Toyota Strengthens Alliance with Subaru Maker Fuji
oyota Motor Corp. will pay $311 million to raise its stake in Fuji Heavy Industries to 16.5 percent, and the two companies said Thursday they will expand their ties and develop cars together.
Toyota said the step is part of its plans to revamp business alliances with Fuji Heavy, the Japanese automaker of Subaru cars, and Daihatsu Motor Co., a Toyota subsidiary that makes small cars. The move will also expand the scope of the joint car production among the three.
The latest agreement will strengthen an existing alliance, in which Fuji makes Toyota Camry sedans in the U.S., while Daihatsu makes the Justy compact car that Fuji sells in Europe.
Toyota will buy 61 million Fuji Heavy shares from Fuji for 31.1 billion yen ($311 million), the companies announced in a news conference at a Tokyo hotel, attended by Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe, Fuji President Ikuo Mori and Daihatsu President Teruyuki Minoura. It currently owns an 8.7 percent stake in Fuji Heavy.
Fuji and Toyota will also develop a car together, a compact, rear-wheel drive sports car, targeted by 2011, they said, without elaborating on other details of the sports car.
''The alliance with Fuji Heavy is a win-win situation,'' Watanabe said. ''We can count on Fuji's superb engineering.''
Daihatsu specializes in minicars, which are vehicles limited to an engine size of up to 660 cubic centimeters. The tiny cars are growing in popularity because of soaring gas prices and ecological concerns.
Toyota, Japan's No. 1 automaker, is generally cautious about partnerships with other automakers that involve stakes in each other. But it holds a 51.19 percent stake in Daihatsu.
Toyota also holds a 50.11 percent stake in truckmaker Hino Motors Ltd. and a 5.9 percent stake in truckmaker Isuzu Motors Ltd.
Stronger alliances can be a plus for Toyota as it embarks on an aggressive strategy of global growth.
Last year Toyota _ which makes the Prius gas-electric hybrids and the Camry sedan _ overtook General Motors Corp. as the world's No. 1 automaker in global vehicle production, although Detroit-based GM still retains the top spot in global vehicle sales.
Toyota made a record 9.498 million vehicles worldwide in 2007, up 5.3 percent from the previous year and beating GM at 9.284 million.
But Toyota sold fewer vehicles at 9.366 million to GM's 9.370 million vehicles. GM has been the world's top seller for 77 years.
04/10/2008 07:43 AM
By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer
TOKYO
oyota Motor Corp. will pay $311 million to raise its stake in Fuji Heavy Industries to 16.5 percent, and the two companies said Thursday they will expand their ties and develop cars together.
