FHI to become Subaru Corporation

Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI), the maker of Subaru vehicles, has announced it will change its name to Subaru Corporation, effective April 2017. Implementation of the name change is subject to shareholder approval for amendments to the Company’s Articles of Incorporation at the 85th General Meeting of Shareholders, scheduled for June 28. The origins of FHI date back to the foundation of the Aircraft Research Laboratory (later to become Nakajima Aircraft Co., Ltd.) in 1917. After going through a number of reorganisations, FHI was established under its current name in 1953. Since then, the company has expanded its businesses, ranging from aerospace and industrial products segments, to its primary business of Subaru automobiles, which began with the introduction of the Subaru 360 mini car in 1958. Today, the Subaru automotive business operates in more than 90 countries worldwide and continues to achieve strong growth. For the fiscal year ending March 2017, Subaru projects its global vehicle sales to exceed one million units (1,050,000 on a consolidated basis) for the first time in its history. In its mid-term management vision “Prominence 2020” announced in May 2014, FHI set a corporate vision for 2020 of being “a high-quality company that is not big in size but has distinctive strength.” To this end, the company is focusing on two initiatives: enhancing the Subaru brand and building a strong business structure.