In the the April 2015 to April 2016 financial year, Subaru sold 965,892 all-wheel-drive vehicles, which accounted for 15.2% of the entire global market, putting the the Japanese manufacturer ahead of Audi, according to an Autocar report. Jaguar Land Rover was ranked fifth in the global all-wheel-drive sales stakes, mostly due to the Land Rover part of the group’s portfolio.
Subaru Corporation, previously known as Fuji Heavy Industries is an entity made up of many parts, and 94% of its income is derived from the automotive division; its aerospace division accounts for just 4.7%. The United States, is an important market for Subaru, as it accounts for 60% of its global sales figure.
Domestically, Subaru was better known for its range of kei cars, with the Subaru 360 the first to emerge. The Japanese company’s first all-wheel-drive car was the Subaru Leone station wagon, which proceeded to become the world’s best all-wheel-drive car, and set the foundations for the even more popular Subaru Legacy sedan and wagon in 1989.
It would also appear that Subaru’s brand strength hasn’t quite made it across the Atlantic: Europe saw the sale of 50,000 cars this year, which is less than what it achieves in the US in a month. In the United Kingdom, annual sales stand below 4,000 units.
The US market can also be credited with driving the peak of the company’s upswing in 2016, with 615,000 coming from the US that year. Subaru has a factory in Indiana, which is slated to produce 400,000 vehicles by the end of this year, with the aim of producing 436,000 units annually by 2019.
Subaru’s success was attributed to its AWD layout to a straightforward vehicle line-up; a relatively simple choice of boxer-four (and in some selections, six) cylinder engines, one kind of running gear, one platform for all models from the XV up to a rumoured seven-seater SUV.
Subaru’s eight closely-related models are built from the same basic archiecture, which now already underpins the new XV and Crossrtrek, with the Ascent SUV due for debut next year, according to the report. The remaining models will adopt the new platform over the next three years.
Autocar speculation is that Subaru could build an all-electric crossover similar in size to the Forester by 2021, due to California regulations which require to company to produce an electric vehicle; similar regulations are also in place for other US states. The EV crossover is expected to be an adaptation of the existing platform.
Under Subaru’s ‘Prominence 2020 plan, the company aims to be building more than 1.2 million cars annually by decade’s end, and it also wants to be ‘number one for customer trust’ and to also hve industry-leading profitability. In the last three months of 2016, operating profit was tagged at just over £1 billion (RM5.5 billion), with an 18.4% profit margin.
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Japanese overlords have beaten the Germans. Now, the automotive world is conquered by Japanese and China. Let us pay homage and bow to China and Japanese. They have saved Proton and even Malaysia.
Thank you Japan. Thank you China!
Alhamdulillah
It is a good car with its iconic AWD. It sold so few here previously due to it being a CBU and as such price itself way out of the competition.
We can see the numbers increasing by so much after the XV is assembled here, followed by the Forester. These two models are now priced very competitively although other models like the BR-Z and WRX/STi etc are still CBU.
We hate this car..people who buy subaru’s are loaded..they dont default..same goes with madza..thankfully we have the shiity civic, crv, cheapy toyota and the 2 pees…and with new vw’s and accord with shiity gearbox my members tow truck business can expand..we looking at 20 more tow trucks to be place at all major highways to help u guys…
I presume they only counted AWD models sold by both, so FWD Audis not included, and RWD Subarus (Subaru BRZ) not included. Which probably explains how Subaru sold more than Audi considering their more niche approach to making cars.
Audi does not sell much AWD cars anymore. Most of their cars these days are FWD. Unlike Subaru which sells mostly AWD cars So this survey does not mean much.
The new XV will sell well if the price do not increase too much.
Heck, their throwing prices for XV. New at Rm110k! Same price as Civic poorfag specs.
xv looks good. love it.
Classic niche finding.
Subaru is small, by global car manufacturer standards. But the niche in awd is well strategised.
Brand catchet is so difficult. It seems the US is the no 1 for brand marketing, exemplified by Lexus who are in the same or higher bracket with Merc, Audi BMW. Infiniti, Acura can also lay claim and sell more than Audi. Marketing pays off bigly in the US, but not so in Europe and Asia where what your neighbour/colleague/clubber drives determines what you drive. And too few ppl drive a Subaru.
Subaru can’t compete in Europe as the fuel economy is behind European models. And the need for 4WD is quite low. Nevertheless, quite a few Subarus can be seen in the Nordic area due to great grip on icey roads (and lower fuel prices there)
Please bring the Impreza 5-speed manual to Malaysia please!!!
Please bring the Impreza 5-speed manual here!
subaru is at its most boring period…but also the best selling