Take Four Minutes to Watch 70 Years of Subaru History
Today marks the 70th anniversary of Subaru Corporation, the Japanese automaker that traces its roots back to the Aircraft Research Laboratory established in 1917. After a series of reorganizations, it was officially established as Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. on July 15, 1953.
Since its founding, Subaru has expanded into a variety of businesses—automotive, of course, but also aerospace, industrial products, eco-technologies, bus manufacturing and prefabricated housing businesses.
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The company introduced its first road-going vehicle in 1958, the Subaru 360, a minicar designed to fulfill the Japanese government's concept of a “people's car.” Since then, Subaru has continued to deliver distinctive technologies and products such as the Leone, Japan's first mass-produced AWD vehicle; the Legacy, which led the station wagon boom; and the EyeSight advanced driver-assist system.
Over the years, Subaru has received strong support from customers around the world, marking cumulative AWD production of 20 million units in 2021 and cumulative global sales of 5 million EyeSight-equipped Subaru vehicles in 2022.
If you have four minutes to spare, you should totally check out the following video:
Brief history of Subaru Corporation:
- 1917: Chikuhei Nakajima establishes the Aircraft Research Laboratory.
- 1918: The Aircraft Research Laboratory is renamed Nakajima Aircraft Factory (later incorporated as Nakajima Aircraft Co., Ltd. in 1931).
- 1945: Nakajima Aircraft Co., Ltd. is reorganized as Fuji Sangyo Co., Ltd. and shifts from aircraft manufacturing to the production of civilian goods.
- 1950: In accordance with the Company Reorganization Act, Fuji Sangyo Co., Ltd. is divided into 12 companies, including Fuji Kogyo, Fuji Jidosha Kogyo, and Utsunomiya Sharyo.
- 1953: Five of the 12 companies, including Fuji Kogyo, contribute capital to establish Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (Fuji Heavy Industries later acquires and merges with the five companies in 1955).
- 2017: Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. is renamed Subaru Corporation.
Origin of the Subaru Name
Subaru is the Japanese name for the Pleiades star cluster in the constellation of Taurus, also called "Mutsuraboshi" (Six Stars) in Japan. With the history that Fuji Heavy Industry was founded with capital contributions from five companies with roots in Nakajima Aircraft, and later acquired and merged with these five companies, the company adopted the name Subaru for its vehicles to symbolize the merger and unity of the six companies.
Incidentally, Subaru was the first brand to use a Japanese name for its vehicles.