Subaru of America
 |
|
| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1968 |
| Headquarters | Cherry Hill, New Jersey, United States |
| Key people | Takeshi Tachimori (Chairman of the Board, President and CEO, Subaru of America) Thomas J. Doll, (Executive vice president, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Subaru USA) |
| Products | Subaru vehicles in the United States market |
| Employees | 1,500 |
| Parent | Fuji Heavy Industries |
| Website | Subaru.com |
Subaru of America, Inc. (commonly known as SOA), based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, is the United States-based distributor of Subaru's brand vehicles, a subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries of Japan. The company markets and distributes Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive vehicles, parts and accessories through a network with approximately 600 dealers throughout the United States.
In 1965, Malcolm Bricklin started selling franchises for motor scooters that included the Fuji Rabbit and the tiny Subaru 360. Bricklin made a deal with Subaru to introduce those cars to the United States. Malcolm and his partner, Harvey Lamm, formed Subaru of America, Inc. to sell Subaru franchises.
Subaru of America was established in 1968 in Philadelphia. The headquarters moved to the current Cherry Hill, New Jersey, facility in 1986 when it was fully acquired by Fuji Heavy Industries.
In 1989, Subaru and then-partner Isuzu opened a joint factory in Lafayette, Indiana called Subaru-Isuzu Automotive, Inc., or SIA, which initially manufactured the Subaru Legacy and Isuzu Rodeo. In 2001, Isuzu sold their stake in the plant to FHI for $1 due to flagging sales and it was renamed Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. SIA has been designated a backyard wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation and has achieved a zero-landfill production designation.
Subaru and Isuzu were both under the General Motors umbrella from 1999–2005 and part of the Toyota group from 2007 to the present.[1]
Contents |
Products [edit]
Subaru cars available in North America:
Present models [edit]
- Subaru Impreza 1993 - current
- Subaru Impreza WRX 2002 - current
- Subaru Impreza WRX STI 2004 - current
- Subaru XV Crosstrek 2013 - current
- Subaru Legacy 1990 - current
- Subaru Outback 1996 - current
- Subaru Forester 1997 - current
- Subaru Tribeca 2006 - current
- Subaru BRZ 2011 - current
Past models [edit]
- Subaru Justy 1987 - 1994
- Subaru Leone 1972 - 1994
- Subaru XT 1985 - 1991
- Subaru SVX 1992 -1997
- Subaru BRAT 1978 - 1987
- Subaru Baja 2003 - 2006
Motorsports [edit]
Subaru Rally Team Japan led by Noriyuki Koseki (founder of Subaru Tecnica International or STI) ran Subaru Leone coupé, sedan DL, RX (SRX) and RX Turbo in the World Rally Championship between 1980 and 1989. Drivers for individual rallies included Ari Vatanen, Per Eklund, Shekhar Mehta, Mike Kirkland, Possum Bourne, and Harald Demut. Mike Kirkland finished 6th overall and won the A Group at the 1986 Safari Rally. That year Subaru was one of the only manufacturers combining 4WD and turbo. Subaru changed the rally model to Legacy RS for the 1990-1992 period and took part in the first complete season in the World Rally Championship with the same model in 1993.
Modified versions of the Impreza WRX and WRX STI have been competing successfully in rallying; drivers Colin McRae (1995), Richard Burns (2001), and Petter Solberg (2003) have won World Rally Championship drivers' titles with the Subaru World Rally Team, and Subaru took the manufacturers' title three years in a row from 1995 to 1997. Subaru's World Rally Championship cars are prepared and run by Prodrive, a British motorsport team.
Subaru was briefly involved in Formula One circuit racing when it bought a controlling interest in the Italian Coloni team for the 1990 season. The Coloni 3B's 12-cylinder engine was badged as a Subaru and shared the boxer layout with the company's own engines, but was an existing design built by Italian firm Motori Moderni. The cars were overweight and underpowered and the partnership broke down before the season finished.[2] With the rise of rally racing, and the import scene in the U.S., the introduction of the highly anticipated Subaru Impreza WRX in 2001 was successful in bringing high performance, AWD compact cars into the sports car mainstream. Subaru supplies a factory-backed team for Rally America, and has won the driver's title in five of the seasons.[3]
Starting in 2006, Subaru of America sponsored the Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) with a Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT Spec-B in the Grand-Am Street Tuner class. In 2010, SRRT campaigns a WRX STI in the Grand Sport class.[4]
Subaru would no longer be competing in the World Rally Championships after 2008 due global economic slowdown, combined with a car that still needed development for the 2009 season, and a change in regulations for the 2010 season.[5]
Campaign [edit]
Subaru of America launched an advertising campaign for the 2011 Mediocrity to represent the blandness of mid-sized sedans. The ad campaign presents a fictitious vehicle that lampoons the American mid-sized sedan market. Without directly attacking any specific automobile manufacturer, the 2011 Mediocrity is a sedan that exemplifies all of the typical and non-surprising features that are found in the marketplace in 2010.
See also [edit]
- Subaru
- Subaru Industrial Power Products
- Subaru of Indiana Automotive
- Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
References [edit]
- ^ "Toyota to buy Fuji shares in GM selloff". The Japan Times online. 2005-10-06. Retrieved 2010-09-23.
- ^ Subaru Performance magazine version 4.3
- ^ "Congratulations Travis Pastrana". TheRallyBlog.com. 2009-08-30. Retrieved 2010-09-23.
- ^ "Subaru Impreza WRX STI SRRT racecars". Carsession.com. 2010-02-01. Retrieved 2010-09-23.
- ^ "Subaru pull out of World Rallying". BBC News. 2008-12-16. Retrieved 2010-09-23.
External links [edit]
| « previous — Subaru, a division of Fuji Heavy Industries, vehicle timeline, 1990s–present | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Type | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| Kei car | Rex | Vivio | Pleo | Pleo | |||||||||||||||||||||
| R1 (RJ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| R2 (RC) | Lucra | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stella | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kei truck/Microvan | Sambar / Domingo | Sambar | Dias Wagon | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Subcompact | Justy KA | Justy GM M platform | Justy HT51S | Justy M310S | Trezia | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Impreza I GC/GF/GM | Impreza II GD/GG | Dex | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Compact | Leone/Loyale AC/AG/AN | Leone delivery van Y10 | Leone delivery van Y11 | Impreza III GE/GH/GR/GV | Impreza IV GJ/GP | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Legacy I BC/BF/BJ | Legacy II BD/BG/BK | Legacy III BE/BH | Legacy IV BL/BP | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Outback I BG | Outback II BH | Outback III BP | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mid-size | Legacy V BM/BR | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sports coupé | Alcyone XT AX | Alcyone SVX CX | BRZ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Compact MPV | Traviq GM T platform | Exiga YA | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Crossover/SUV | Bighorn | Bighorn | Forester I SF | Forester II SG | Forester III SH | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Outback IV BR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tribeca WX | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coupe Utility | BRAT | Baja BT | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Engines | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Historic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Concept | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Miscellaneous | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
