Good news for Subaru fans here, as Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI) will focus on U.S. market says FHI's Chief Executive Ikuo Mori. Mori, who hails from a marketing background, took over the reigns of FHI last June, has been busy crafting a new direction for FHI that's more consumer-oriented than its been in the past. "There's been a major gap between what we produced and what the market wanted," Mori told a news conference to detail the much-awaited four-year plan...
Some highlights:
⢠Subaru will open a satellite office in Los Angeles to help better define the needs of Subaru in the Sun Belt states.
⢠Subaru will focus more on their core larger vehicles, perhaps at the expense of the small 660cc cars, seeking profitability vs. sales volume.
⢠FHI is looking to establish a manufacturing base outside Japan and the U.S.
⢠After the diesel launch in Europe, we should see it here.
Full story here and here. Here's the FHI press release.
⢠Subaru will open a satellite office in Los Angeles to help better define the needs of Subaru in the Sun Belt states.
⢠Subaru will focus more on their core larger vehicles, perhaps at the expense of the small 660cc cars, seeking profitability vs. sales volume.
⢠FHI is looking to establish a manufacturing base outside Japan and the U.S.
⢠After the diesel launch in Europe, we should see it here.
Full story here and here. Here's the FHI press release.
ateixeira says:
07:34 AM, 02/28/07
To me this translates as we'll start seeing bigger Subaru cars here.
The Impreza is compact, and the Legacy is only slightly bigger, not quite a full mid-size model. That's because they sell the same vehicle here, in Japan, and in Europe. For tax purposes, they keep them small.
Focusing on the US market means they'll follow Toyota and Honda, making a larger US-only model, like the Camry and Accord have done for more than a decade now.
paisan says:
07:54 AM, 02/28/07
Hmm I guess my comments to the CEO "Big car for Big Guy" got through to someone! That's great news to see bigger Subies available.
-mike
robr2 says:
10:01 AM, 02/28/07
"There's been a major gap between what we produced and what the market wanted,"
Hmm - where have I heard this before??
drwales says:
12:48 PM, 02/28/07
Does anyone else see "focussing on the US market" as making a minivan in addition to a "big car for the big guy"? Both could be built from the Tribeca platform (itself a stretched Legacy)? And there's certainly enough sliding-door know-how from Toyota.
I'd be interested in both in the future, especially if either or both come with a (6-cyl?) diesel engine. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, here, Bob, let's be happy with the pending 4-cyl diesel...!
SubyTrojan says:
03:07 PM, 02/28/07
Touchdown!
steve_ says:
11:10 PM, 02/28/07
There might be a minivan opening in the market, drwales, with Ford and GM moving to crossovers and out of minivans, but I bet Subaru goes more toward the crossover/SUV market too.
It's also hard to picture frameless sliding doors, lol.
SubyTrojan says:
10:50 AM, 03/ 1/07
^ LOL - Frameless sliding doors!
carboy28 says:
02:07 PM, 03/ 1/07
So does anyone think they'll have a camry-based all-wheel drive sedan?
rsholland says:
04:58 PM, 03/ 1/07
No.
estreka says:
05:34 PM, 03/ 1/07
I'm the kind of guy that believes in the Law....Murphy's Law. A radical change at Subaru could mean we're getting AWD Corollas and RAV4s. If I want a Toyota, I'll buy a Toyota. I hope this doesn't mean Subaru will lose its flavor.
ateixeira says:
09:12 AM, 03/ 2/07
Tribeca has door frames, and if the spy pics are righ the next WRX will have them too. So they're moving away from those.