Subaru (In katakana: スバル), a Japanese car company, is a subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries. General Motors is a 20% minority shareholder. "Subaru" is the Japanese word for the star cluster Pleiades that is depicted in the company logo.
While an automotive minnow compared to many of its competitors, Subaru has been a highly profitable company for many years. It is noted for the production of conventional-bodied cars with full-time all wheel drive (in fact, in many markets its entire product range has this feature) and its use of the horizontally-opposed boxer engine (flat engine).
Subaru's best-known vehicles are high performance turbocharged versions of its Legacy (known as Liberty in Australia), and Impreza, which offer outstanding performance and handling at relatively affordable prices. Modified versions of the Impreza WRX have been competing successfully in car rallies and the World Rally Championship for many years. Several endurance records were set in the early and mid-ninties by the Legacy.
A distinction of Subaru vehicles is that they have smooth running "Boxer" engines.
Subaru cars (especially Imprezas) are sometimes affectionately referred to as "Scooby-Doos" or "Scoobies", due to the similarity in pronunciation between "Subaru" and "Scooby Doo".
Recently GM has developed the Saab 9-2X model, based on the Subaru WRX.
Present models
Past models
Related topics
Subaru VIN codes
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