Posted Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 2:51am
While major automakers based in Japan have been frantic at expanding their overseas production in order to avoid the impact of the strong yen, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. is doing the exact opposite. It has decided to increase its domestic manufacturing. Earlier this month, Fuji Heavy said that it aims to raise Japanese production to make up around 78% of output for the fiscal year that ends March 2013, compared with 73% the prior year. Fuji Heavy, the maker of Subaru cars, said that it would be “cheaper” to raise the capacity in Japan rather than in the U.S. (its largest market). On May 18, Chief Financial Officer Mitsuru Takahashi was interviewed in Tokyo where he said that it will “cost a lot” to have a big-scale expansion in the U.S. and put up new factory buildings and such.
