Gasgoo.com (Shanghai April 16) - Official sources within Subaru Japan have revealed that parent company Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI) has opened a China planning office earlier this month, the National Business Daily reported. The new office will be responsible for research into Chinese development of Subaru vehicles and such related issues.
"FHI has never had a department exclusively dealing with Chinese production before," FHI Japan's Director of Public Relations Mr. Watanabe was quoted as saying in an interview with the press. He further confirmed that the China planning office was being opened primarily to tackle the issues of Chinese manufacture of Subarus. The office will consider the issue from all sides before making the final decision of whether or not to begin production in China. In the event that the research proves Chinese production to be beneficial to the company, the office will look further into how to implement relevant policies.
Ever since entering the Chinese market in 2004, Subaru has constantly gained impressive results, with sales jumping first from 150,000 vehicles in 2008 to 350,000 in 2009, and then to a whopping 570,000 last year. In order to further develop its market penetration, Chinese localization has become a focal point for the manufacturer.
