Suzuki is providing Toyota with an all-electric SUV, strengthening the Japanese carmakers’ ongoing collaboration.

The new electric vehicle is widely expected to be based on Suzuki’s eVX concept unveiled at Auto Expo 2023

Due for launch from 2025, the new vehicle is widely expected to be based on the eVX concept, unveiled at the Auto Expo 2023 in Delhi, India as Suzuki’s first fully electric car.

This new model is scheduled to be manufactured at Suzuki Motor Gujarat in India from the spring of 2025 and will launch worldwide.

The powertrain and platform have been jointly developed by Suzuki, Toyota, and Daihatsu Motor Corporation, drawing on each company’s strength.

Toyota and Suzuki’s partnership stretches back to 2016 and has already led to the launch of the Suzuki Across plug-in hybrid SUV, based on the Toyota RAV4 and the Suzuki Swace hybrid estate that’s underpinned by the Toyota Corolla load-lugger.

It’s the first time, however, that the collaboration has stretched to a fully electric vehicle, although the carmakers stressed they remain committed to “multi-pathway” approaches and will also remain competitors.

The new model is designed exclusively as a battery electric vehicle and will deliver “nimble” handling and the “sharp driving characteristics of a BEV”, along with “ample cruising range and a comfortable cabin”.

The fully electric SUV will include two- and four-wheel drive versions, “offering exceptional drivability on rough roads and a more powerful driving performance”.

Toshihiro Suzuki, president of Suzuki Motor Corporation, said: “Suzuki will supply our first BEV to Toyota globally. I am grateful that the collaboration between the two companies has further deepened in this way.

“While continuing to be competitors, we will deepen our collaborations toward solving social issues, including the realisation of a carbon-neutral society through a multi-pathway approach.”

Koji Sato, president of Toyota Motor Corporation, commented: “By leveraging the BEV unit and platform that we jointly developed, we will take a new step in our collaboration in the field of electrified vehicles. This will allow us to deliver various choices that contribute to a carbon-neutral society to customers worldwide.

“We would like to learn from each other’s strengths, compete, and further joint efforts based on a multi-pathway approach.”