Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd said it no longer expects to start building cars in China as part of a five-year growth plan that runs until March 2016, and lowered its global sales target for the final year by 50,000 vehicles.

The maker of Subaru cars had mapped out the plan in July last year, aiming to boost global sales by 40 percent to 900,000 vehicles by March 2016, driven in large part by a tripling in Chinese sales.

Fuji Heavy said on Tuesday that it would continue to import cars into China after an unsuccessful bid to obtain Chinese government approval for a joint venture with local carmaker Chery Automobile Co Ltd to build Subaru cars.