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Sep 23, 2018 · The first president and CEO of Fuji Heavy Industries, Kenji Kita, recognized the enormity of the opportunity that void presented. Despite being relatively unknown outside his native country, he is one of the most influential executives of the post-war auto industry in Japan.
- Jim Donnelly
Kenji Kita’s tenure at Fuji Heavy Industries set the foundation for what Subaru is today. His insistence on a distinctly Japanese identity for the brand, symbolized by the name Subaru, and his pioneering efforts in car manufacturing paved the way for the company’s future successes.
Kenji Kita, CEO of Fuji Heavy Industries at the time, wanted the new company to be involved in car manufacturing and soon began plans for building a car with the development code-name P-1. Kita canvassed the company for suggestions about naming the P1, but none of the proposals were appealing enough.
- Kenji Kita, Chikuhei Nakajima
- Automotive
- Ebisu, Shibuya, Japan
- Automobiles
The origin of the Subaru name and logo dates back to the 1950s, when Kenji Kita was the first president of Subaru Corporation, formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. Mr. Kita was passionate about one thing: producing passenger cars.
Kenji Kita, the CEO of Fuji Heavy Industries at the time, wanted the new company to be involved in car manufacturing. Kita canvassed the company’s employees for possible names for its first car, the Subaru P1, in 1954, but none of the proposals was appealing.
Apr 27, 2018 · Its chief executive, Kenji Kita, saw car manufacturing as the next logical step in Japan’s motorization revolution and pushed through the building of a prototype called the P-1.
Led by then-CEO Kenji Kita, FHI created Subaru, named after the Japanese name for the Pleiades star cluster. The very first automobile to bear the famous Subaru star logo (inspired by the Pleiades stars) was the 1500, also known as the P-1.
