Toyota To Raise Fuji Heavy Stake To 17%, Bolster Tie-Up
01 April 2008
The Nikkei reports that Toyota Motor Corp. will boost its stake in Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (FHI), the maker of Subaru vehicles, from 8.7% to around 17% by purchasing 64.25 million shares for roughly ¥30 billion (US$294 million).
Those shares account for 8.2% of Fuji Heavy’s outstanding shares. Toyota established capital and business ties with Fuji Heavy in 2005 after GM sold off its approximate 20% equity stake (about 157 million shares) in FHI. Toyota bought slightly less than half of those shares, giving it the 8.7% stake. (Earlier post.)
But Toyota currently has no plans to turn Fuji Heavy into an equity-method subsidiary, keeping its stake under 20%. The two partners aim to upgrade their cooperation to encompass all business areas, including development and production.
As a start, Toyota will consider subcontracting production of cars, centering on subcompact mass market models, to Fuji Heavy’s factory in Ota, Gunma Prefecture. The two firms will also jointly develop a sports car and other new models, as well as environmental technologies.
Just-Auto says :
Fuji Heavy Industries is planning to increase production of turbochargers. According to a Japanese press report, the company will invest 40bn Yen expanding production capacity to 7m units.
As manufacturers seek to improve fuel efficiency, tubochargers will increasingly become more prevalent on both gasoline and diesel cars.
Other companies that have recently made investments in this area include Daimler, which is joining forces with Japanese company IHI Group to build a new turbocharger plant in the former east Germany.
Borg Warner recently announced an expansion of its plant in Hungary to meet growing demand for turbochargers, while Robert Boschand Mahle have established a 50-50 joint venture to develop, manufacture, and market turbochargers, with production scheduled to start in 2010.
So when are we going to see Corollas with Turbos ?
T2
Posted by: T2 | 01 April 2008 at 03:39 PM
Offering only four wheel drive cars is now a problem for Subaru as it robs efficiency.Hopefully Toyota and Subaru will work together on a hydraulic or electric four wheel drive system.I read elsewhere that Nissan is working on a similar concept.
Posted by: middleoroad | 05 April 2008 at 06:22 AM