New deals announced between Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), Daihatsu Motor (Daihatsu) and Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI) will include a new Toyota and Subaru-branded sports car using the latter’s trademark ‘boxer’ engine.
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TMC will also provide FHI with a compact car on an original-equipment-manufacturing (OEM) basis while Daihatsu will supply FHI with minivehicles and an FHI version of the Daihatsu Coo compact car on an OEM basis.
The compact rear-wheel sports car to be jointly developed by TMC and FHI will be built on a new platform powered by an FHI Subaru trademark horizontally-opposed engine. It will be launched at the end of 2011 and built at FHI’s Gunma manufacturing division in Japan. TMC will consign production to FHI.
The compact car that TMC is to provide FHI on an OEM basis will supplement the Subaru product line, with supply expected to start around the end of 2010.
“The OEM supply of minivehicles for the Japanese market to FHI by Daihatsu is expected to allow FHI to focus its R&D and production resources on its main products,” the companies said in a joint statement.
“Such supply is planned to start in the second half of 2009. This arrangement is also expected to enable Daihatsu to improve its business efficiency, such as through increasing its cost competitiveness due to increased production volume.”
FHI would eventually withdraw from production of minivehicles, it told the Reuters news agency after the official announcement.
From next October, Daihatsu will supply FHI on an OEM basis 6,000 units annually of its Coo compact vehicle produced at Ikeda in Osaka Prefecture.
Today’s announcement is the latest development in a business relationship that was established in October 2005.
This has also already resulted in, among others, Toyota Camry production at Subaru of Indiana Automotive in the United States and OEM production by Daihatsu of a Subaru Justy-badged compact car for Europe.
TMC and FHI have agreed the transfer to TMC of 61m FHI shares owned by FHI, pending approval by Japan’s Fair Trade Commission. Following this transfer, TMC would own 16.5% of FHI issued shares.
“TMC, Daihatsu and FHI intend to continue conducting wide-ranging discussions toward strengthening one another’s long-term competitiveness and carrying out comprehensive cooperation for their growth worldwide,” the companies said.
