After much anticipation, the Toyota sports car, developed in partnership with Subaru and utilizing a box engine, will arrive in both automaker's showrooms in 2011, individually branded as a unique product for each company.

The car, described as "compact" and "affordable" will be a rear-wheel-drive vehicle with a Subaru horizontally opposed engine. The vehicle is to to be constructed at a new facility in Japan to be put in place by Subaru's parent company Fuji Heavy Industries.

Currently Toyota Motor Corp. has an 8.7% stake in Fuji Heavy, but under the two companies plans for more extensive cooperation, that will be raised to 16.5%.

Fuji will be supplied with a compact car by Toyota and will start receiving mini cars (with engines of 660cc or less) from Daihatsu, a Toyota affiliate beginning in 2009. Ultimately Fuji Heavy will suspend its own program of mini car development.

According to Toyota CEO Katsuaki Watanabe, the sports car will be sold both in Japan and overseas. Speaking at a news conference he said, "I think there is high potential for this car. We haven't had a sports car for a long time. This is a long-awaited-for model." Further, he described the pricing of the sports car as "not prohibitively high."

Fuji Heavy President Ikuo Mori, who has had an opportunity to drive a test version of the sports car expressed pleasure in the experience and said, "I'm confident we have an excellent car."