Consider us intrigued. On April 5th, Subaru and Toyota will be holding a joint virtual event celebrating their development work together. More excitingly, at that event, Toyota's Gazoo Racing and Subaru will also announce "a new jointly developed vehicle."
Which, of course, begs the question: what is this new mystery car? Well, Toyota now owns 20 percent of Subaru, and the brands are collaborating on multiple projects. So there are multiple possibilities as to what that new vehicle could be. Here are our three best bets
The new Toyota GR86
Gazoo Racing's mention strongly suggests the new car will be a co-developed sports car. We're still waiting for Toyota to unveil the new GR86 after Subaru launched its twin, the 2022 BRZ, last fall. But recent reports have said Toyota wants to play down Subaru's involvement with the 86 and further differentiate the two cars; besides, Subaru promoting a GR86 launch event once the new BRZ is already out feels odd.
The new Subaru Evoltis electric crossover
Toyota and Subaru are collaborating on an electric crossover. Reports have it being named the Evoltis, at least in Subaru form, and launching sometime in 2021. It's supposed to be reasonably sporty, coming in with about 280 horsepower. But will that EV be sporty enough to warrant Toyota's GR branding?
The new AWD hot hatch
This is the one we're hoping for. Toyota has all but promised to give Americans a hot hatch after launching the GR Yaris abroad, and Japanese reports have claimed Subaru and Toyota are working on an Impreza-sized all-wheel-drive hatchback with somewhere between 227 and 288 horsepower. (Picture a rival for the new Volkswagen GTI and the Hyundai Veloster N.)
But the same report claimed that vehicle would arriving in the fall of 2022. So if it is the hot hatch, it would likely be a preliminary reveal well in advance of the actual on-sale date...which is quite common these days.
