In an effort to reduce its environmental footprint in Europe as well as keep up with the growing demand for electric mobility, Subaru Europe will be introducing the company’s first all-electric model. In an announcement today, Subaru revealed its first all-electric model will arrive in Europe during the first half of 2021.
According to the company, its first all-electric model will be a mid-size SUV. It will be built on a shared platform with Toyota and will be close to the size of the Subaru Forester model. Aside from that, very few details were given about the upcoming electric C-segment-class SUV from the company.
Toyota announced last year it would further its investment in Subaru in order to increase its share. In 2005, Toyota began working with Subaru on several projects when it acquired 9.5% of the company. Since then, the share increased to 16.83% and through a the new agreement introduced last year, Toyota acquired another 3.17% to get a minimum of 20% of the company.
Although it will be introduced in Europe first from 2021, the strong ongoing demand of SUVs across the globe lead us to believe the upcoming electric C-segment-class SUV from Subaru will eventually be offered globally.
“The news underlines Subaru’s efforts to reduce its environmental footprint in Europe and satisfy a growing demand for alternative powertrains.”
“It also signals the brand’s second electrification step in Europe after it recently launched mild-hybrid variants of three core models in the region, where the Impreza e-BOXER, Subaru XV e-BOXER and Forester e-BOXER models today represents 60% of the sales volume.”
Subaru currently only offers the Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid plug-in hybrid in the U.S. which is based on a plug-in hybrid powertrain from Toyota.