Virtue may be its own reward, but sometimes it also helps to sell cars. That's the Subaru story.
Subaru is a pint-sized global car company, yet business is thriving. Sales in Canada are up nearly 8 per cent on the year, while the overall market is down nearly 22 per cent.
There's a reason for this. Subaru builds good, reliable and safe cars — family-type wagons, hatchbacks and sedans that in other words don't break. Consumer Reports sings the praises of Subaru's quality and the chorus also includes J.D. Power and Associates' Vehicle Dependability Study, which measures reliability over three years.
All four models in the Subaru lineup — the Impreza, Forester, Legacy/Outback and Tribeca — are Top Safety Picks from the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Automotive Lease Guide reports that Subaru has the fourth-best resale value among mainstream brands after four years.
Yet Subaru is a niche player in Canada and the rest of the world. Global sales came to about 600,000 in 2008, while in Canada, Subaru moved 20,000 cars last year. Peanuts. Toyota sold 200,000-plus in Canada last year and 8.9 million around the world. Toyota is the world's biggest car company, while Subaru ranks No. 20.
One problem is that Subarus are not cheap. The least-expensive Legacy mid-size sedan, for instance, lists for $26,995. That's the super-low-emissions PZEV version rated at a rather lacklustre 170 horsepower.
Sure, the Legacy, like all Subarus, is all-wheel-drive, but in a tight-money market, there is no denying the fact that the starter version of the 2010 Toyota Camry — front-wheel-drive — lists for $2,345 less at $24,650. Value is all well and good, but the actual price matters, too.
Then there is the Subaru engine. It's a type called a "boxer" design, which means the cylinders oppose one another like a "V" engine turned on its side. It's tough to explain the benefits of the boxer; it's an unusual design used only by Subaru and Porsche. But this much is certain: Four-cylinder boxers are inherently smoother than more upright four-bangers and they have a lower centre of gravity ,which helps with stability and cornering.
Subaru's growth has also been constrained by the lack of a broad range of models of all shapes, sizes, types and powertrains. On top of that, Subaru lacks a hybrid gasoline-electric model. Rivals such as Toyota, Honda, Ford and General Motors are falling all over themselves pushing hybrids and electrics, but not Subaru.
Subaru does have an excellent all-wheel-drive system. Yet because AWD is standard across the board, fuel-efficiency is nothing special. No one particularly sexy drives a Subaru, either. Hollywood darlings like Cameron Diaz and Leonardo DiCaprio drive Toyota Prius hybrids.
Another problem is design. All four Subaru models look more unpretentious than breathtaking. Moreover, when Subaru has tried to strike out in a daring design direction, the effort has not been well rewarded and the damage has stuck.
Take the Tribeca SUV. It arrived in 2006 as a top-of the-line model with an odd-looking front end that blended Subaru's aircraft heritage with an Alfa Romeo beak. The cabin was equally weird — swoopy and rounded and more than a little startling.
The designer tried to explain all this to me, but I was distracted by his floppy, oversized clown shoes. I was sure he'd trip over them when he did the design walk-around.
And the name? What was up with that? When the Tribeca first hit showrooms it was called the B9 Tribeca. Subaru's honchos apparently couldn't make up their minds, so they picked two names. The B9 part has since been kicked, but why name a Subaru after a Manhattan neighbourhood, anyway?
At least the Tribeca has been given a styling makeover; it now resembles Chrysler's discontinued Pacifica crossover, which is not all bad. And the Tribeca is safe and reliable, and commands a small but loyal following.
There have been other odd Subarus, too. In 2005, Subaru sold something called the Baja, which was a Legacy station wagon with a pickup truck rear end. Then there was the SVX sports car. It had a window within a window on each side and a flat, wide stance that was ungainly. It looked nothing like anything else in Subaru's showrooms at the time. Before that, Subaru had something called the Brat. It was a two-seater with a cargo bed. Very weird.
