# Extensive Legacy and Outback facelift includes new front and rear styling plus premium-class interior
# 'Three engines in one' for 245 PS 3.0 litre models – now with stronger low-speed torque
# Offers three levels of engine performance at flick of a switch – economy, normal or sporty : SI DRIVE
# New steering-wheel paddle-shift for 3.0 litre automatic
# Retuned suspension for greater refinement and even smoother ride
# Involving driving dynamics continue throughout the all-wheel drive range with 45/55 front to rear torque-split for sharper turn-in
# Improved standard equipment includes HID headlamps with pop-out washers, electrically-folding door mirrors, front projector foglamps, six-disc in-dash CD autochanger with MP3 facility, dual-zone climate control with rear outlets and curtain airbags
# Standard active front head-restraints, dual-stage front airbags, head and chest-protecting side airbags and ABS with EBD
# Range starts at £17,995 OTR for 165 PS Legacy 2.0R saloon
# Progressive introduction throughout autumn 2006

Intelligent Mode optimises the fuel consumption of the 245 PS horizontally-opposed six-cylinder engine by conserving power and providing the driving efficiency of a good 2.0 litre petrol engine

while the manual-transmission Legacy 3.0R spec.B has a shift-up indicator to promote more economical driving.

This system also has a downshift blipping control which momentarily raises engine revs for smoother gear-changes which can be made between 20 and 40 per cent quicker.

Arata splendid masina asta...
Daca tot o fac penrtu europa de ce dreq nu-i pun si un diesel? Parca se dicuta ca subaru o sa scoata si un diesel cat de curand...

dizal ?where's the fun in that ?

Arata bine! Chiar sint curios la interior cum e and I quote "plus premium-class interior".

In schimb de ESP iarasi liniste...

19-09-2006: Fuji Heavy sees 2009 Europe sales at 100,000 units

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd, the maker of Subaru cars, is aiming to boost European sales by 60% from last year to 100,000 units in 2009 with the planned addition of diesel and compact cars, raising the importance of the region for its overall business, a top official said on Sept 19.

The niche car maker best known for its flat-four engines has been counting on its overseas operations to offset tough competition at home, where more than half of its sales come from low-profit minivehicles.

"So far this year, we're on track to achieve our target for record-high sales in Europe," Tomohiko Ikeda, a corporate vice president who heads Fuji Heavy's overseas sales and marketing division, told Reuters in an interview.

At 42,000 units, Subaru sales in Europe are up 7% for the first eight months of 2006 from the year-earlier period, as better-than-expected sales in the burgeoning Russian market made up for sliding sales in Britain. For the whole year, Subaru has targeted sales of 64,500 units, up 3.8% from 2005.

But Ikeda said real growth in Europe will come over the next several years when Subaru rolls out its first diesel cars around spring of 2008 starting with the flagship Legacy model. Subaru is also drawing up a blueprint for a B-segment car to enter a sector that commands almost one-third of the European market, he said.

"To survive as a brand in Europe, we'll need to play in these major segments of the market," Ikeda said at Fuji Heavy's headquarters in Tokyo.

Ikeda said Fuji Heavy has yet to decide whether to build the new B-segment model on its own or with Toyota Motor Corp, its biggest shareholder with 8.7%, adding that a decision would have to come by the end of this year.

The maker of the Forester and Tribeca models has no products in the B-class range, which typically refers to cars with engines of around 1,300cc, and developing a new platform on its own would incur costs beyond what volumes in Europe would be able to sustain.

But Ikeda noted that such cars were gaining a foothold even in the SUV-loving US market with the launch of Honda Motor Co's Fit and Toyota's Yaris, for starters, raising the possibility that development costs could be balanced with bigger global volumes.

Still, to sell smaller cars in North America would require stable sales of high-margin models such as the B9 Tribeca, Ikeda said, admitting that demand for its premium

SUV had fallen far short of expectations.

With US sales dogged by a fierce price war - Subaru was spending about US$3,000
per car in sales incentives for the 2006 model year - Ikeda said the European and Australian markets would have a bigger role in Fuji Heavy's car business and profit structure.

"The ratio of those two markets as a proportion of total sales is growing," he said, adding combined sales was expected to reach 150,000 units in 2009, compared with a forecast of 250,000 units for the United States.

Unlike in the United States, Subaru has been able to stay away from severe discounting in Europe thanks to the strength of its products, which are based on the unique symmetrical all-wheel-drive powertrain, Ikeda said.

The strong euro has also been a boon for Subaru, which exports its vehicles from Japan.

"Profitability in Europe has been quite stable since 2002, since the euro has remained strong and our pricing is high," Ikeda said.

Subaru plans to add more than 300 sales outlets in Europe, mostly in the emerging markets of the former Soviet states, bringing the number of dealerships to 1,370 in 2009, Ikeda said. - Reuters

Subaru, cu alte cuvinte, phucked up again ! Ofera 3 masini diferete pe 3 piete diferite, fara sa ofere aceleasi lucruri peste tot - nici macar ca optionale. Cunosc o gramada de indivizi care ar vrea 3.0 H6 in Legacy sau HID din fabrica, sau 6 speed...dupa cum si voi ati vrea turbo mai ales cel de 2 kile care s-ar potrivi pe piata Euro (prin prisma taxelor pe cilindree) - deci modelul Japonez. Dupa cum japonezii vor motorul de 2.5 L pe care il avem noi. Iar noi vrem cutiile manuale de pe modelele japo-euro. Sint oarecum scirbit de ideile de marketing de la Subaru. Daca m-ar alege pe mine director de marketing...le-as tripla venitul anual.