The first major overhaul of Subaru’s signature boxer powerplant in 21 years? Yes, and very much welcome. Who wouldn’t welcome a 10 per cent boost in fuel economy over the outgoing engine, and better performance overall? And there you have yet another left-brain reason to put a Subaru on your shopping list. A better engine.
Subaru, of course, is the rational brand, the auto company making cars with impeccable crash test scores, top-notch quality, world-class resale values and a small but loyal following. Small but growing, too.
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Ever since Subaru Canada cut prices in what was clearly a response to outraged buyers – buyers smart enough to have a look at how much less Americans were paying – sales north of the border have soared. Through the end of November, Canadian sales were up 21 per cent, market share was up two-tenths of a per cent and Subaru Canada vice-president Ted Lalka sees sales ending this month at about 27,500, an all-time record.
“I can see 33,000 next year,” he adds during a briefing on the new boxer making its debut in the Forester compact crossover wagon.
That’s a pretty amazing number, at least from Lalka’s perspective. He’s a Subaru lifer, a veteran of a couple of decades in the trenches, starting first at the company in an accounting role, then moving into various senior positions, from marketing to product planning. He, at least as much as anyone at Subaru Canada, remembers the dark days of the early 1990s when the company was struggling to sell 4,000 cars.
He also recalls Subaru’s aborted attempt to compete head-to-head with the Hondas and the Toyotas of the world. Utter disaster. “When we did try, our brand no longer stood for anything,” he says.
The Subaru Forester gets a facelift for 2011 - really not much more than a new grille and new colours. Oh, and more effective water-repellant seats. — Subaru
In desperation, in a last gasp before oblivion, Subaru struck on the novel idea of playing to its strength – all-wheel drive. From the mid-1990s onward, every Subaru in Canada and the United States has been equipped with AWD. That limits Subaru’s appeal in warm-weather climes, and the super price-conscious think Subies are just too expensive. Nonetheless, Subaru has a definable, easily understandable brand promise: AWD. If you don’t think that matters, ask yourself what General Motors stood for before bankruptcy.
Beyond AWD, every single Subaru model is a Top Safety Pick of the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Those are the guys whose vigorous crash tests should be a model for the federal government in both Canada and the U.S.
Resale? Automotive Lease Guide pegs Subaru as the top mainstream brand. After four years, your Subaru should be worth 41.9 per cent of its original sticker (Honda is No. 2 at 41.6 per cent). The Impreza, Legacy and WRX all topped their respective segments, too. Canadian Black Book, an ALG rival, says similar things about Subaru.
As for quality, the Subaru brand is ranked No. 7 overall by Consumer Reports for reliability, with the four-cylinder Legacy the highest-ranked Subie model. To be fair, J.D. Power and Associates ranks Subaru below-average for initial quality (the first 90 days), but above-average for three-year reliability. The initial quality score may be a reflection of the quirkiness of the Subaru brand, or the high expectations owners have, or who knows?
