Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd. (富士重工業株式会社, Fuji Jūkōgyō
Kabushiki-gaisha?) (TYO: 7270), or FHI, traces its origins to the Nakajima Aircraft
Company (est. 1917), which was the leader in aircraft manufacture for the Japanese military
during WWII. FHI was established on July 15, 1953 when five
Japanese companies joined to form one of Japan's largest manufacturers of transportation
equipment. Currently, FHI employs more than 15,000 people worldwide, operates nine manufacturing plants and sells products in 100
countries. It currently makes Subaru brand cars, and its aerospace division makes parts for Boeing, helicopters for the
Japanese Self Defense Force, Raytheon
Hawker, and Eclipse Aviation business jets.
In the United States, Fuji Heavy Industries owns Subaru of America, Inc., Subaru Research & Development, Inc., and Subaru of
Indiana Automotive, Inc.
Shareholders
From 1968 until 1999, FHI was 20% owned by Nissan, who acquired the stake in 1968 during a period of
government-ordered merging of Japanese auto industry firms in order to improve competitiveness under the administration of
Prime Minister Eisaku Sato. During their
ownership, Nissan was primarily interested in its bus manufacturing division and lent automaking expertise to Subaru. Upon
Nissan's acquisition by Renault, its 20% stake was sold to General Motors, but GM announced on October 6, 2005 that it will sell 8.4% of the company to
Toyota and disposed of its remaining share, 11.6% of the company, on the market. [1]
Divisions
FHI has four main divisions:
- The automobile division, Subaru, has been manufacturing
and selling automobiles since 1954 and now has 1,970 dealers in 100 countries.
- The aerospace division is a contractor for the Japan Defense Agency and markets and sells both commercial and defense-related
aircraft, helicopters and target drones. This division used to build the Fuji
FA200 Aero Subaru and is currently participating in the Airbus A380, Boeing 777, Boeing 787,
Hawker 4000 and Eclipse 500 programs, and supplies
parts for Boeing 737, Boeing 747 and Boeing 767.
- The industrial products division manufactures and sells equipment under the Robin brand. Fuji's industrial products division
began manufacturing “Star” engines for Polaris Industries snowmobiles in 1968, and
Fuji remains a Polaris engine supplier to this day. Fuji has provided more than 2 million engines used in Polaris snowmobiles,
ATVs, watercraft and utility vehicles. [2]
- The eco technology division manufactures and sells garbage trucks,
robot sweeper, and wind turbines.
The company's four divisions all share their technological advancements with one another, which has made FHI a leader in
innovation. In particular, they apply a great deal of their aircraft technology to their automotive division, the most notable
example being the horizontally-opposed boxer engines used in all modern Subaru
automobiles.
Leadership
Past presidents
- 1953-1956 — Kenji Kita
- 1956-1963 — Takao Yoshida
- 1963-1970 — Nobuo Yokota
- 1970-1978 — Eiichi Ohara
- 1978-1985 — Sadamichi Sasaki
- 1985-1990 — Toshihiro Tajima
- 1990-1996 — Isamu Kawai
- 1996-2001 — Takeshi Tanaka
- 2001-2006 — Kyoji Takenaka
- 2006-present — Ikuo Mori
References
External links
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