Subaru and Toyota: united in making ever-better cars
In September 2019, Subaru and Toyota agreed on a new business and capital alliance.
The press release states:
[Press release (excerpt)]
In this once-in-a-century period of profound transformation, by strengthening their bonds and aligning their capabilities, Toyota and Subaru aim to pursue driving enjoyment in the CASE era and to make ever-better cars beyond what either company has been able to achieve thus far.
Toyota and Subaru Agree on New Business and Capital Alliance
Additionally, at the time, the respective presidents of both companies commented on the agreement.
[Subaru President Nakamura’s quote]
By taking our relationship one step further and mutually honing our technologies, we will strengthen our ability to respond to CASE and other demands, and will accelerate our shared aspirations for making ever-better cars.
[Toyota President Toyoda’s quote]
Our companies, both of which have long pursued driving enjoyment, now want to pursue the possibilities of making ever-better cars suitable for the CASE era by bringing together our strengths and by further deepening our relationship.
In both quotes, the common phrase that both presidents used was “making ever-better cars.”
Actually, both previous to and since the time of this announcement, the presidents have both visited each other's genba for “making ever-better cars” (Subaru's office and Toyota's test course).
As the presidents visited each site, they drove cars and spoke with employees. A video capturing their visits was recently posted on Subaru’s website.
[The rest is an inside story…]
Before publishing the site, the Toyota Times editorial team was contacted by Subaru’s Public Relations Department to request confirmation of the site and video.
The team’s first impression of the Subaru video was that the atmosphere of the video was amazingly similar to videos usually produced by the Toyota Times team.
So it was thought…
“Simply putting the Toyota Times background music into the Subaru-produced video might be sufficient.”
Upon trying it out, the video was “unexpectedly cool.”
Therefore, the following video was made with permission from the Subaru Public Relations Department. Please take a look:
We would like to express our appreciation to the Subaru Public Relations Department for the wonderful video. (Apologies for replacing the background music without permission!)
We are looking forward to working together with you to make ever-better cars!