Subaru of America

Main article: Subaru
Subaru of America, Inc.
Subsidiary
Founded 1968
Headquarters Cherry Hill, New Jersey, United States
Key people
 Tomomi Nakamura[1][2] (Chairman of the Board and CEO, Subaru of America)
Thomas J. Doll,[3][4] (President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Subaru of America)
Products Subaru vehicles in the United States market
Number of employees
 1,500
Parent Fuji Heavy Industries
Website Subaru.com

Subaru of America, Inc. (commonly known as SOA), based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, is the United States-based distributor of Subaru's brand vehicles, a subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries of Japan. The company markets and distributes Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive vehicles, parts and accessories through a network with approximately 600 dealers throughout the United States.

In 1965 Malcolm Bricklin started selling franchises for motor scooters that included the Fuji Rabbit and the tiny Subaru 360. Bricklin made a deal with Subaru to introduce those cars to the United States. Malcolm formed Subaru of America, Inc. to sell Subaru franchises and brought in Harvey Lamm as the COO.

Subaru of America was established in 1968 in Philadelphia. The headquarters moved to the current Cherry Hill, New Jersey, facility in 1986 when it was fully acquired by Fuji Heavy Industries.

In 1989 Subaru and then-partner Isuzu opened a joint factory in Lafayette, Indiana, called Subaru-Isuzu Automotive, Inc., or SIA, which initially manufactured the Subaru Legacy and Isuzu Rodeo. In 2001 Isuzu sold its stake in the plant to FHI for $1 due to flagging sales and it was renamed Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. SIA has been designated a backyard wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation, and has achieved a zero-landfill production designation.

Subaru and Isuzu were both under the General Motors umbrella from 1999–2005 and part of the Toyota group from 2007 to the present.[5]

Products

Subaru cars available in North America:

Present models

Past models

Motorsports

With the rise of rally racing, and the import scene in the U.S., the introduction of the highly anticipated Subaru Impreza WRX in 2001 was successful in bringing high performance, AWD compact cars into the sports car mainstream. Subaru supplies a factory-backed team for Rally America, and has won the driver's title in five of the seasons.[6]

Starting in 2006, Subaru of America sponsored the Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) with a Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT Spec-B in the Grand-Am Street Tuner class. In 2010, SRRT campaigns a WRX STI in the Grand Sport class.[7]

Campaign

Subaru of America launched an advertising campaign for the 2011 Mediocrity to represent the blandness of mid-sized sedans. The ad campaign presents a fictitious vehicle that lampoons the American mid-sized sedan market. Without directly attacking any specific automobile manufacturer, the 2011 Mediocrity is a sedan that exemplifies all of the typical and non-surprising features that are found in the marketplace in 2010.

See also

References

External links

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