Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., the only Japanese automaker without Chinese government approval to start a joint venture, has put efforts on hold to build cars in the country, where demand growth is slowing.
Sales in China would not be enough to guarantee profitability, Akira Mabuchi, executive vice president in charge of the company's China project, said last week. The maker of Subaru cars won't start local production "even if the Chinese government approves" its planned carmaking venture with Chery Automobile Co., he said.
Fuji Heavy, the nation's best-performing carmaker last year, is showing declining interest in the world's largest auto market, where vehicle sales growth slowed to 6.9 percent last year, from 14 percent in 2013. China's economy is forecast to expand at the slowest pace since 1990 this year.