Effectively completing a deal announced in April, Subaru parent company Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI) on Friday agreed to sell 61 million treasury stocks to Toyota for a price of ¥31.11 billion (approximately $303 million). The new shares increase Toyota's holding in FHI from 9.5% to 16.16%, improving the capital on hand at FHI and Subaru while deepening the ties born in 2005 when Toyota acquired its original stake from General Motors.

Toyota's latest payment is expected to be completed by July 14.

At the original April announcement, both carmakers confirmed plans to jointly develop a pair of rear-wheel-drive sports cars built off a common platform. The cars will be manufactured at a new plant to be set up by FHI, and both Subaru and Toyota will market their own versions with unique badging. Subaru will be responsible for engineering the new rear-drive platform, while Toyota will handle the design of the car.
 
Australia may miss out on new Subaru sports car
Because of the car's strict rear-drive platform, Subaru's version will likely miss out on an Australian launch. Subaru Australia decided more than a decade ago that it would exclusively concentrate its marketing efforts on the safety and performance of symmetrical all-wheel-drive, a move that has proven very successful for the brand.
 
Since dropping its previous two-wheel-drive models and adopting the all-wheel-drive stance, Subaru sales have almost tripled, growing from 14,282 units in 1997 to 38,445 last year, and this commitment may ultimately decide the fate of the new sports car in Australia. However, the company has always maintained it would consider all drivetrain options given the right circumstances.

Earlier this month, CarCentral got exclusive spy shots of the new Toyota-Subaru sports car outside a development facility in the UK. Click here to see those pictures.
 
Further synergies expected
Other synergies formed from the increased integration between the two carmakers include the cross-sharing of engineers and designers as well idle capacity of plants both in Japan and the United States. Further developments include the launch of a Subaru hybrid vehicle powered by Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive system as well as a range of new minicars to be sold by Subaru but supplied by Toyota under an OEM agreement.
 
Small-car specialist Daihatsu, which Toyota owns a 51.19% stake in, will help develop the new minicars for Subaru as well as Toyota's own iQ model due next year. Known as 'Kei' cars in Japan, the tiny runabouts are powered by engines displacing no more than 600cc and are set to grow in popularity worldwide as fuel prices continue to rise, though they may get larger engines for export markets.

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