AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/05 Report--

On January 26th Toyota, the world's largest carmaker, announced a major personnel appointment. Since April 1, Akio Toyoda has stepped down as president and appointed Toyota's chief brand officer and head of the Lexus brand, Eiji Sato, to take over the new post.

Toyota owns 20% of Subaru and is Subaru's largest shareholder. On March 3, Subaru also announced a series of personnel changes. Subaru appointed Atsushi Osaki to succeed Tomomi Nakamura as chief executive and president, starting in June, while Tomomi Nakamura, the current president, will step down as president, according to documents.

Materials show that Atsushi Osaki is a veteran of Subaru, joined Fuji heavy Industry Co., Ltd. (now Subaru Co., Ltd.) in April 1988, and later served as General Manager of Subaru Product Planning Department, General Manager of Technical Management Department of Technical headquarters, General Manager of quality Assurance Department, Senior Executive Officer, Chief quality Officer, etc., and the current position is Senior Executive Officer and General Manager of Manufacturing Department. Traditionally, Atsushi Osaki will receive final approval at its annual general meeting in June.

On October 27, 2017, Subaru submitted a report to the Japanese Land Bureau, saying that two of its factories used unqualified inspectors to inspect new cars before they left the factory, a practice that lasted for 30 years. On the same day, the then president and president Yasuyuki Yoshinaga bowed and apologized and resigned in June of the following year. Tomomi Nakamura, then vice president, took the helm of Subaru.

Previously, after problems such as Nissan's use of unqualified inspectors were exposed, Japan's Ministry of Land and Transport asked Japanese car companies to conduct internal inspections. Subaru found the problem in this process. In this regard, Agence France-Presse commented that the two car companies exposed scandals one after another, may once again hit the Japanese auto industry. Later, improving quality became the top priority of Tomomi Nakamura and implemented comprehensive reforms. In April 2018, Atsushi Osaki was appointed Chief quality Officer of Subaru to take the lead in implementing quality reforms in an attempt to restore Subaru's image.

Under the leadership of Tomomi Nakamura, Subaru and Toyota have become closer. In February 2020, Subaru reached an agreement with Toyota to increase Subaru's stake from 16.8% to 20.0%. At this point, Subaru has been transformed into an equity company under Toyota, and Subaru's profit and loss results will be included in Toyota's financial report. It is understood that Subaru's cooperation with Toyota began in 2005, when General Motors urgently needed to sell all Subaru shares due to a financial crisis, and then Toyota bought most of the Subaru shares that were sold.

After the cooperation between the two sides, the joint project between Toyota GR 86 and Subaru BRZ is the most famous product in many years of cooperation between the two sides. The new generation of Toyota GR 86 and Subaru BRZ were unveiled in April 2021 and introduced to the Chinese market. In addition, in electrification, Subaru and Toyota jointly developed the first pure electric SUV-- Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra, which are sister models to each other.

In May 2022, Subaru plans to build an electric car plant in Japan, with the goal of starting operations in the late 2020s. Subaru is expected to invest more than 100 billion yen ($771 million) to increase the production capacity of electric vehicles, including other factories. This is the first time that plans to build a new pure electric car factory in Japan have been exposed. Compared with other car companies, Subaru has a higher percentage of petrol vehicles and the transition to electric vehicles is slow, while the United States is rapidly promoting electrification, Subaru will quickly increase the production capacity of pure electric vehicles through new plants. In February 2023, Subaru said it would increase its electric products in the US, including several all-electric vehicles, by 2025 as the focus shifts to electric vehicles.

Bloomberg points out that Subaru is not a bit behind in the electrification competition in the global auto industry. At present, the company has no plans to produce electric cars in the United States, but the Biden administration's inflation reduction Act will only provide huge subsidies for electric vehicles produced in North America.

Subaru has set a record for US sales for 12 consecutive years since 2008, reaching 700000 in 2019, but the ensuing epidemic and the impact of spare parts supply led to a 12.6 per cent drop in US deliveries to 612000 in 2020, 4.7 per cent to 584000 in 2021 and 557000 in 2022.

Subaru's life is even more difficult in the Chinese market, with its peak in 2013, with a cumulative annual sales of 57000 vehicles. Subaru's sales in China began to decline in 2013, from 54000 in 2014, 47000 in 2015, 45000 in 2016, 31000 in 2017, and 25000 in 2018 and 2019.

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