Subaru Expects Further Sales Increases in 2010!

Fuji Heavy Industries, the maker of Subaru-brand cars, expects to boost sales in the U.S. and China next year and is considering making vehicles in China as automobile demand surges in the world's most populous nation.

The Japanese carmaker may sell 230,000 vehicles in the U.S. next year compared with 215,000 this year, Chief Executive Officer Ikuo Mori, 62, said in an interview at the company's head office in Tokyo today. China sales may rise to 50,000 from 35,000, he said. Fuji Heavy, 16.5 percent owned by Toyota Motor, is considering local production in China as the nation's vehicle demand may rise to as much as 16 million units next year, Mori said. The maker of Forester sport-utility vehicles increased sales 84 percent in China in the first 10 months of this year as economic growth and subsidies boosted industrywide demand.

Fuji Heavy may choose a local partner to produce vehicles in China within a year, Mori said.
The carmaker rose 1.3 percent to close at 405 yen in Tokyo trading, compared with a 1.5 percent gain in Japan's Topix index.

Fuji Heavy raised U.S. sales of its vehicles, including the revamped Legacy sedan, by 14 percent in the 11 months through November even as industrywide sales in the nation dropped 24 percent.