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Fuji Heavy Industries to Change Its Name to Subaru Corporation

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Fuji Heavy Industries' Board of Directors has moved to change the company's name to Subaru Corporation - Subaru Logo

Fuji Heavy Industries’ Board of Directors has moved to change the company’s name to Subaru Corporation

Yesterday, Subaru’s parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries, announced that it would be changing its name to Subaru Corporation. This change, while it won’t go in effect until April 1, 2017 (and only tentatively then), marks an important shift for the Subaru brand—it shows the overall company’s belief and investment in its automotive wing, Subaru.

Technically, only the Board of Directors has resolved to implement this change for Fuji Heavy Industries. The shareholders will still get to decide if the change to Subaru Corporation is appropriate. The 85th General Meeting of Shareholders will be held in June 28, 2016, which is presumably when that tentative date next April will be set in stone, assuming shareholders are in favor.

While we might know Subaru’s parent company best for Subaru’s cars, wagons, and SUVs, Fuji Heavy Industries actually dabbles in quite a bit—everything from aerospace to industrial products. The company’s venture into automobiles began in 1958, when it introduced the Subaru 360 minicar.

The launch of that minicar proved to be a smart play by the company, as Subaru is now sold in more than 90 countries worldwide. Here in the United States, it has fast become a popular niche brand, and supply can rarely keep up with demand.

According to Subaru, “the purpose of this shift is to further accelerate our efforts to enhance the Subaru brand and achieve even greater growth for Subaru as a distinctive global brand in the automotive and aerospace industries.”

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the 1917 founding of the Nakajima Aircraft. Fuji Heavy Industries board members—perhaps soon to be Subaru Corporation board members—see this anniversary as the perfect opportunity to implement that name change.