Saab and Subaru To Build Sports Car?

TOKYO, April 12, 2003; Reuters reported that Japan's Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd, maker of Subaru-brand vehicles, will tie up with Saab Automobile AB to jointly develop and market a small sports car, a Japanese business daily said on Saturday.

Fuji Heavy, owned 20 percent by General Motors Corp, and Saab Automobile, which is fully owned by the world's largest auto maker, will aim to roll out the new car worldwide by 2005, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said.

The two auto makers will target combined annual sales of more than 100,000 units through the joint development and marketing effort, the newspaper said in its report, which did not quote specific sources.

Officials at Fuji Heavy could not immediately be reached for comment.

GM and its group firms have cooperated in research and development and parts procurement in the past, and are now aiming to take their cooperation a step further to joint development, production and marketing, Nihon Keizai said.

Such moves are aimed at improving the GM group's competitiveness and boosting global market share, it said.