Subaru in Malaysia
Subaru, a brand of vehicles made by Fuji Heavy Industries of Japan, has been in Malaysia for at least three decades and one of the earlier importers was Continental Motors, in the 1970s. Back then, the cars were rather unique in that they had front-wheel drive – which was not in fashion yet. Furthermore, the engines were also different from the majority of cars in that the 4-cylinder engine was a horizontally-opposed configuration with the two pistons laid flat instead of upright. Also called a ‘boxer’ engine because of the piston action, this configuration – which has many merits – has been a ‘trademark’ for Subaru and refined over the years along with its all-wheel drive system.
After Continental Motors, a subsidiary of Wearne Brothers (then a big motor group) called Wira-Wearnes handled the franchise and assembled a sedan model in the early 1980s. Federal Auto then took on the franchise for a few years and marketed mainly the Justy, a small hatchback. However, having sold Volvos for a long time, Federal Auto seemed less oriented towards selling small Japanese cars. In fact, it is believed that many units were taken up by the staff who could get a special price.
In 1985, the Subaru franchise moved to Auto Dunia, a company which has the investment of the Tan Chong families. This would be the beginning of a longer tenure of the franchise as Auto Dunia would handle it till the end of the 1990s when it would be shifted to Motor Image which is also indirectly related as both companies have investments by the Tan Chong families. However, Motor Image is a subsidiary of Tan Chong International which is based in Hongkong and also sells Subaru in China, Thailand, Singapore and Hongkong/Macau.
While Auto Dunia was handling Subaru, the brand certainly gained greater prominence, especially with some memorable advertising for the little E10 van. The ads were humorous and related the features of the van to more exotic models, eg that its rear engine put it in the same ‘class’ as a Porsche!
The E10 also exposed the Subaru name and logo nationwide because it was selected by Telekom Malaysia and some other companies for their fleets. It seems to have been a tough and reliable vehicle as they are still being used today and in fact, a source in the telecommunications company said that some units had been taken out of storage because they have yet to find anything as suitable, particularly with the high roof.
Another popular model in the 1990s was the Stationwagon which was assembled locally and, for its price, offered decent transport with a 4WD system as standard. Many owners liked it and it was a hardy car which lasted well.
At one point, the company also tried to market the BRAT, a pick-up developed off the stationwagon platform. However, JPJ regulations at that time (in the early 1990s) were such that a pick-up could not be registered for individual use (unlike today, but only for double cab designs with the exception of the Proton Arena) and this made the model less viable for selling. But if you think the Arena was the first of its kind to be adapted from a sedan platform, Subaru did it 10 years ago – and they had 4WD too.
Before the recession hit in the late 1990s, the Impreza WRX was also sold and its price was very very attractive – a lot of ‘bang for the buck’. Unfortunately, when the ringgit depreciated in 1998, the price rocketed quickly and it was no longer a great buy.
In more recent years, the Impreza Sportswagon has been offered but this has seen only lukewarm reception. With the new Forester and its pricing, it is clear that FHI wants to penetrate more and has changed the way it will price its cars, enabling Motor Image to offer them at more attractive and competitive prices.
And looking ahead, it is likely that the company is considering a stronger presence by using Malaysia as a base in ASEAN to take advantage of the benefits of AFTA. Speaking to AUTOWORLD.COM.MY today, FHI General Manager (Asia-Pacific Sales & Marketing) Eiichi Matsumoto said that Malaysian could become a supply base for Subaru cars in the region.
“We have a good and long relationship with the Tan Chong Group of Malaysia and we are exploring the possibility of assembly operations in Malaysia to serve ASEAN,” he said. He said that FHI viewed Malaysia as a suitable place for such business with its good industrial infrastructure.
One future model that may well appear here is the Subaru Baja, a pick-up presently made only for the US market. This was hinted by Joseph Ong, Managing Director of Tan Chong International. He said that the model would be a good choice, given the popularity of pick-ups in Malaysia these days.
“But it is only available in left-hand drive and we will need to see if there is a good business case for the markets we handle. We basically are interested in serving righthand drive markets only, although we do assemble Subaru models in China in a joint-venture company,” he clarified.
