In a filing with The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, Tan Chong International Limited (TCIL) and Subaru Corporation have announced they will end complete knock down (CKD) operations in Southeast Asia.
“After careful consideration, TCIL and Subaru Corporation have jointly decided to undergo a proactive business transformation by phasing out the existing CKD business model, which is believed to be no longer sustainable in the long term,” read the business update.
“From next year, the CKD markets in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia will transition to a complete build up (CBU) sales model from Japan,” it continued. Despite the move, both parties will continue to explore additional viable business avenues together in these markets.
From a Malaysian context, Tan Chong Motor Assemblies (TCMA) – a subsidiary of Tan Chong Motor Holdings (TCMH) – in Segambut makes the second-generation XV for local and export markets. The company also previously assembled the fourth-generation Forester, although assembly of the fifth-generation model was shifted to Thailand. TCIL and Subaru Corporation formed a joint venture – Tan Chong Subaru Automotive (Thailand), or TCSAT – in February 2017 to assemble Subaru vehicles in Thailand.
“TCIL and Subaru Corporation are confident that this strategic decision will position Subaru for continued success in these dynamic markets. As TCIL embarks on this new chapter together with Subaru Corporation, both TCIL and Subaru Corporation remain steadfast in their commitment to delivering exceptional value to customers, partners and stakeholders,” the statement ended.
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This means subaru prices will go up due to prohibitive import tariffs and cost of acquiring AP. Reason why sale of truck based SUV’s are it sold locally as cost makes it uncompetitive even if it’s available in all of our ASEAN. Neighbours.
Best time 2 sapu Subaru XV. RV will jump 200%
It only means no future for this brand
They selling even less than VW
Tan Chong group is being run to the ground by this generation of descendants. Their father’s hard work destroyed within just one generation. Looks like they don’t even have to wait for 3 generations to see it all turn to dust. Tan Chong destroyed the Nissan brand in Malaysia, and now they’ve destroyed the Subaru brand too. Just check on various forums that have comments from former staff of Tan Chong group and you can see why this company is gonna crash and burn.
Even Japan carmaker has abandoned Malaysia. Ini semue salah PH Gomen
Walaun
The XV was once very popular but no update in term of design. The handling of subaru have the conti driving feel. The AWD is the best among jap cars.
Not really in current CVT lineups, it is overrated capability by marketing. Once market is trending to EVs, the superiority of Subaru has been deminishing.
LoL because of EVs… Sure. Sure.
Will they still honor the 5 years Free Service they are offering now to the customers?
With only CBU models, sales of new Subaru will definitely drop significantly which means, more dealerships will be closing down. How long can they sustain they After-Sales business?
Shame to see this happening, but it was inevitable that sales of Subarus SUVs were declining compared to Proton, Toyota, Mazda and Honda. The SUV space where the XV and Forester is sold is ultra competitive now with SUVs from China and new BEVs. XV and Forrester looks dated compared to offering by its competitors.
Ckd at current 156k price, cars are hardsell. 2023 cars still avail at 20k now. Imagine cbu at higher price. This may have an impact on the dealership, servicing and parts cost. Not great news.
The news article uses ‘not sustainable’ …means losses after losses.
aiya subaru japan and fuji heavy industries time to give up tan ah chong and his joker of a son glenn as your sea distributors, his stupid adverts super meaningless and your cars deserve a better team to sell
I’m surprised they didn’t do this sooner, like 12 or 18 months ago. It’s obvious to see that Subaru doesn’t deem Southeast Asia as a profitable market. They’ve been consolidating most of their marketing to the US and Canada regions, where come models like the Crosstrek/XV are popular.
So my XV doesn’t have a rear anti-collision bar because it’s a CKD model. I just found out about this after I got hit from a distrated car behind. The Subaru dealer told me that the XV doesn’t have it because it’s a CKD model, but other models like the Forester do.
Did the Thailand plant ever come close to reaching the 100k annual capacity?
Malaysia welcomes cheap cars from china. the rest can leave to Thailand or Indonesia or anywhere else. We like junk cars just like the cheap fancy shoes for women. All those reliable proven cars and the companies please leave. Jees… where are we going ? *shakes head*
When the subaru designer still design interior from the 80s, it’s a Kodak moment. Buyer no longer want to buy ugly car like subaru where they still harping on their wrx glory days with plasticky interior. Compare with what china is churning out for the consumers, people will spend on nice design and if you look at Jaecoo J7, their offroad capability is not to be laughed at.
Bye bye subaru, you wont be missed.
Start with their white product “bungkus” now their vehicle in the brink of extinction if they don’t do anything to fight with Chinese product