (8/17/2006)
DC_1 drives a Subaru.
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Ricky 3:06PM (8/17/2006)
"2. Who cares!!!
All Subaru are FUGLY, Sound like S#$T and made for lesbians."
If you think a subaru sounds like shit I suppose a porsche should sound similarly like shit. they do both share the same engine design.
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djSyndrome 3:21PM (8/17/2006)
"Maybe they'll take the beautiful designs of Subaru and mate it with the awesome handling of Toyota."
Toyota no longer sells a 'car' that drives anything but the front wheels, at least in North America - I would say that 'awesome handling' is no longer on the menu. Now the old SW20 MR-2...*that* was a good handling car.
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Violaman 3:25PM (8/17/2006)
Hey you, ## 1,2,3,4, your "perls" of "exquisite wisdom" do belong in a
toilet, so keep them there. As you would probably guess rightly, the
autoblog is not a piece of ceramic art.
Thank you.
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Howard Kerr 3:25PM (8/17/2006)
To get back to more rational thought.......
Anyone remember that in the '80s Subaru sold it's own small car called the Justy? Right about the time Toyota's smallest car in the U.S. (that paragon of engineering, the Starlet) was still RWD, Subaru was selling FWD and AWD 3 cylinder, or was it 4 cylinder, Justys? What a difference a few years makes. Also, isn't the Corolla a "B" segment car? So will Toyota and Subaru "share" the next Corolla ala Toyota and Geo/Chevy?
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emulous1974 3:44PM (8/17/2006)
Not only that H. Kerr, they even offered one of the U.S. first cvt transmission in it.
I think Subaru is making a big mistake not offering a car below the Impreza in the U.S. As subbies keep getting more and more expensive they are leaving their original audience behind.
Don't get me wrong, I love some of the new vehicles and own an '05 2.5GT LTD Wagon, but I really think SOA needs to offer a "B" segment car to get new folks into the Subaru fold and to keep the old folks who can't go up market where SOA wants to go.
Subbie's aren't very fuel efficient and a "B" segment car will help that image until they can produce the hybrid they've been wanting and produce a diesel engine too.
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Ferguson McSqueege 4:00PM (8/17/2006)
#8:
Earlier Justys had 3 cylinders.
My dad had one about 10 years ago. It was small, slow, and kinda weird looking, but it was wicked reliable and got great gas mileage (which was good because he spent between 2 and 3 hours a day stuck in traffic.)
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Justin 4:15PM (8/17/2006)
I can see it now. The legacy turning into a Avalon.
I was looking around, and I found somebody who got their stock legacy gt from 0-60 in 5.3 sec! That's fast!
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AnonymousInsights 5:43PM (8/17/2006)
.....yeah and when you close the door of the nearly $30k Legacy it sounds no better than a 1984 Camaro (tin can). I'll never get this.
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whofan 9:20PM (8/17/2006)
Since when, did Subaru build a big car?
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Cheezedog420 9:55PM (8/17/2006)
Who care if the doors sound like they are made of tin!? If you want a car that looks safe, looks strong, and/or looks fast, don't bother us with it. But if you don't care what it looks like, let me tell you this. Subaru cars as safe as Israelie bomb shelters, can't be killed by anything less then and drunk and beligerant Chuck Norris, and when turbo equiped, are faster then greased lighting down a water slide! These cars are fricking amazing, and you really have to drive them to realize that.
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jeffrey 12:12AM (8/18/2006)
emulous1974-Subaru's aren't getting more expensive, they're actually getting cheaper. All recently launched '07 Legacy and Outbacks (with the exception of the Spec B) are cheaper than '06s, some significantly so. They're also offering much more expensive trims than in the past, and the "upscale" thing has gotten into people's heads. It's just the perception Subarus are expensive because the models that get reviewed in the car mags are always top-of-the-line performance models.
I recently purchased a new '06 Special Edition Legacy sedan for $19k. AWD, moonroof, 17" alloys, pwr everything (including driver's seat), etc., all standard. If you can get the safest car on the market, with top-notch AWD, good handling and power, high standard feature content, good build quality, great reliability and clean looks for under $20k, then price is not a problem for average prospective new car buyers.
AnonymousInsights-The frameless windows only close noisily when they're partially rolled down, and they allow Subaru to put more metal into the structure of the car where it improves safety, not into the window frame where it's wasted. It also makes for a cleaner look.
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Forbes 10:43AM (8/18/2006)
DC_1, you obviously care cause you went in the trouble to post a comment on this story. If you didn't care you wouldn't have bothered, right?
I can't get some people's thought process... What drives you to read a story of something you don't care about and then post a comment telling everyone that you don't care about the story. And then proceed to insulting Subary owners, an unprovoced attack which sole purpose is to display what a d*ck you are...
If that's how you operate in your everyday life I pitty the person that has to share a bed with you...
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jimbo 10:53PM (8/18/2006)
#16 At least we know DC_1 will be sharing a bed with a member of the opposite sex. From what I see most "Subie" owners are somewhat heterosexually challenged.
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