Subaru's Quiet Road to Success
Washington DC January 8, 2009; The AIADA newsletter reported what is it about Subaru? Their cars don't get eye-popping fuel economy. They don't sell hybrids, super-hot sports cars, or other attention-grabbing metal. And good luck wringing a rebate out of the dealer. "It's not an exciting brand," Todd Turner, president of consulting firm Car Concepts, tells the L.A. Times.
Subaru owners "get a reliable, albeit not very flashy, mode of transportation. The people who drive Subaru's don't really care what you think about what they drive." All of which makes it surprising that Subaru managed to achieve sales growth in 2008 in a U.S. new-car market that was, literally, a car wreck.
It wasn't much of a gain — just 0.3 percent compared with 2007. But it was a stellar performance when compared to the double-digit declines racked up by almost every other automaker. And Subaru did it while offering the lowest incentives of any major car maker — an average of $889 per vehicle versus an industry average of $2,566, according to Edmunds.com.
A major driver of Subaru's sales last year was the redesigned Forester, which helped boost the model's sales by almost 37 percent compared to 2007.
For more on how Subaru managed to get ahead in '08, and who is buying their cars, click here.