Fuji Heavy, GM Considering Car Recycling Operations For EU & Japan

Autoparts Report,  July 19, 2002  

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Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. and General Motors Corp. are jointly discussing a venture on car recycling operations in Europe and Japan, Fuji Heavy said. GM holds a 21.0 percent stake in Fuji Heavy. The U.S. and Japanese carmakers aim to jointly minimize costs in the collection and recycling of scrapped cars, which the European Union and the Japanese government will require by law within a few years.

Starting with cars sold in and after July this year, the EU will require all carmakers to collect scrapped vehicles from customers free of charge. Japan is also expected to enact a car recycling law in 2004.

Under a proposed plan, GM affiliate Adam Opel AG will collect and recycle scrapped cars on behalf of Fuji Heavy in Europe by using the German carmaker's network, a Fuji Heavy spokesman said. The move is expected to save Fuji Heavy costs in setting up its own network to collect cars. Fuji Heavy, maker of Subaru vehicles, sells around 40,000 units in Europe annually, close to 0.2 percent of total annual demand there.

Fuji Heavy said it is also in talks with a broader variety of GM group companies on the possibility of sharing information on car recycling technology, the company spokesman said. In Japan, Fuji Heavy is mulling car recycling collaborations not only within the GM group but also with other members of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers' Association, the company said.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Ron DeMarines
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning