Subaru Corp. said Wednesday it has acquired a 0.3% stake in Toyota Motor Corp. for about ¥70 billion ($673 million) under a capital tie-up deal reached between the two companies in 2019 to boost the joint development of new technologies for autonomous and electric cars.
Toyota raised its stake in Subaru from 16.8% to 20% as planned in February last year, making the smaller automaker into its equity-method affiliate. Since then, Subaru's earnings have been incorporated into Toyota's consolidated financial statements.
In September 2019, the two automakers also agreed to jointly develop an electric sport utility vehicle to be sold under each company's name by the mid-2020s in the United States.
Subaru had planned to hold a stake in Toyota worth up to ¥80 billion or equivalent to the largest Japanese automaker's additional investment in it following approval from antitrust authorities.
They formed an alliance in 2005 and jointly developed a sports car, branded by Toyota as the 86 and Subaru the BRZ, in 2012.