News & Profile | NewsRelease | Subaru Corporation

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (FHI), a Japanese auto manufacturer known for Subaru, and Swedish automaker Saab Automobile AB (Saab), a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), announced today their collaboration on the development of a new Saab vehicle and on the distribution of Saab vehicles in the Japanese market.

The new co-developed product, called the Saab 9-2, will be Saab's entry offer and will help attract new, younger customers to the brand. It is targeted at customers looking for a distinctive, fun-to-drive car with the versatility to support an active lifestyle. As customers would expect from Saab, the 9-2 will feature excellent driving dynamics with its sophisticated all-wheel drive system and turbo performance as well as great versatility with its hatchback body style.

Saab will launch the new 9-2 next year in North America. According to Peter Augustsson, Chairman & CEO of Saab, this co-development is a natural collaboration. "The Saab 9-2 is a result of a collaboration between two like-minded brands. We both have a special aircraft heritage and a successful history in rallying, and our cars are known as dynamic, safe and fun-to-drive. It makes a lot of sense for us to combine our strengths in creating the next Saab and bring it to the market quickly,"

According to Kyoji Takenaka, President of FHI, this collaboration is good for both companies. It will enable Saab to participate in a whole new market segment with greatly reduced development time and investment. At the same time, it will enable FHI to increase the operation rates at our plants and strengthen our financial position."

The Subaru/Saab collaboration goes beyond product development. Beginning this June, Saab will offer its vehicles through qualified Subaru dealers in the Japanese market. This collaboration is expected to further enhance the success of Saab in this market. The first FHI dealers to feature the Saab lineup will be the Tokyo Subaru Machida showroom, the Kanagawa Subaru Kounan showroom and the Osaka Subaru Tezukayama showroom.

According to Fritz Henderson, GM Group Vice President and President of GM Asia Pacific, these two collaborations are just the tip of the iceberg and illustrations of how both General Motors and FHI are leveraging their alliance relationship. "This is an excellent example of what these alliances can achieve. Subaru and Saab are very strong brands with great reputations around the world, even reaching cult status in some markets. Their collaboration on both the product side as well as in distribution side will make both brands even stronger."

FHI and GM have been strategic alliance partners since 1999 and have numerous joint projects underway in product development, sales and purchasing. The Subaru Traviq minivan is manufactured in the GM plant in Thailand and the Chevrolet Forester is exported to the Indian market from FHI's plant in Japan. Subaru vehicles are also sold in Indonesia and in the Philippines through GM AutoWorld network.