Subaru has had a phenomenally successful run in the U.S. over the past few years, regularly exceeding sales projections to the point of struggling to keep pace with demand. Now that America is addicted to that Subaru crack, they've got even bigger plans for us.
Those plans, according to Automotive News, include targeting a 20 percent sales increase by 2020, a new platform to underpin several cars, more efficient engines, and a new 7-passenger SUV to replace the little-loved Tribeca.
Subaru — the sole brand to increase U.S. sales in each of the past six years — hopes to increase sales to 600,000 annually, up from 478,000 in North America during fiscal year 2013.
They'll do it with an all-new modular platform called Subaru Global Platform that will underpin everything from the Impreza to the Outback. Modular platforms, which can be configured to suit different sizes of vehicles, seem to be the next big thing in vehicle production, and Subaru is now getting in on that too. This new platform will debut on the next-generation Impreza, Automotive News says.
There are no concrete details about their big SUV quite yet, but it should debut between 2016 and 2020 and it could be produced in North America. Other plans include a plug-in hybrid, efficient engines that could possibly use the Atkinson cycle like the new Accord Hybrid, and motors with cylinder deactivation.
Considering the success Subaru has had lately with both sales and profits, they should be well-poised to pull this off. It's great to see what was once a small niche brand really start to hit the bigtime. Good thing they're still taking care of the enthusiasts too.
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