Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd (FHI), the manufacturer of Subaru cars, yesterday announced plans to form a joint venture in February with TC Manufacturing and Assembly (Thailand) Ltd (TCMA TH), a subsidiary of Tan Chong International Ltd, to start production of Subaru vehicles in Thailand.
Currently, Subaru vehicle production in Southeast Asia is conducted at the completely knocked down assembly plant for Tan Chong Motor Assemblies Sdn Bhd in Malaysia, which builds the Subaru XV and the Forester.
With a view to enhancing Subaru's competitiveness and further growth in Southeast Asia, FHI has decided to start production in Thailand through a joint venture company, Tan Chong Subaru Automotive (Thailand) Ltd, 74.9% of which will be owned by TCMA TH and 25.1% by FHI. The joint venture, to be set up next month, aims to begin production in 2019, according to a statement by FHI.
Production in Malaysia will continue, and Tan Chong International will sell the vehicles produced both in Malaysia and Thailand through its Subaru dealer network.
In its mid-term management vision, "Prominence 2020", announced on May 9, 2014, FHI laid out initiatives to develop a strong business foundation in Southeast Asia.
With this new joint venture project, FHI aims to further enhance Subaru sales in the growing Southeast Asian market.
Subaru posted sales in Thailand of 3318 cars in 2016, up by 25.6% year-on-year. Its sales target for 2017 is 3200 units.