Subaru lost its way in the UK, but now has a big plan to get back on track
Subaru has bold plans for the future, and senior staff writer Jordan Katsianis thinks it's about to take the UK by storm
Subaru earned a cult following in the nineties. In the hands of home-grown rally stars Richard Burns and Colin McRae, the Gen1 Impreza Turbo – later the WRX – was a winner of British and World Rally Championships that the public could go out and actually buy.
Its warbling flat-four engine, all-wheel drive system and even the iconic blue and gold livery were all present and correct on the road cars. And when tuning companies such as Prodrive and the in-house outfit, Subaru Tecnica International, got involved, they created some of the most intense and exciting road cars of the era. But then things started going wrong.
Subarus weren’t just growing in popularity among sports fans in the UK, they were also gaining market share in the USA and Australia. However, these buyers weren’t picking Subarus for their turbocharged performance. Instead, popular models such as the Forester and Legacy Outback were early crossovers. With all-wheel drive on every version, they appealed to customers in cold climates and rugged rural areas. Subaru’s international relevance might have been born in the enthusiast rally world, but its family SUVs were more profitable, causing the company to shift its focus to the markets that bought them.
The Impreza WRX still survives as a halo for the brand in some places, but the vast majority of Subaru’s global sales take the form of traditional SUVs. Worse news for European sales in more recent years was the brand’s hesitation to adopt more efficient powertrains. After a brief dalliance with diesel engines, Subaru was left largely with a range of inefficient powertrains that just didn’t suit the European market. But things are beginning to change.
Subaru’s collaboration with Toyota has led to a new emphasis on electric power, putting it right back into the frame with models like the Solterra and Uncharted. These cars don’t have the same issues with emissions or running cost as the brand’s ICE models, but they do retain an in-built association with the toughness and reliability that appeal greatly to the crossover and SUV-obsessed buyers who account for a majority of new-car sales today. With Subaru adding in a nod to its performance heritage in its new models, it seems as if the company is now taking the UK seriously once again.
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