---

Subaru Announces Year End Results

5 January 1998

Subaru Posts Record Year in 1997; Best Unit Sales Since 1989

    CHERRY HILL, N.J., Jan. 5 -- Subaru of America today
announced its year end sales figures for 1997.  The company posted total unit
sales of 133,783, an 11 percent increase over 1996 sales figures (120,748) and
its best unit sales year since 1989.
    The Legacy model line led sales with 92,913 total units posted.  The
Outback accounted for 54,594 units of the Legacy line-up.  The Impreza model
line totaled 24,242 for 1997.  Forester, the company's all-new passenger
car-based sport utility vehicle, introduced in July 1997, posted 15,988 total
units.
    Over the past two years, Subaru has been among the industry's fastest
growing brands with unit sales increasing by more than 31 percent while the
industry has remained nearly flat over the same period.  Those sales helped
the company to generate all-time record revenues of $2.5 billion in 1997.
    "By all measures, 1997 was an outstanding year for Subaru -- probably the
best in our history," commented George Muller, president and chief operating
officer for Subaru of America, Inc.  "We attribute our success to:  having a
clear focus on our position in the market and what we do best, strong
marketing and communication programs, and great new product offerings, such as
the Outback and Forester, which deliver consumers a unique and `best of both'
approach."
    Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy
Industries Ltd. of Japan.  Headquartered near Philadelphia, the company
markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts and accessories through a
network of nearly 630 franchised dealers across the United States.  All Legacy
models sold in the U.S., including the Outback, are produced at the company's
American manufacturing plant, Subaru-Isuzu Automotive, Inc., near Lafayette,
Ind.

SOURCE  Subaru of America, Inc.