Subaru To Start Local Assembly In Malaysia From Q3 2012, Begin With Compact SUV

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd, the company that manufactures Subaru vehicles, has inked a memorandum of understanding with Motor Image, the official Subaru distributor wholly owned by the Tan Chong Group, to make Malaysia the manufacturing hub for the ASEAN region.

Under the agreement, Tan Chong's existing facilities in Malaysia will be used for the assembly of Subaru cars from October 2012, beginning with a Subaru compact SUV based on the Subaru XV Concept. The annual sales target for the ASEAN region is set at 5000 units, more than double the 2300 units sold via Motor Image's 76 sales and distribution outlets across 10 markets in 2010.

The all-new Subaru compact SUV will be launched and marketed in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. To support the expected increase in sales through 2013, Motor Image aims to establish 18 more sales and distribution outlets in Malaysia (now two), 22 more in Thailand (now one), and 20 more in Indonesia (now three).

AboutSeow Yaohan

Seow Yao Han strives to bring you the latest and the most comprehensive information on cars available in Malaysia. But it's never easy for him to talk and write cars in this part of the world because what you lust after is often not what you drive home. When the euphoria of test-driving that branded, super-expensive sports car dies down, he just goes home in his less-than-glamorous ride.