* Hasn't given up on 80 bln yen original op profit target
* To target 800,000-900,000 vehicle sales in 2015/16 -CEO
* Difficult to make decision on China plans by month-end -CEO
* Hopes to decide China production structure by March -CEO
(Adds details)
By Chang-Ran Kim and Kentaro Sugiyama
TOKYO, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd is still aiming for an operating profit of 80 billion yen ($960 million) as originally planned four years ago, instead of the 70 billion yen officially forecast for this year, its chief executive said.
Fuji Heavy, the maker of Subaru cars, is in its final year of a four-year business plan crafted in 2007, when the company had projected an operating profit of 80 billion yen assuming a far more favourable dollar rate of 110 yen.
"We haven't given up on the 80 billion yen," Chief Executive Officer Ikuo Mori told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday, noting that reaching the goal would be tough given the average dollar assumption of 86-87 yen this business year.
Fuji Heavy, owned 16.5 percent by Toyota Motor Corp, last month lifted its annual operating profit forecast to 70 billion yen as brisk sales in the United States and China helped offset damage from a stronger yen. A survey of 17 analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S put the average forecast at 81.5 billion yen for the year to March 31.
Mori said he expected Fuji Heavy to continue on the current growth path led by the Chinese and U.S. markets over the next five years, while stabilising sales and profits in Japan and Europe.
In the next five-year business plan starting in April, Fuji Heavy will likely target global sales of 800,000 to 900,000 vehicles in 2015/16, Mori said, an increase of as much as 36 percent from the 660,000 units forecast for this year.
"China will be key in the next business plan," Mori said, adding that he wanted to boost sales there to six digits. For 2010, Fuji Heavy is planning to sell 57,000 cars in China, the world's biggest auto market, all imported from Japan.
Fuji Heavy is in the midst of studying how to enter the Chinese market, either through a joint venture factory or through technology licensing to a local car maker, and had flagged a decision by the end of this year.
But Mori said he now hoped to finalise a plan by the end of the financial year on March 31 after running into unexpected difficulties, including mapping out a way to enter at the lowest possible cost.
"We are a niche maker and a small company, so we need to keep our initial outlays at a minimum," Mori said.
U.S. BOOST
Fuji Heavy has invested several billion yen this year to boost production capacity for Subaru models at its U.S. factory, in Indiana, to 163,000 units a year from 100,000 units. Mori said the plant was working on further capacity expansion as Subaru races to fill demand for its Legacy and Tribeca models.
Subaru's sales in the United States, its biggest market, have soared 23 percent in the year to date. At 237,126 units, sales through November have already surpassed the previous full-year record. Its incentives per vehicle are also low, at around $1,000 -- about half the average spent by Asian brands.
Subaru's inventories in the United States are low at just over a month's worth of stock, and Mori said he expected to bring this back to healthy levels of about two months during the January-March quarter.
Fuji Heavy's share price has soared 38 percent in the year to date, making it the best performer by far among Japanese automakers as its growth surpassed rivals' in the United States. Tokyo's transport sector subindex is down 4.9 percent so far this year. (Editing by Joseph Radford)