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Japanese giants' mini deal


A global Subaru supermini could come from Toyota.

Fuji Heavy Industries, which builds Subaru cars, is tipped to dig deep into its alliance with Toyota to build a new mini car, smaller and cheaper than the Impreza.

The move comes as European customers demand more fuel-efficient, city-friendly cars.

Toyota has some of the best superminis in the world, including the iQ and Yaris.

In June it lifted its stake in Fuji to 17 per cent, injecting millions into the company.

They are working on a joint-venture sports car due out in 2011.

For Toyota the sports car will bring back some credibility lost when the Celica and MR2 disappeared from showrooms. For Subaru a sportscar would be the perfect “halo” car for less than $40,000 to replace the axed SVX.

However, the sports car is not on Subaru Australia's radar, and managing director Nick Senior says a decision is “some time out”.

“The discussions around the vehicle, the marketing, are still at a very high level in Japan and not at our level at the moment.”

He believes there is a future for a car under the Impreza, but talks are in the early stages.

“There's been no commitment on a B-segment car, but it's one of the items of discussion with Fuji Heavy Industries,” Senior says.

The change of heart at Fuji is due to growing demand in Europe for smaller premium B-segment cars. The company builds the stylish R2 for Japan and shares a Daihatsu hatch in Europe.

“I think most of the pressure is from environment, from Europe and from some of the legislation there in terms of average C02 and, in some places, it's fuel consumption,” Senior says.

“The growth markets around the world have largely been in smaller segments than we've seen.

“Even in Australia the small car market is up, light cars are up and largely the rest of the market has come down, so it's changing circumstances. You've got to have a look at what's going to sell.”

Senior is wary of bold predictions of a wholesale change in direction at Subaru.

“On a worldwide scale, Fuji Heavy Industries is the 19th or 20th largest manufacturer with 600,000 cars a year and we've just got be careful with our product portfolio. We produce cars that are for a global market and we're able to maximise the product portfolio and while there are opportunities in Kei segment (Japan's version of the mini car), B-segment and other segments, it is stretching investment and resources to look at every possible segment,” he says.

Senior says Fuji has made a huge investment in research and development over the past few years.

“Which you've seen firstly with Impreza, then Forester, Tribeca, Liberty, Outback and the Exiga, so it's very much about looking at what is the maximum potential, not just for one market but a global market,” he says.