Posted Thursday, August 22, 2024 at 10:11pm
Walk around any convention-style car show, and the Subaru section is likely to stand out. Leaning into its popularity among outdoorsy types, the carmaker displays its latest models not on sterile stages but in oases of synthetic trees and puppies. So crunchy is the brand’s vibe that it’s surprising an EV wasn’t among those models until early 2023, when Subaru launched the Solterra in the US.
However, Subaru’s slow burn seems to be paying off. The carmaker sold 4,200 Solterras in the US in the second quarter, according to Cox Automotive — nearly triple the model’s sales in the same period last year. Another breakout hit, the bZ4X from Toyota, notched 7,600 sales in the second quarter, up almost four-fold from the year-earlier period. (It hit the US market at the end of 2022.)
Posted Sunday, July 28, 2024 at 9:47pm
Elections have consequences — including for the product plans of midsize Japanese automakers.
Subaru is slowly working on a redesign of its three-row Ascent crossover, but the brand’s largest vehicle will be replaced by the three-row electric vehicle being built in Kentucky by Toyota if regulations tightening emissions remain in place. However, if the November election outcome changes emission requirements, the gasoline-fueled Ascent will be redesigned and offer a hybrid variant alongside the Toyota-built EV.
Subaru’s plans include four EVs for North America and cooperation with partner Toyota to produce some of them in North America, where they would qualify for federal tax credits.
Subaru is expected to consolidate production of its Outback midsize crossover in Japan in 2025 and produce a hybrid version in 2026, freeing up capacity to produce EVs in the U.S. to qualify for federal tax incentives.
Posted Tuesday, July 9, 2024 at 11:27pm
Stunt cars are the new concept cars, and that’s OK. I miss far-flung exotic design studies that “run” on plutonium as much as the next guy, but let’s not overlook the fact that companies like Ford and Subaru keep making killer performance machines that actually drive, which is more than most concepts can say. The latest from Subaru is the Project Midnight WRX, a 670-horsepower asphalt rocket built for ex-F1… Read More →
Posted Saturday, June 29, 2024 at 11:02pm
Some automakers are trying to save the manuals while others are attempting to rescue the internal combustion engine. Toyota, Mazda, and Subaru held a joint conference to explain how decarbonization can be achieved without going all-in on EVs. Toyota has three new smaller and more efficient engines in the works. Mazda is pursuing single- and two-rotor engines. Here’s what Subaru is cooking up. It has figured out how to keep its horizontally opposed… Read More →
Posted Saturday, June 1, 2024 at 9:36pm
On Tuesday, May 28, Toyota, Subaru, and Mazda announced a lineup of innovative new combustion engines that can be used either in a stand-alone or hybrid form in conjunction with a battery. The new engines will be combustion engines but also compatible with alternative fuels such as e-fuel (synthetic fuel), biofuels, and liquid hydrogen. Liquid hydrogen, provided the hydrogen is made from electrolysis, emits zero carbon dioxide (CO2). And while… Read More →
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