Chery join hands on Subaru's upcoming marriage

Chery joint venture Fuji Heavy Industries Subaru once again caused concern in the industry. On Monday, informed sources disclosed to this reporter that Chery and Subaru have recently determined their intentions for cooperation and signed a strategic cooperation agreement to build a joint venture factory in Dalian. At the same time, related foreign reports also said on Tuesday that Fuji Heavy Industries has agreed in principle to join hands with Chery Automobile to produce Subaru vehicles in Dalian, northeast China.

Preliminary Implementation of the Joint Venture Project Since the two parties confirmed the joint venture negotiations to produce Subaru's vehicles in the second half of last year, Chery Subaru’s joint venture project has attracted much attention. However, after Subaru's several consecutive "will announce the results of the cooperation between the two parties before and after a certain time," Chery's joint venture with Subaru has no end result.

"For the joint venture with Subaru, Chery Automobile currently has no 'official information'!" Chery's assistant general manager and press spokesman Jin Yibo told the reporter yesterday. In the interview with reporters, Fujiwara’s head of public relations, Watanabe, said that the only confirmed news at the moment is that Fuji Heavy Industries is still negotiating with Chery on domestic plans. There is no news to announce at this stage.

According to informed sources, in fact, Chery and Fuji Heavy Industries have reached a “closed” stage in the joint venture negotiations on domestically produced Subaru. Both parties have already invested in specific content such as investment scale, equity ratios, domestic bases, domestic models, and sales channels. Enterprise level agreement. The biggest problem facing both sides now is how to declare the joint venture project to the competent department of the domestic automobile industry. Because of the joint venture of the Dalian production base, the project was declared by the Chery Export Base to the relevant national authorities.

Of course, the low profile is also a "deliberative" appeal of both Chery and Subaru. After a series of joint venture projects announced with Fiat and Chrysler had ended without results, Chery now needed a joint venture project that was actually “finished”. For Subaru, after experiencing the "unpleasant" cooperation experience with Guihang Airlines and Youth Cars, especially after the "N"-heavy cooperation scandal last year, the company locked in a Chinese partner "Cultivating the True Fruit", which is most suitable for China. Strategy implementation. "Chery and Fuji Heavy Industries have reached a tacit agreement and will not formally announce the cooperation between the two sides after the joint venture has won the approval of the national competent authority and did not formally sign the letter of intent between the two parties," informed sources said last week.

Cooperation is beneficial to both parties According to foreign reports on Tuesday, Chery Automobile and Fuji Heavy Industries have reached a consensus on Subaru's production conditions and production environment in Dalian. At present, both parties are communicating with relevant government departments on related issues in order to obtain approval and approval from the competent authorities. According to sources, Fuji Heavy Industries and Chery confirmed that they will establish a 30 billion yen (US$456 million) factory in Dalian. The initial production of the factory will reach 50,000 vehicles, and the final annual production capacity will reach 150,000. As for the first model produced by both parties in Dalian, it is also said to have been selected as Subaru's SUV model "Forest Man" in the Chinese market.

During the Shanghai Auto Show in mid-April, Chery deputy general manager Lu Jianhui once told this newspaper that “Dalian Base is a very important production base of Chery. Chery will produce high-end models in Dalian and will be an export base in the future. The base is expected to be next year. The second half of the year was completed.” Lu also stated that “the technical level of the Dalian base is the highest among Chery's plants. All stamping and welding processes are fully automated, and the production level and construction level are also the highest levels of Chery Automobile. And the models produced by this base are all new models!"

"The cooperation between Chery and Fuji Heavy Industries is just a problem!" Last week, informed sources told this reporter. After more than ten years of development, Chery has grown into one of the major automotive groups in China. However, among the major domestic automobile groups, Chery is the only manufacturer that has not entered into a joint venture relationship with foreign automakers. Earlier, Chery and Fiat and Chrysler had a high-profile "marriage talk about marriage," and have signed relevant cooperation agreements. However, due to various reasons, the two joint venture projects did not "blossom results" in the end!

In 2009, Chery sold 682,000 vehicles, an increase of 36.3% year-on-year. This year, Chery’s sales target is set at 800,000 units, an increase of 17.3% over the same period of last year. “The growth rate of the domestic auto market has slowed down, especially the market share of self-owned brands has been squeezed. The space for self-owned brand growth will be smaller and smaller. Joint venture with Fuji Heavy Industries to launch a joint venture brand model that is popular in China will help Chery gain greater market space. Chery's brand image, especially in the foreign corporate image, can also be improved!" Experts said last week. At the same time, Fuji Xerox’s well-known horizontally-symmetrical engines and full-time smart four-wheel drive systems in the global automotive industry will also help Chery raise the level of its drive systems for engines and SU V models.

For Fuji Heavy Industries, locking in Chery's rapid entry into the Chinese market, which still has some opportunities, is also an unsustainable choice. Fuji Heavy Industries has annual sales of less than 1 million vehicles, and it can only be regarded as a second-tier manufacturer among Japanese automakers. After Japan, North America, and Europe could not give them much growth opportunities, Fuji Heavy Industries has to make big hopes. Concentrate on the Chinese market.