source: Fuij Heavy Industries (FHI)
 

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. and Sojitz Corporation will launch full-fledged sales operations for SUBARU cars in Ukraine. The companies will undertake the import and sale of SUBARU cars and car parts, development of dealer networks, and marketing operations in Ukraine, through "Subaru Ukraine LLC" (Head office: Kiev, Ukraine; Representative: Tetsuya Kubo), a SUBARU car import and distribution company established in May 2006.

Subaru Ukraine is capitalized at 15 million hryvnias (approximately 339 million yen), with an equity participation of 51% from Sojitz, and 49% from LLC ‘AWD Motors’ (Head office: Kiev; Representative: Pavlo Oleksiyenko), a fifty-fifty joint venture between Mega-Motors Ltd. and Merkurij Ltd. both of which were previously SUBARU car import dealers in Ukraine.

To date, Fuji Heavy Industries and Sojitz have been conducting sales operations for SUBARU cars through Ukrainian import dealers. The volume of sales for SUBARU cars in Ukraine was about 1,500 units in the year 2005, and by developing sales through Subaru Ukraine, the companies aim to achieve double that amount in 2007 with sales of about 3,000 units. This new sales structure will enable customer service provision based on SUBARU marketing strategies set by Fuji Heavy Industries. For the car models to be sold in the Ukrainian market, marketing of the B9 TRIBECA is scheduled to start this fall, along with the other European regions, in addition to four existing models; Legacy, Outback, Forester and Impreza.

Fuji Heavy Industries and Sojitz have been promoting, in a strategic manner, the expansion of sales of SUBARU cars and the building of the SUBARU brand in the CIS region, which is experiencing significant economic growth.

In Russia, sales operations for SUBARU cars have been conducted since 2000, through a distribution company "Subaru Motor LLC" in which Sojitz holds a major stake. Sales of approximately 4,300 SUBARU cars were achieved in 2005, and sales of approximately 5,500 units are targeted in 2006. Fuji Heavy Industries and Sojitz will focus their efforts on further sales expansion in the CIS region, by taking advantage of this opportunity to launch sales operations in Ukraine through Subaru Ukraine.