The Toyota bZ Woodland Has At Least One Thing In Common With The GR86

Leveraging Subaru's Manufacturing Capacity
The two-door Toyota GR86 and its Subaru BRZ twin were jointly developed by the two companies, so it made quite a bit of sense for them to be manufactured by the latter brand. The sports coupes are built at Subaru's main automotive plant in Ota, Gunma prefecture, where the WRX, Impreza, Crosstrek, and forbidden-fruit Levorg are produced. However, since the bZ (née bZ4x) was designed primarily by Toyota and then rebadged to become the Subaru Soterra, one would expect all versions of the small crossover EV to be built by the automotive giant.     

Nevertheless, according to Nikkei Asia, the bZ Woodland and Trailseeker will be built at the nearby Yajima plant alongside the Legacy, Outback, Forester, Impreza, and Crosstrek. The move is a bit surprising given the regular-length (and recently refreshed) Toyota bZ and its Subaru Solterra twin are manufactured at the company's plant in Toyota City, Aichi prefecture. Given the Woodland and Trailseeker share most of their mechanical and cosmetic bits with the bZ and Solterra, one would expect them to be manufactured at the same facility. And given the outrageous popularity of Subaru's crossovers, which is only expected to grow as the next-generation Outback and hybridized Forester arrive in showrooms, it's doubly surprising that Subaru would have production capacity at Yajima.

Strong Vote Of Confidence
Still, the decision to build the longer and more powerful bZ Woodland and Trailseeker is a huge stamp of approval on Toyota's part. The companies have been cooperating since 2005, when Subaru and Toyota entered into a fledgling agreement to share business and capital resources, but since then, the partnership has grown. Per Nikkei, Toyota now holds a 20 percent stake in Subaru, and the two companies plan to collaborate further on other products. After all, the GR86/BRZ twins were jointly developed by the companies, and Subaru had a fair amount of influence on Toyota's e-TNGA electrified platform.

The first Toyota-branded product to come from a Subaru factory was the 2007 Camry. Keen on increasing its production wihtin the United States, Toyota contracted Subaru of America to build Camry models at its factory in Lafayette, Indiana, alongside the Outback, Legacy, and B9 Tribeca. The Subaru plant in Indiana built 100,000 Camrys a year, helping Toyota's North American operations supplement its own production in Kentucky. In the intervening years, the companies worked together on the aforementioned coupes, as well as a plug-in hybrid version of the 2019 Crosstrek that used Toyota Hybrid System technology. Today's Crosstrek and Forester hybrids also take liberal gas-electric inspiration from Subaru's corporate partner.