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Subaru to drop industrial products, focus on making cars

Subaru, the company formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries, said Monday it is ceasing production of its industrial products after more than 60 years in order to focus on its core automotive business. The change was effective Sept. 30. "By concentrating management resources on Subaru's core automotive business, the company will further reinforce its business structure in the aim of substantially enhancing the Subaru brand and achieving even greater sustainable growth," the company said in a statement. The move appears to mark the culmination of a steady retrenchment from its industrial business. Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. last year announced it was changing its name to Subaru Corp. in order to strengthen the brand and focus on its core automotive and aerospace business. It also moved to integrate its Industrial Products Company within Subaru's automotive business effective Oct. 1, 2016. Subaru is a Japanese name for the Pleiades star cluster, and it symbolizes the six companies that merged to form Fuji Heavy Industries in 1953. Subaru's aerospace division is a contractor for the Japan Defense Agency. The automaker's industrial products business began in 1951 when its former Omiya Fuji Industries Co. Ltd. began production of the 540 cc M6 engine. Subaru says its Industrial Products Co. Ltd. affiliate will continue to handle after-sales service of Subaru-built generators, pumps and engines used in construction, agriculture and industrial equipment. The company also says it will cease manufacturing engines for installation in other vehicles as supply contracts expire. Meanwhile, Subaru is busy reorganizing its plant in Lafayette, Ind., to begin production of the Ascent, a three-row, eight-passenger crossover based on its Viziv-7 concept that debuted late last year. Related Video:

Subaru planning modular platform, seven-seat SUV, plug-in hybrid

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles isn't the only big name in the auto industry releasing details on its future plans. Subaru, and its parent company Fuji Heavy Industries, is aiming to bump its North American sales up from 478,000 to 600,000 by 2020. Now, that seems pretty reasonable, especially in the face of FCA's hugely ambitious goals for Alfa Romeo and Maserati. It's how Subaru will go about increasing the sales, though, that has us intrigued.
A focus on more fuel-efficient, direct-injection engines will complement a new platform, while the company is contemplating expanding capacity at its Indiana factory, which will now have more room since Toyota Camry production will be ending there.
As for that new platform, it's called the Subaru Global Platform. Original, we know. It's a modular deal and will eventually underpin a vast range of future Subies following its debut in 2016. The new platform may also end up underpinning a seven-seat SUV, which would serve as the successor to the Tribeca and debut between 2016 and 2020, according to Automotive News.

Toyota, Honda, Nissan and more collaborating to increase fuel efficiency

Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Suzuki and Daihatsu have announced an alliance that will see a push to improve fuel economy from both gas-powered and diesel-powered engines by as much as 30 percent before the end of the decade.
The newly assembled Research Association of Automotive Internal Combustion Engines put the roughly $20-million project together, with the Japanese government committing to half the cost while the eight manufacturers will chip in the rest.
According to Automotive News, the automakers will team up and share basic research on internal-combustion engines in a bid to cut costs. Eventually, the results of the research will find its way into a production vehicle, although it's unclear just when we'll see the fruits of this partnership on the road.