2016 Subaru Forester CKD production begins in Malaysia – two variants scheduled for Q2 2016 launch

Subaru Forester facelift CKD production Malaysia begins

Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI) has announced that CKD production of the Subaru Forester facelift has begun at Tan Chong’s Segambut plant. This announcement confirms our previous report that the Forester will indeed be Subaru’s second model to be locally assembled at the plant, albeit sooner than expected.

The Forester now joins the XV crossover, which has been produced there since December 2012. TCS plans to assemble approximately 10,000 units of the Forester annually. Based on the image above, it appears Malaysians will receive the 2.0 litre NA model in two variants – 2.0i and 2.0i-P.

In November 2015, a facelifted Forester sporting heavy camo, was spotted testing on Malaysian roads, raising suspicions that the model would be introduced. The facelifted Forester was unveiled at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show.

The changes on the facelifted Subaru Forester are modest, with just a few visual enhancements to bring the model up to speed with FHI’s current line-up. On the exterior, there is a mildly restyled front grille with a new bumper (2.0i-P appears to keep the previous XT’s front bumper), C-shaped daytime running lights and tail lights and revised wheels.

Inside, the Forester’s cabin gains a new instrument panel with colour LCD multi-information display. Various parts of the car’s trim have also been updated to feature leather as well. Other additions include an SD navigation system and memory function for the driver’s powered seat.

On the mechanical side of things, the Forester is refined further thanks to tweaks done to its AWD chassis and NVH for better vehicle dynamics and ride comfort. The tweaks include increasing the chassis rigidity, applying thicker door glass, and enhancing the Lineartronic CVT gearbox.

Under the hood, expect to find a 2.0 litre naturally-aspirated flat-four petrol engine (150 PS/198 Nm) mated to a Lineartronic CVT gearbox. A more powerful turbocharged option is available as a CBU as well, with output rated at 240 PS and 350 Nm of torque.

The locally-assembled Subaru Forester is set to go on sale this spring in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, which is sometime between March-May 2016. At the line-off ceremony, FHI Deputy President Jun Kondo said, “FHI will continue to work hand in hand with Tan Chong International to further enhance Subaru sales in the ASEAN region.”

GALLERY: Subaru Forester facelift at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show

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Gerard Lye

Originating from the corporate world with a background in finance and economics, Gerard’s strong love for cars led him to take the plunge into the automotive media industry. It was only then did he realise that there are more things to a car than just horsepower count.

 

Comments

  • shawal on Feb 26, 2016 at 3:26 pm

    So d turbo is being ckd-ed as well?
    Or strictly cbu

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1
    • applegreen on Feb 26, 2016 at 5:36 pm

      That 2.0P bodykit really like the XT turbo version. For CKD i think they’ll drop moonroof dan harmon kardon stereo

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Memey on Feb 26, 2016 at 6:36 pm

      buy Toyota Fortuner

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 20
  • i was hoping they will ckd the turbo forester XT….

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 13 Thumb down 0
  • Songlap Songlap Malaysia on Feb 26, 2016 at 3:33 pm

    No idea why the Government allowed a car to be CKD in Malaysia when the car was a big failure in sales in Malaysia. You hardly can see a Forrester in town. Infact, there are more Ferraris in town thn there are Forresters.

    This shows, MITI and the Government don’t do their research. Probably got some big ang pow packet under the table, the Minister then just give approval to CKD this car here. No research done. How to lawan CX5 and X-Trail?

    Better for our stupid Government, and the stupid people at MAI, to try to bring down the prices of the existing CKD cars in Malaysia. Isn’t better to try to reduce the X-Trail and CX5 to about RM99k??

    Bodoh punya kerajaan.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 24 Thumb down 53
    • Everything want to blame the gov. Read the article to the end, and do understand the lase phrase “FHI will continue to work hand in hand with Tan Chong International to further enhance Subaru sales in the ASEAN region.” mean. If the CKD fail, no sale also gov will not rugi la.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 20 Thumb down 1
    • Please read on Feb 26, 2016 at 4:03 pm

      Did u even read the whole thing? its not for malaysia only. let me highlight the key point
      “The locally-assembled Subaru Forester is set to go on sale this spring in Malaysia Thailand and Indonesia, which is sometime between March-May 2016.” U sendiri bodoh cakap sini sana org lain bodoh. U think u smarter than FHI Deputy President Jun Kondo? OMG please go to school and learn boy. Pity to who pay your internet subscription, its a waste of money. better donate to poor anak yatim.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 26 Thumb down 0
      • RBA bashers din read. Just see the headline straightaway bash. He need to up his bash quota per day otherwise his t0k0ng no pay him

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 7
      • He is paid by DAP. So no real lost

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 11 Thumb down 16
    • kzm (Member) on Feb 26, 2016 at 4:11 pm

      how bout exporting those car?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 1
    • xxxxxxxxx on Feb 26, 2016 at 4:34 pm

      The Forester will be shipped to dealerships in Malaysia as well as exported to Thailand and Indonesia. The plan is to assemble an annual 8,000 to 10,000 or so, with about 9,000 seen rolling off the line in 2016.
      SUV demand in the ASEAN-India region rose 2.5-fold to 1.3 million units in the decade to 2015 and could reach 2.1 million in 2020, according to U.S. research company IHS Automotive.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 0
    • You should actually thank Subaru for making Malaysia their production hub for ASEAN unlike other brands such as Honda, Toyota and many others which set up their factory in Thailand making it the production hub for ASEAN region

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 18 Thumb down 1
  • Sand Nikka on Feb 26, 2016 at 4:21 pm

    Why bother? It is such an ugly suv.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 27
    • depend la on Feb 26, 2016 at 4:52 pm

      Forester target group age above 35, youngster think they ugly, older people think they handsome

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 21 Thumb down 0
    • sepul on Feb 26, 2016 at 5:11 pm

      Why bother comment here?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 1
  • Mr.Negativity on Feb 26, 2016 at 4:42 pm

    “What???car assembled in malaysia???better close shop…nasi lemak…..tido…no rv…” says some of paultan reader..peace.. :p

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 9
  • Turbo on Feb 26, 2016 at 4:45 pm

    Nice, CKD turbo sells $150k

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • Pooya on Feb 26, 2016 at 5:43 pm

    Why only now want to introduce CKD? Too slow and too late altready lah. People already buy X Trail, CX5, HRV, Tuscon, Santa Fe, santa Claus

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 6
  • Subaru dealer in Seremban has a large showroom but all you can see from outside are XV models. the showroom can display up to 6 cars but there is no Impreza or BRV, or Forester. And test drive cars also only XV. they are Subaru dealer or XV dealer? :(

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 2
    • Sammy Loo on Feb 28, 2016 at 7:48 pm

      Well the BR-V has not launched and it is from Honda.

      If you love BRZ, you can always get the Toyota 86 version. Better RV.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 3
  • Hello MI, you don’t want my money kah? Why aren’t you CKD-ing the Forester XT??!!! Give us the turbo!!!

    I’ve been waiting so long to upgrade my wife’s XV!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
  • Frustrated_xv_owner on Feb 26, 2016 at 7:47 pm

    MI still providing lausy after sales service and poor quality of some XV units (steering rack, peeled steering wheel surfaces, poor quality leaher seats, problem of rear wheel bearing, poor nvh..the list may go longer), and not so promising resale value. good luck to the sales.
    I like subaru, but not Motorimage.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 5
  • Aero (Member) on Feb 26, 2016 at 11:44 pm

    This is great news. If I’m honest, I don’t really like ANY of Subaru’s current cars (I only like their 90s Impreza), but regardless, Subaru has my full support, well above all other foreign badges here. They have already done reasonably well in the last few years, and I’m sure they will continue to grow in the future. It is my hope that FHI will one day construct their own assembly plant in Malaysia, with full body stamping and engine assembly lines. From then on, we would practically supply Subarus to the whole of ASEAN and possibly even the GCC and Australia. But that is a long-term vision… right now, Motor Image must sell enough Subarus in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand to justify future expansions. Also, Subaru owners tend to be very loyal to the brand, at least, in Western markets. MI should not slack in aftersales either. The next best model on the line is the Impreza (the future one, not current). If it is built here, it could very well become Subaru’s entry level model at around RM100k. I worry 2016 may be a difficult for Subaru in the big 3 ASEAN markets, but anyway, I wish them all the best.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 0
    • Sammy Loo on Feb 29, 2016 at 10:23 pm

      There is a reason why the westerners love the Subaru a lot (especially in North America).

      The Symmetrical AWD works best in the snow condition compared to the AWD offered by other makes. However in ASEAN region here we do not have snow, we have rain. It does not justify enough to pay the premium for a Subaru because it is closed to the price of a premium brand.

      The XV pre-facelift is giving huge discount that price below the competitors therefore it managed to sell slightly more, still way lesser than the Mazda CX-5 and the Honda CR-V.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
 

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