Subaru Targets 17% Sales Growth in N. America Next Year

Fuji Heavy Industry Ltd. tells Bloomberg News its Subaru brand may hike its sales in North America to 700,000 cars by 2017 from an estimated 600,000 units this year.

Subaru hadn't expected to reach this year's sales volume until 2020. But deliveries in the U.S. have topped year-earlier levels for 45 consecutive months. Sales jumped 21% to 513,700 units in 2014 and were up 13% in the first eight months of this year, according to Autodata Corp.

Surging demand in America is more than offsetting weaker Subaru sales in China. CEO Yasuyuki Yoshinaga tells Bloomberg the company has been diverting shipments intended for China to the U.S. instead. He adds that exporting China's entire allocation to the U.S. wouldn't be enough to meet America's demand.

Yoshinaga notes Subaru plans to begin building an all-new seven-passenger SUV at its factory in Lafayette, Ind., sometime after 2017. The unnamed model will be sold exclusively in North America.