Subaru builds to bounce back

Subaru Australia is targeting a return to 2010 volumes this year as the first step towards local sales of 50,000 units by 2015. But securing production, especially of Impreza and its new XV variant, are key to the comeback says boss, Nick Senior.

The stand-alone Japanese marque was significantly impacted by the natural disasters that hit its homeland in early 2011. Though local registrations topped 40,000 units in 2010, last year the brand struggled to finish at just over 34,000 cars as production levels plummeted. By way of comparison that's less cars than it registered in 2005.

And the challenges are just beginning. In the face of rebuilding the road towards its 50,000 sales target by 2015, Senior warns, the brand will continue to face supply issues – especially of new Impreza and its high-riding XV counterpart.

"This year is all about bouncing back," Senior told motoring.com.au.

"[But] Our target goal is going to be very difficult given some of the production needs to get back to 40,000 units. And then the whole of, Motion-V Plan for 2015 is dependent on them [the factory] being able to secure additional production."

According to Senior, Subaru Australia expects to be supply constrained for the foreseeable future thanks to growing sales in markets like China, and the wider acceptance of the new Impreza and XV.

"XV is now the standalone model -- we did 660 units last month [January, its first month on sale]. We will exceed that in February and there’s other markets around the world that have never taken XV [before demanding production] as well," Senior explained.

"With Impreza you’ve got all the changes; they’re going to make it a much more saleable item in Europe... You’ve got China going from 5000 units five years ago to 60,000 last year... You’ve got the US [which] set a new record despite the tsunami and the knock-on from supply last year. So there is a huge amount of demand and supply is basically steady...

"Until we see some of that supply free up, we’re going to be in a little bit of strife," he said.

Senior said Subaru is seeking to boost production by 60,000 units per annum via streamlining existing operations. But he also stresses the company is looking to widen its production base, including seeking out cheaper options – in terms of infrastructure and currency costs.

"I think everyone’s learnt two things in the last 12 months -- in the wake of the tsunami... If something like that happens and God forbid... it does leave you very exposed... The other thing is that the strength of the Japanese Yen has also highlighted the need to go explore manufacturing in other areas around the world."

In the short term even with supply constraints, Senior says he expects new Impreza and XV to boost sales by up to 600 units per month for the brand. This ramp up would alone put Subaru on target to achieve its 40,000 unit target in 2012.

He suggests once supply is secured, Impreza itself should settle at around 1000 units per month. Though this may appear lower than previous generations, Senior points out that this number does not include the now standalone XV, nor the WRX or WRX STI models.

"I think we can get that [Impreza volume] figure up over time to 1000... It’s not about chasing volume but 1000 would be a nice number..."

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