Japan's FHI Parent Of Subaru: Sales Up 3%

TOKYO, Jan 15, 2003; Reuters reported that Japan's Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. the maker of Subaru cars, said on Wednesday it expects to sell 568,000 vehicles worldwide this calendar year, up 2.4 percent from 2002. The automaker, 20 percent owned by General Motors Corp, also said it planned to produce 562,400 vehicles globally, up four percent from last year.

Subaru said it would supply its Forester sports utility vehicle to the Indian unit of GM starting in March. Subaru and General Motors India PVT Ltd have set a sales target of 500 units of the Forester in 2003 and about 1,000 per year after 2004.

Subaru saw its sales in the important U.S. market fall 3.2 percent in 2002 to 180,020 units, bucking the rise in sales by most Japanese automakers there.

Shares of the maker of four-wheel-drive vehicles rose 0.44 percent to 456 yen in morning trade, compared with a 0.45 percent drop in the main Nikkei share average.