The parent company of Motor Image (Subaru Philippines, among others) will start assembling Subaru cars in Malaysia. Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., the maker of Subaru automobiles, signed a memorandum of understanding with Tan Chong Group for the assembly of Subaru vehicles in Malaysia. Initial capacity will be 5000 units per year, with the Forester being the first model to be assembled under the new contract. It’s possible that Philippine cars will also be coming from Malaysia, to take advantage of more favorable ASEAN duties.
Meanwhile, Subaru plans to introduce three all-new models within the next five years, and a hybrid vehicle. Among the three new cars will the much-awaited rear-wheel drive sports car being developed with Toyota. The plan is to increase the current 630,000-vehicle sales to 900,000 by 2016, and to one million vehicles by 2021. The alliance with Toyota will be key to reducing production costs by 20%. Subaru mini-vehicles will continue to be supplied by Daihatsu, itself a Toyota subsidiary.
Here’s more info from Subaru:
Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (FHI), the maker of Subaru automobiles, today announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to enter into a consignment production contract with Tan Chong Group for the local assembly of Subaru vehicles in Malaysia.
The contract will be made and entered into by and between FHI and TC Subaru Sdn. Bhd , the distributor of Subaru vehicles in Malaysia. Production will begin in October 2012 at an existing production facility of Tan Chong Motor Assemblies Sdn. Bhd (TCMA) with a production capacity of 5,000 units a year. Subaru compact SUVs will be locally-produced and marketed in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia through the Subaru sales and distribution network of Tan Chong Group.
FHI has established a strong partnership with Tan Chong Group since 1987, when it was appointed the Subaru distributor in Singapore. Tan Chong Group has been expanding the sales and distribution network of Subaru vehicles across ASEAN countries that now include Cambodia, Southern China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Since its foundation in 1974, TCMA has engaged in the local assembly of Japanese and European automobiles and through this has accumulated know-how on automobile production and quality assurance. This enables FHI not only to secure initial investment for production but also start production soon after the contract is finalized. In the year of 1986 TCMA had also undertaken the assembly of the Subaru vehicles. FHI will aim to further expand its sales in the large and growing ASEAN region, by leveraging this local assembly of Subaru vehicles.
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