TOKYO Japanese automaker Subaru Corp laid out targets for selling and making battery electric vehicles (EVs) on Thursday, aiming for global sales of 200,000 units a year by around 2026 as it seeks to tap into the growing EV market.

The company, known for its Outback crossover and heavy dependence on the North American market, said it will target annual production capacity of battery EVs of 400,000 units by 2028.

Half of that capacity will come from a mixed-production line of gasoline and electric vehicles where the company plans to kick off battery EV production from its own line around 2025, said Atsushi Osaki, a Subaru executive vice president who is set to take over as the company's chief executive in June.

The remaining half will come from a dedicated EV production line at a new factory which the company announced last year.

"We're hoping to build a production system where the output ratio of battery EVs, hybrids and gasoline cars can be flexibly changed while paying close attention to regulations and market trends," said Osaki.

Subaru has long had a strong presence in the United States, which accounted for almost 70% of its total global vehicle sales of 852,000 units in the financial year that ended March 31.

(Reporting by Daniel Leussink; Editing by Sonali Paul)