Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI), a global manufacturer of transportation and aerospace-related products and the maker of Subaru automobiles, today announced that Subaru Vehicle Distribution B.V. (SVD), a new FHI vehicle distribution subsidiary in Europe, has become fully operational after holding its official opening ceremony in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Attending the ceremony were FHI's senior officers and guests from Subaru's local distributors, dealers, and trading firms.

Based in Rotterdam, SVD was established on May 30, 2001, with capital of 450 thousand Euro that was equally invested by three principals: FHI; Mitsui & Co, Ltd.; and Emil Frey AG, a Subaru vehicle distributor for Switzerland, Germany, France, and Eastern Europe. Although SVD began trial operations in mid-July and has since confirmed the value of this critical undertaking, the recent opening ceremony officially marked the beginning of its full-scale commercial operations.

Responsible for unloading Subaru vehicles from maritime shipping, carrying out such pre-delivery inspection (PDI) services as fitting accessories and washing, and for arranging vehicle distribution to local dealerships, SVD will handle an annual volume of 30,000 vehicles and aims to reduce overall costs through an economy of scale. The company's initial streamlining efforts are focused on reducing distribution costs by 30 percent per vehicle (from unloading to delivery at dealers in Switzerland, Germany, France, and the Benelux countries) by concentrating all unloading of vehicles in Rotterdam rather than in four area harbors and by shortening the transportation time from Japan to local vehicle depots to one week. SVD plans to further streamline distribution and logistics throughout Europe.

As European markets become a unified economic block, price competition is expected to grow severe there because auto manufacturers must increasingly bear the costs of coping with stringent European environmental requirements for emission control and use of recyclable components. The establishment of SVD was planned to help FHI reduce distribution costs and strengthen sales networks in Europe in order to meet these challenges. The new European hub was also designed to work as part of a cooperative alliance with General Motors and, thus, to benefit from an existing synergy among the companies of GM's group in Europe.