(Fuji Heavy Industries)

Owned by	General Motors - 20 % Nissan - 4.23 %
Introduction	No matter in production figure or image, Subaru has beaten Audi as the King of 4-wheel-drive. Today, 75% of the Subaru sold world-wide are equipped with 4-wheel-drive running gear. The importance of 4WD to Subaru is somewhat like the Rotary engine to Mazda, without it the company would have been another undistinguished car maker. However, unlike the rotary engine, 4WD catches the love affair of SUV very well, enable Subaru to make the beloved Forester easily. Therefore, despite of the not-so-high volume, Subaru is still safe from take over in the mean time. The product line-up is simple but well-positioned : it has Pleo to take advantage of the booming K-car market; the Impreza is well established as the ultimate driver s car; the Legacy s emphasis on estate (wagon) version should gave it an edge over competitors; the Forester SUV has already proved a success in the US. Subaru is healthier than ever.
Sales figure	480,000 cars expected to be built in 1999 fiscal year
Brief History	Fuji Heavy Industries was established by the merge of 6 companies in 1953, hence the six-stars logo using today. The name "Subaru" is actually the brand name rather than the division 's name for its cars. In Japan, people calls the cars "Fuji" instead of "Subaru". It introduced the first production car, 360, in 1958. It was a mini economy car and immediately earned the company reputation. The first 4WD car was launched in 1972, but during the 80 is it was more famous with the ECVT. A loose partnership with Nissan did not help it much, neither did the XT and SVX coupes. It was rally which made the medium car maker famous to the world. The Impreza WRX took the company 3 straight WRC manufacturer title between 1995 and 97. In late 1999, General Motors acquired 20% of Fuji Heavy Industries and become the largest individual share holder.