Seattle’s first choice for all of your “Subaru” repairs and maintenance needs. Call 253–872–7468

Here is a brief history about the the vehicle we are so good at repairing in Seattle: The Subaru:

Subaru is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI).

“Subaru” is internationally known for their use of boxer engines in most of their vehicles above 1500cc as well as their use of the “all wheel drive” drive-train (Seattle AWD) layout, first introduced in 1972, that became standard equipment for mid-size and smaller cars in most international markets as of 1996. They also offer many turbocharged versions of their passenger cars, such as the Impreza WRX.

Subaru is the Japanese name for the Pleiades star cluster, which in turn inspires the Subaru logo and alludes to the six companies that merged to create FHI.

FHI started out as The Aircraft Research Laboratory in 1917 headed by Chikuhei Nakajima. In 1932, the company was reorganized as Nakajima Aircraft Company, Ltd and soon became the primary manufacturer of aircraft for Japan during World War II. At the end of the Second World War Nakajima Aircraft was again reorganized, this time as Fuji Sangyo Co, Ltd. In 1946, the company created the Fuji Rabbit motor scooter with spare aircraft parts from the war. In 1950, Fuji Sangyo was divided into 12 smaller corporations according to the Japanese Government’s 1950 Corporate Credit Rearrangement Act, anti-zaibatsu legislation, but between 1953–1955, four of these corporations and a newly formed corporation Fuji Kogyo, a scooter manufacturer; coach-builders Fuji Jidosha; engine manufacturers Omiya Fuji Kogyo; chassis builders Utsunomiya Sharyo and the Tokyo Fuji Dangyo trading company  decided to merge together to form the Fuji Heavy Industries known today.

Kenji Kita, the CEO of Fuji Heavy Industries at the time, wanted the new company to be involved in car manufacturing and soon began plans for building a car with the development code-name P-1. Mr. Kita canvassed the Company for suggestions about naming the P1, but none of the proposals were appealing enough. In the end, he gave the car a Japanese name that had been his personal favorite from childhood: Subaru. “Subaru”, originally pronounced “Sumaru”, means “to get together” or “to tie together”. The first Subaru car was named the Subaru 1500. Only twenty P1s were manufactured due to multiple supply issues. From 1954 to 2008, the company designed and manufactured dozens of vehicles including the 1500 (1954), the tiny air-cooled 360 (1958), the Sambar (1961), the 1000 (which saw the introduction of the Subaru boxer engine in 1965), the R-2 (1969), the Rex and the Leone (1971), the ‘BRAT’ (1978), Alcyone (1985), the Legacy (1989), the Impreza (1993), the Forester (1997), the Tribeca (2005), and the Exiga (2008).

“Nissan” had acquired a 20% stake in 1968 during a period of government-ordered merging of the “Japanese auto” industry in order to improve competitiveness under the administration of Prime Minister Eisaku Sato. Nissan would utilize FHI’s bus manufacturing capability and expertise for their Nissan Diesel line of buses. In turn, many ”Subaru vehicles”, even today, use parts from the Nissan manufacturing keiretsu. The Subaru automatic transmission, known as the 4EAT, is also used in the first generation Nissan Pathfinder. Speculation has suggested that it was Subaru that introduced Renault to Nissan, when Renault asked for assistance in all-wheel drive (AWD) technology, and when FHI told Renault to discuss their plans with Nissan, the discussions may have been a contributing factor to the currently successful Renault-Nissan alliance. Upon Nissan’s acquisition by Renault, its 20% stake was sold to General Motors.

On October 5, 2005 “Toyota Motor Corporation” purchased 8.7% of FHI shares from General Motors who had owned 20.1% of FHI since 1999. GM later divested its remaining 11.4% stake, selling its shares on the open market to sever all ties with FHI. FHI previously stated that there might have been 27 million shares (3.4%) acquired before the start of trading by an unknown party on October 6, 2005, and speculation suggested that a bank or perhaps another automaker was involved. After the purchase, Toyota announced a contract with Subaru on March 13, 2006 to use the underutilized Subaru manufacturing facility in Lafayette, Indiana, and Toyota announced plans to hire up to 1,000 workers and set aside an assembly line for the Camry model, beginning in the second quarter of 2007.

During the brief General Motors period, a “badge engineered” Impreza was sold in the United States as the Saab 9-2X. An SUV (Subaru Tribeca / “SAAB 9-6X”) was also planned but the SAAB version did not proceed.

“Subaru in the Seattle”

Subaru of America was established in 1968 in Philadelphia by Malcolm Bricklin and associates. It relocated to Pennsauken, New Jersey shortly thereafter and moved to its current headquarters in Cherry Hill, New Jersey in 1986 when Fuji Heavy Industries acquired full ownership.

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 their 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.

In the 1970s, the company decided to expand its model range from small kei class vehicles like the Rex and Sambar and begin to develop larger, mainstream passenger cars like the Leone, and when ‘Subaru’ continued in their efforts, and introduced the Legacy in 1989, it was a sales success and a new direction for the company. Subaru decided to offer more products due to the Plaza Accord agreement of 1985 which made the value of the yen stronger in exchange rates to the dollar, which had an effect on Subaru sales in the USA. The creation of the Legacy was influenced by Subaru’s desire to compete with successful Japanese car-makers “Toyota”, “Nissan” and “Honda”, and the Legacy was targeted against the “Camry”, Stanza, and “Accord”. The Legacy was considered mainstream in its appearance and a departure from previous vehicles, which had earned a reputation of being “quirky”. It was perceived by some as “Subaru’s” attempt to compete with new luxury brands Lexus, “Infiniti” and “Acura”, as Japanese vehicles were increasing in popularity, particularly in the USA. Subaru continued their new direction with the controversially styled Alcyone XT (1985), the GT six-cylinder SVX (1992), and the Impreza (1993).

From 1995 to 2000, ‘Subaru’ ran a series of advertisements for the newly developed ‘Subaru Outback’ which starred Paul Hogan, well known for his “Crocodile Dundee” film character. The advertisements were intended to highlight Subaru’s “All wheel drive”, and depicted the Outback in a number of rugged Australian locations. The tagline “the world’s first sport utility wagon” was successfully used by Subaru, though the “AMC Eagle” had tried much the same idea, with less success in the 1980s.From:Wikipedia

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