Tokyo - Fuji Heavy Industries said on Friday it expected to incur its first loss in 15 years due to the yen's advance and declining auto sales amid the slowdown of the global economy.

The automaker of the Subaru brand was to suffer a net loss of 19 billion yen (213.12 million dollars) for fiscal year 2008 that ends in March, compared to an earlier projection of 10 billion yen in profit.

Fuji Heavy also expected an operating loss of 9 billion yen and sales of 1.44 trillion yen against earlier projections of operating profit of 23 billion yen and sales of 1.6 trillion yen.

Auto sales would be down by 61,000 units, the company said.

The stronger yen and declining auto sales have caused other main Japanese automakers to suffer losses for the year. (dpa)