I don't believe the Subaru plant in Indiana is a Union shop. The UAW has a firm grasp on plants in or near Detroit, but they don't have a large presence in the south or mid-west. Most import manufacturers like Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai have offered decent pay and more modern retirement plans. They give the workers enough to keep them happy so there's no need to organize.
It's not only about "need" to organize (as we are always underpaid in our own view), but local union laws, i.e. some of the states are "right to work", which means unions mean squat - have no real power in forcing both employees and employers to any type of contracts.
Actually dino - right to work states simply mean that someone does not have to be a member of a union to work in a union represented company. There are still plenty of unions in right to work states.
I don't believe the Subaru plant in Indiana is a Union shop.
No they are not.
Most import manufacturers like Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai have offered decent pay and more modern retirement plans. They give the workers enough to keep them happy so there's no need to organize.
IIRC, most of the transplants offer great compensation but their workers still earn less overall than their UAW counterparts. What the transplants have done well is locate in areas where a job paying $40K a year plus benefits is unheard of. The employees realize they have a pretty good gig and don't want to mess it up. Of course the auto makers don't treat them poorly - it goes both ways.
Right, I know - but that's what makes major difference. To enter docks officially you have to join unions, which gives them incredible bargaining power.
I thought, though, that there were also some other and deeper differences between various state laws governing union activities, which would of course result in differences in their positions within the employer-employee relationship. If union is not necessary to get a good job, moreover it can't really get you a better contract (whatever that really means - ask those poor GM workers - not their "representatives" of course - what is better: super job on paper or real one that is not so great) on your employer, why bother paying dues for those fat guys in their suits and Cadillacs?
IIRC, most of the transplants offer great compensation but their workers still earn less overall than their UAW counterparts.
Numerically, the transplants offer a lower wage. Somebody making 50K at a UAW facility might make only 45K at an import plant. However... the cost of living up in Michigan is considerably higher than in say, Alabama. So, it works out about even for the workers.
The real difference comes in the form of benefits. The UAW get (soon to be got) free healthcare, while the import workers get a more modern plan requiring some contributions. Ditto with retirement benefits, which are more like the 401K style plans.
No offense to Detroit natives, but after two years' worth of NAIAS auto shows, I couldn't wait to come back home. And weather in DC ain't all that nice!
To be fair, we have not rented a car and really spent much time there. If we go again we will, and we'll visit the Henry Ford museum.
was at the auto show Friday. Was disappointed to see Subaru's typical behavior of mostly ignoring the Impreza line entirely, except for a WRX and a couple of race-prepped STIs.
Was interested to see that it seems Sube has gone to standard 17s on the entire Legacy/Outback line-up for '06. Good idea, as long as they could find a tire with a decent treadwear rating and some bite in the snow.
Tribecas (several of them prominently displayed) were getting traffic, but there was an awful lot of "OMG! $38 thousand for a Subaru?". I like the quirky dash - stuff like that is what gives me a warm spot in my heart for Subaru. Was surprised the windows are not auto-up on a car of this price. They had one stacked with small shoe-size boxes behind the back seat (5 passenger) - not sure how effective that display was, didn't seem to demonstrate a use that related easily to real-world needs.
In the 7 passenger Tribeca, the back seat is impossibly TINY, but WAIT! There is one smaller! I defy anyone over the age of.....well, basically over the age of being required to sit in a booster seat, to sit in the third row of the new Jeep Commander. OMG, what a joke. The floor actually LINES UP with the bottom seat cushion in the Jeep.
One sad little Baja sat in the corner, nobody sat in it. Overall though, I thought the amount of traffic at Subaru was encouraging. The Outbacks and the one STI you could sit in were getting the bulk of the attention.
Footnote: got to see the '06 Legacy 2.5i SE - would sticker at $23K the way I would like it. Nice car, love the looks. Would I buy it over an Accord EX 4-cyl, which would be exactly the same price? Not sure. The Accord does 4 points better on fuel economy, and has windows with frames. The Legacy would be the handler of the two though. And probably the easier one to find in a stick shift.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
A co-worker of mine leases an RX-8... with 18" performance rubber... Her husband didn't want to get winter tires/wheels for it, so he told her to go lease a cheap SUV with AWD for the winter.. (I know, I know).
So.. she saw really cheap leases on Hyundai Tuscons.. I told her to make sure it was the AWD model, as a cheap lease was probably the 2WD model..
Then, I suggested she get an Impreza wagon, as they are all AWD, and come pretty well equipped, and still have room to haul stuff (dogs, in her case).. she drives a stick, anyway, so that makes it even cheaper..
I'm not up on pricing, so I get on-line to check it out.. find out a base Impreza wagon with stick goes for about $19K.. Probably as cheap as an AWD Tuscon.. print out some stuff from the Subaru website for her....
Then, I start checking inventory for the local Subaru dealerships.. Any idea how many Impreza wagons with stick-shift are available in my area, that has four dealerships? As you might guess... ZERO. Most dealerships only have one or two base Imprezas at all... I expanded the search to the Outback Sport, as it is only about $1000 more... Exactly ONE with a stick at all four dealerships...
Holy cow.. how can you not have any stock of the cheapest car in your line? That would be like Honda or Toyota not having any Civics or Corollas..
Subaru dealers in general ignore the Impreza line, except the WRX. Their money is in Outbacks and to a lesser extent Foresters, and they know it.
And you are right (I was shopping recently) - they NEVER order base Imprezas, only the Outback Sport, and precious few of those too. In a 100-mile radius of me, which encompassed something like eight dealers, there were a dozen and a half Outback Sports when I was looking, so that's what, two per dealer on average? And virtually no manuals.
If I switched to regular Outback 2.5s, though, whew! Bonanza! The bigger dealers had several dozen in stock each.
As for my local dealer, they are small. They are a dual dealership with Mazda, separate showrooms on a single lot, and guess which one gets the staff and the service bays? Yup, Mazda. The Subaru "showroom" is really nothing more than a shopfront window display where they squeeze in three cars for viewing.
Subaru absolutely will NOT take off in America unless someone somewhere takes an upgrade of the dealer network very seriously. In the meantime, I have no doubt it will continue to wander along at around the sales level it has now, give or take maybe 10%.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Then, I start checking inventory for the local Subaru dealerships.. Any idea how many Impreza wagons with stick-shift are available in my area, that has four dealerships? As you might guess... ZERO. Most dealerships only have one or two base Imprezas at all... I expanded the search to the Outback Sport, as it is only about $1000 more... Exactly ONE with a stick at all four dealerships...
It took a few days for the dealership to get my Forester when I bought it at the end of last month because I wanted a manual transmission. The salesman told me that even though it's one of the larger dealerships in the area, with maybe 75 Subarus in stock at any given time, they'll rarely have more than one or two non-WRX manuals. It really seems as if the automatic rules triumphant just about everywhere.
only orders manuals in the turbo models. If you want a manual non-turbo, you pretty much always have to ask them to arrange a trade with another store, or just GO to the other store.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
..the manual transmission part of it, I understand..
But, I was just amazed at how few Imprezas there were generally, as well.. Most dealers had only 3-4 non-WRX Imprezas on the lot.. and that includes sedans and wagons..
It seems like they could pick up a lot of volume in the $19K-$21K area, if they would just stock a few cars... They advertise an Impreza $189, 48 month lease special on the website... Seems pointless..
They had one stacked with small shoe-size boxes behind the back seat (5 passenger) - not sure how effective that display was, didn't seem to demonstrate a use that related easily to real-world needs.
Well since the 'Beca is geared toward trendy, city dwellers, shoe box capacity is a great demonstration.
They had one stacked with small shoe-size boxes behind the back seat (5 passenger) - not sure how effective that display was, didn't seem to demonstrate a use that related easily to real-world needs.
Well since the 'Beca is geared toward trendy, city dwellers, shoe box capacity is a great demonstration.
"Oh Miranda, Charlotte, Samantha, I just found this fabulous vehicle that will hold my entire supply of Manolo Blahniks! Let's go have some Cosmos to celebrate!"
"Oh Miranda, Charlotte, Samantha, I just found this fabulous vehicle that will hold my entire supply of Manolo Blahniks! Let's go have some Cosmos to celebrate!"
You mean Subaru still makes an Impreza sedan??!! :-P
I defy anyone to find an Impreza 2.5i sedan in stock.
As for the lease, it only applies to leftover 2005 Impreza 2.5 RS's (non sport package). My dealer finally got rid of his last one ages ago and has only 2006 models in stock now. The RS designation is gone in favor of the less interesting "2.5i".
But it's like I said, Subaru totally ignores its Impreza line, and the dealers follow suit.
LOL on the shoeboxes comment! This was like 100 shoeboes all stacked in four piles behind the back seat. That's a lot of shoes even for people who love shoes.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
A base Impreza sedan with manual shift.... It was the only one the dealer had... navy blue, with a rear wing.. She said she wanted gray, and they were going to trade with an Indianapolis dealer, but they said they would lease her the navy blue one with no charge for the wing, if she would take that one... so, she did.. 4yr/48K lease.. Around $210/mo. with less than $500 due at signing.. tax included...
I haven't driven it yet, but I sat in it.. It has really nice sport seats, but boy are the thigh bolsters tight!
It is kind of scary... I make a suggestion to her on Wednesday, and she goes and leases it on Friday afternoon!! Wish anyone in my household would do what I ask them...
The seats from the '02 bug-eye model had even more bolstering, and more narrow at that. It was a squeeze for us big guys. I feel the same way in an EVO with Recaros.
Fitzmall has 3 MT5 2.5i models. They don't specify wagon, so they're probably all sedans, oddly enough.
But yeah, in the Impreza line, probably 45% are WRXs, 40% are Outback Sports. Maybe 15% are base 2.5i models. Just a guesstimate.
Report: Fuji will build Toyotas Toyota Motor Corp. plans to ask Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. to build as many as 100,000 Toyota vehicles at Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc.'s plant in Lafayette, Ind.
Nothing new or surprising here. Just confirms a rumor I guess.
I checked the online inventory of the dealership where I bought my Forester last month. They have nine non-WRX Imprezas out of 126 2006 Subarus. They also have seven WRX's and four Outback Sports.
It must be the area of the country... I checked Cincinnati, Dayton, Louisville, Lexington, Columbus and Indianapolis... Probably 12 dealerships total... I bet they didn't have 20 non-WRX Imprezas between them...
Accord vs Legacy - you forgot to mention AWD! Maybe it was too obvious. So Accord gets better economy and framed windows. Legacy has better handling, AWD and easier manual availability. Legacy also gets better safety ratings. (I also think the Accord's not as attractive!)
IMO, it is easier to find an Accord manual on the lot than a legacy. But, the Honda dealer has a whole lot bigger inventory, so that makes it easier for them.
The 2.5i Legacy sedan I have on "order" was something that happened to be on the dealers Dec. allocation. There were a couple others due in Nov. but not the right color or equipment. Both dealers near me seem to have no manuals in stock, but the one I visited had 2 almost identical outback wagon 5 speeds, one a 2005, and the other a 2006. Plus at least on GT sedan.
I had to wait in line to get a salesman last Friday here in Denver. I bought an auto Outback. I got rid of my Pathfinder and my Maxima and only one car meets both needs----I hope. But was just amazed how many cars they sold while I waited for the business manager! I bet they sold at least 20 cars---all Outbacks on Friday!!! My guess is location to the mtns and snow plays a major part and better gas mileage than the big SUV or even the not so big suv.
I had to wait in line to get a salesman last Friday here in Denver. I bought an auto Outback.
I got curious about where Subarus were most popular.
This led to a perusal of various Craigslist listings for different cities that you might expect to have a lot of them.
One thing that can't be accounted for, of course, is the relative awareness or popularity of Craigslist. For example, in Vermont there are tons of Subarus, but the list is new and not well known. In San Fransisco, there are quite a few Subarus for sale, but a huge # of listings. And you can't get a total # of cars for sale - just the total # of For Sale items.
So, I used a "Subaru Quotient": the number of Subarus for sale divided by the total number of items for sale. The results aren't terribly surprising. The top three (everything else was well behind, that I checked) were:
1. Denver - 217 of 43,853 - 0.4948% 2. Portland OR - 278 of 78,140 - 0.3559% 3. Boston - 96 of 34,397 - 0.2790%
Of course they change every day, Boston is currently at 0.21% - 74/35,171
When I was in Boston, I also saw tons of Audis and VWs.
I wouldn't say they are official cars of those places, as sheer volume-wise Toyota/Chevy/Ford/Honda/etc. would still be higher, but certainly when compared to my Tampa, they sure seem much more popular.
The big brands are more represented in sheer numbers here but Subies seem to have a disproportionate prescence in comparison to their nationwide sales. Euro brands are big here as well.
Not really, it is more "the usual stuff" (Honda/Toyota/Nissan/Chevy) plus the pickups, of course. Tampa grew from its "senior citizen" status quite some time ago - now it is more like mini-Atlanta, as real estate shot up to the roof (when compared to the past and local incomes). There are still clusters left, but not on my usual routes.
Big Subaru niche, in fact a certain well known QB owns a Subaru franchise.
I saw some market share numbers a couple of years ago, buried in a PDF of sales, and IIRC Vermont was first at 7%, with 6% or more for Colorado, Alaska, Montana, and many states in NE.
Florida was just 0.5%, but this was just before the WRX was launched. SoCal and South Florida started buying them as soon as the turbos came out.
The Impreza sort of falls in between the Civic and Accord, and offers AWD and sporty driving.
In terms of price and, arguably, features, I agree with you.
But in terms of passenger room, the Impreza is at the Civic's level if not slightly below it. The Legacy sedan is barely in between the Civic and Accord in room, and is actually closer to the Civic in more interior dimensions than the Accord. Hence a lot of Camcord buyers bypass the Legacy/Outback for the greater interior room, in spite of AWD. Trunk room is much bigger in a Camcord, and unfortunately a lot of buyers don't buy wagons that aren't packaged as SUV's.
I think the interior space factors hurt Subaru in the long run. Obviously most vehicles are shared with their JDM counterparts and Subaru can't afford to build too many U.S. specific models.
Please note that I think that Subaru can indeed survive without going right to their competitor's size classes. I think it's more a matter of surviving vs. thriving.
Big Subaru niche, in fact a certain well known QB owns a Subaru franchise.
Um - if you're referring to John Elway, he doesn't own it. Autonation owns the Elway dealers. He just lends his name.
In fact, most auto dealers "owned" by atheletes typically have no involvement by the athelete except for an initial investement and celebrity namesake. It isn't like they're personally in the office approving deals.
I never wrote anything about 1.1% being "lousy". But several of those other brands you mentioned only have to sell one car to equal the revenue of three Subaru sales.
I used the words "still 1.1%" because that's the same percentage they've had since the late 1990s. They're not gaining ground, but they aren't losing any, either. It's a discussion we had a few months ago, and I figured these updated figures would be of interest.
JD Power does not "give" a rating. They survey owners of the particular vehicle using a sophisticated stratified random sampling. Consumers Reports relies on consumers to respond to requests in the mag which is much less reliable. JDP looks at several phases of ownership throughout a 5 yr period. JDP overall is far more reliable. Sometimes being a "fanatic" means one overlooks reality. There are a lot of false positives. I have owned several subarus as well as at least 30 cars over the past 15 years. Subs are great but it seems slow to improve engineering. BTW, I have another Sub on the way.
I never said you that you used those words, but just below the surface of many of your posts you seem to imply that because Subaru has only 1.1% of the market that that is not good. Or at the very least, if they don't improve their marketshare, their chances of being profitable in the future are grim.
All I'm saying is that marketshare is less important than profitability. If Subaru is going to remain under 1.5% or 2.0% of the market, they just need to find a way to do so, that makes everyone happy and profitable. Yeah it would be great if Subaru's marketshare were higher, and I think that's what they trying to achieve.
And yes, that chart was very informative. Thanks for sharing.
I could accept "low avereage" JDP ratings on "dependabity" or other more-less objective qualities. It is actually possible that many Subaru owners are more forgiving than others, since they may be believing they got a great deal/product anyway. But when owner's satisfaction shows also low, that sounds too fishy to me. How in the same time you may be "forgiving", "fanatic", "overlooking reality", and giving mediocre notes for product satisfaction, especially for vehicles like WRX. Just does not add up, IMHO.
local paper (SF Chronicle) on Friday in the business section ran a large article called something like "Large SUVs piling up" where they talked about how SUV sales have stalled big-time. They interviewed the usual suspects, with the GM veep for market analysis saying how he expects SUV sales to remain stable (yeah OK, whatever!).
Anyway, rather than putting in a pic of Suburbans or Explorers sitting on lots (both models off 50% or so in the last few months), the large pic they chose to put up was one of the staging lot at SIA.
And even in that pic, there were very few Tribecas - it was mostly Outbacks sitting there. Weird.
In my area we are well-populated now with the new Outback ('05+) - I think they have made a comeback since the late 90s model. Still no Tribecas though. Subaru should have tried harder to make a model that was more than just a step-up purchase for existing Subaru owners, but rather a model that would draw buyers from other brands.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Well, there must be something good about Subarus, as they have some of the most loyal customers of any car brand, anywhere. Most Subaru owners are repeat buyers. Ask any Subaru salesman, and they'll back that statement up.
I've noticed similar things in other newspapers. It just goes to show you how out of touch with ordinary life many journalists are, especially on the coasts.
I can just imagine the discussion in the newsroom - "Here is a picture with a bunch of cars in it. What kind of cars are they? Who cares! Just use it, as all cars are bad. None of our readers will know the difference anyway."
It's true, Forester wins the RL Polk award more often than not. Not every single year, but most years since 1998 Forester has won its class.
That's especially impressive when you consider they're not really a full-line manufacturer, i.e. people have had to leave the brand to get a minivan or pickup, as oppposed to a Toyota or Ford buyer.
Comments
2018 430i Gran Coupe
No they are not.
Most import manufacturers like Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai have offered decent pay and more modern retirement plans. They give the workers enough to keep them happy so there's no need to organize.
IIRC, most of the transplants offer great compensation but their workers still earn less overall than their UAW counterparts. What the transplants have done well is locate in areas where a job paying $40K a year plus benefits is unheard of. The employees realize they have a pretty good gig and don't want to mess it up. Of course the auto makers don't treat them poorly - it goes both ways.
I thought, though, that there were also some other and deeper differences between various state laws governing union activities, which would of course result in differences in their positions within the employer-employee relationship. If union is not necessary to get a good job, moreover it can't really get you a better contract (whatever that really means - ask those poor GM workers - not their "representatives" of course - what is better: super job on paper or real one that is not so great) on your employer, why bother paying dues for those fat guys in their suits and Cadillacs?
2018 430i Gran Coupe
Numerically, the transplants offer a lower wage. Somebody making 50K at a UAW facility might make only 45K at an import plant. However... the cost of living up in Michigan is considerably higher than in say, Alabama. So, it works out about even for the workers.
The real difference comes in the form of benefits. The UAW get (soon to be got) free healthcare, while the import workers get a more modern plan requiring some contributions. Ditto with retirement benefits, which are more like the 401K style plans.
No offense to Detroit natives, but after two years' worth of NAIAS auto shows, I couldn't wait to come back home. And weather in DC ain't all that nice!
To be fair, we have not rented a car and really spent much time there. If we go again we will, and we'll visit the Henry Ford museum.
-juice
Was interested to see that it seems Sube has gone to standard 17s on the entire Legacy/Outback line-up for '06. Good idea, as long as they could find a tire with a decent treadwear rating and some bite in the snow.
Tribecas (several of them prominently displayed) were getting traffic, but there was an awful lot of "OMG! $38 thousand for a Subaru?". I like the quirky dash - stuff like that is what gives me a warm spot in my heart for Subaru. Was surprised the windows are not auto-up on a car of this price. They had one stacked with small shoe-size boxes behind the back seat (5 passenger) - not sure how effective that display was, didn't seem to demonstrate a use that related easily to real-world needs.
In the 7 passenger Tribeca, the back seat is impossibly TINY, but WAIT! There is one smaller! I defy anyone over the age of.....well, basically over the age of being required to sit in a booster seat, to sit in the third row of the new Jeep Commander. OMG, what a joke. The floor actually LINES UP with the bottom seat cushion in the Jeep.
One sad little Baja sat in the corner, nobody sat in it. Overall though, I thought the amount of traffic at Subaru was encouraging. The Outbacks and the one STI you could sit in were getting the bulk of the attention.
Footnote: got to see the '06 Legacy 2.5i SE - would sticker at $23K the way I would like it. Nice car, love the looks. Would I buy it over an Accord EX 4-cyl, which would be exactly the same price? Not sure. The Accord does 4 points better on fuel economy, and has windows with frames. The Legacy would be the handler of the two though. And probably the easier one to find in a stick shift.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Bob
So.. she saw really cheap leases on Hyundai Tuscons.. I told her to make sure it was the AWD model, as a cheap lease was probably the 2WD model..
Then, I suggested she get an Impreza wagon, as they are all AWD, and come pretty well equipped, and still have room to haul stuff (dogs, in her case).. she drives a stick, anyway, so that makes it even cheaper..
I'm not up on pricing, so I get on-line to check it out.. find out a base Impreza wagon with stick goes for about $19K.. Probably as cheap as an AWD Tuscon.. print out some stuff from the Subaru website for her....
Then, I start checking inventory for the local Subaru dealerships.. Any idea how many Impreza wagons with stick-shift are available in my area, that has four dealerships? As you might guess... ZERO. Most dealerships only have one or two base Imprezas at all... I expanded the search to the Outback Sport, as it is only about $1000 more... Exactly ONE with a stick at all four dealerships...
Holy cow.. how can you not have any stock of the cheapest car in your line? That would be like Honda or Toyota not having any Civics or Corollas..
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
And you are right (I was shopping recently) - they NEVER order base Imprezas, only the Outback Sport, and precious few of those too. In a 100-mile radius of me, which encompassed something like eight dealers, there were a dozen and a half Outback Sports when I was looking, so that's what, two per dealer on average? And virtually no manuals.
If I switched to regular Outback 2.5s, though, whew! Bonanza! The bigger dealers had several dozen in stock each.
As for my local dealer, they are small. They are a dual dealership with Mazda, separate showrooms on a single lot, and guess which one gets the staff and the service bays? Yup, Mazda. The Subaru "showroom" is really nothing more than a shopfront window display where they squeeze in three cars for viewing.
Subaru absolutely will NOT take off in America unless someone somewhere takes an upgrade of the dealer network very seriously. In the meantime, I have no doubt it will continue to wander along at around the sales level it has now, give or take maybe 10%.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
It took a few days for the dealership to get my Forester when I bought it at the end of last month because I wanted a manual transmission. The salesman told me that even though it's one of the larger dealerships in the area, with maybe 75 Subarus in stock at any given time, they'll rarely have more than one or two non-WRX manuals.
It really seems as if the automatic rules triumphant just about everywhere.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
But, I was just amazed at how few Imprezas there were generally, as well.. Most dealers had only 3-4 non-WRX Imprezas on the lot.. and that includes sedans and wagons..
It seems like they could pick up a lot of volume in the $19K-$21K area, if they would just stock a few cars... They advertise an Impreza $189, 48 month lease special on the website... Seems pointless..
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
Well since the 'Beca is geared toward trendy, city dwellers, shoe box capacity is a great demonstration.
Well since the 'Beca is geared toward trendy, city dwellers, shoe box capacity is a great demonstration.
"Oh Miranda, Charlotte, Samantha, I just found this fabulous vehicle that will hold my entire supply of Manolo Blahniks! Let's go have some Cosmos to celebrate!"
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!
2018 430i Gran Coupe
You mean Subaru still makes an Impreza sedan??!! :-P
I defy anyone to find an Impreza 2.5i sedan in stock.
As for the lease, it only applies to leftover 2005 Impreza 2.5 RS's (non sport package). My dealer finally got rid of his last one ages ago and has only 2006 models in stock now. The RS designation is gone in favor of the less interesting "2.5i".
But it's like I said, Subaru totally ignores its Impreza line, and the dealers follow suit.
LOL on the shoeboxes comment! This was like 100 shoeboes all stacked in four piles behind the back seat. That's a lot of shoes even for people who love shoes.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
At least 3 are manuals.
What do I win - dinner with Carrie and the girls??
I guess it's a west coast thing. Although I am sure you New Englanders have a better stock to choose from IN GENERAL when it comes to Subarus.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I get to work today.. and, she has a new car...
A base Impreza sedan with manual shift.... It was the only one the dealer had... navy blue, with a rear wing.. She said she wanted gray, and they were going to trade with an Indianapolis dealer, but they said they would lease her the navy blue one with no charge for the wing, if she would take that one... so, she did.. 4yr/48K lease.. Around $210/mo. with less than $500 due at signing.. tax included...
I haven't driven it yet, but I sat in it.. It has really nice sport seats, but boy are the thigh bolsters tight!
It is kind of scary... I make a suggestion to her on Wednesday, and she goes and leases it on Friday afternoon!! Wish anyone in my household would do what I ask them...
Pretty cool little car, though..
regards,
kyfdx
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
The seats from the '02 bug-eye model had even more bolstering, and more narrow at that. It was a squeeze for us big guys. I feel the same way in an EVO with Recaros.
Fitzmall has 3 MT5 2.5i models. They don't specify wagon, so they're probably all sedans, oddly enough.
But yeah, in the Impreza line, probably 45% are WRXs, 40% are Outback Sports. Maybe 15% are base 2.5i models. Just a guesstimate.
-juice
Toyota Motor Corp. plans to ask Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. to build as many as 100,000 Toyota vehicles at Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc.'s plant in Lafayette, Ind.
Nothing new or surprising here. Just confirms a rumor I guess.
-juice
Anyway.. it was a happy ending...
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
I know which I'd pick.
Another thing I like much better on the Subie is the steering.
Accord is cheaper, quicker, and more efficient so as you'd expect it'll capture most buyers, especially outside the snow belt.
-juice
IMO, it is easier to find an Accord manual on the lot than a legacy. But, the Honda dealer has a whole lot bigger inventory, so that makes it easier for them.
The 2.5i Legacy sedan I have on "order" was something that happened to be on the dealers Dec. allocation. There were a couple others due in Nov. but not the right color or equipment. Both dealers near me seem to have no manuals in stock, but the one I visited had 2 almost identical outback wagon 5 speeds, one a 2005, and the other a 2006. Plus at least on GT sedan.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I got curious about where Subarus were most popular.
This led to a perusal of various Craigslist listings for different cities that you might expect to have a lot of them.
One thing that can't be accounted for, of course, is the relative awareness or popularity of Craigslist. For example, in Vermont there are tons of Subarus, but the list is new and not well known. In San Fransisco, there are quite a few Subarus for sale, but a huge # of listings. And you can't get a total # of cars for sale - just the total # of For Sale items.
So, I used a "Subaru Quotient": the number of Subarus for sale divided by the total number of items for sale. The results aren't terribly surprising. The top three (everything else was well behind, that I checked) were:
1. Denver - 217 of 43,853 - 0.4948%
2. Portland OR - 278 of 78,140 - 0.3559%
3. Boston - 96 of 34,397 - 0.2790%
Of course they change every day, Boston is currently at 0.21% - 74/35,171
I wouldn't say they are official cars of those places, as sheer volume-wise Toyota/Chevy/Ford/Honda/etc. would still be higher, but certainly when compared to my Tampa, they sure seem much more popular.
2018 430i Gran Coupe
Isn't Tampa full of Grand Marquis and Park Aves??
2018 430i Gran Coupe
I saw some market share numbers a couple of years ago, buried in a PDF of sales, and IIRC Vermont was first at 7%, with 6% or more for Colorado, Alaska, Montana, and many states in NE.
Florida was just 0.5%, but this was just before the WRX was launched. SoCal and South Florida started buying them as soon as the turbos came out.
-juice
In terms of price and, arguably, features, I agree with you.
But in terms of passenger room, the Impreza is at the Civic's level if not slightly below it. The Legacy sedan is barely in between the Civic and Accord in room, and is actually closer to the Civic in more interior dimensions than the Accord. Hence a lot of Camcord buyers bypass the Legacy/Outback for the greater interior room, in spite of AWD. Trunk room is much bigger in a Camcord, and unfortunately a lot of buyers don't buy wagons that aren't packaged as SUV's.
I think the interior space factors hurt Subaru in the long run. Obviously most vehicles are shared with their JDM counterparts and Subaru can't afford to build too many U.S. specific models.
Please note that I think that Subaru can indeed survive without going right to their competitor's size classes. I think it's more a matter of surviving vs. thriving.
Detroit News
VW = 1.3
BMW = 1.5
Mazda 1.5
Mercedes 1.2
Others do even worse:
Audi = 0.5
Volvo = 0.7
Saab = .02
So yeah, 1.1% on the surface, sounds pretty lousy, but compared to a number of other brands, it's in the ballpark.
Bob
But they were stuck at 1.0% for a while, so as long as they're not going backwards I think they'll be OK.
-juice
Um - if you're referring to John Elway, he doesn't own it. Autonation owns the Elway dealers. He just lends his name.
In fact, most auto dealers "owned" by atheletes typically have no involvement by the athelete except for an initial investement and celebrity namesake. It isn't like they're personally in the office approving deals.
I used the words "still 1.1%" because that's the same percentage they've had since the late 1990s. They're not gaining ground, but they aren't losing any, either. It's a discussion we had a few months ago, and I figured these updated figures would be of interest.
All I'm saying is that marketshare is less important than profitability. If Subaru is going to remain under 1.5% or 2.0% of the market, they just need to find a way to do so, that makes everyone happy and profitable. Yeah it would be great if Subaru's marketshare were higher, and I think that's what they trying to achieve.
And yes, that chart was very informative. Thanks for sharing.
Bob
2018 430i Gran Coupe
Anyway, rather than putting in a pic of Suburbans or Explorers sitting on lots (both models off 50% or so in the last few months), the large pic they chose to put up was one of the staging lot at SIA.
And even in that pic, there were very few Tribecas - it was mostly Outbacks sitting there. Weird.
In my area we are well-populated now with the new Outback ('05+) - I think they have made a comeback since the late 90s model. Still no Tribecas though. Subaru should have tried harder to make a model that was more than just a step-up purchase for existing Subaru owners, but rather a model that would draw buyers from other brands.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Bob
I can just imagine the discussion in the newsroom - "Here is a picture with a bunch of cars in it. What kind of cars are they? Who cares! Just use it, as all cars are bad. None of our readers will know the difference anyway."
That's especially impressive when you consider they're not really a full-line manufacturer, i.e. people have had to leave the brand to get a minivan or pickup, as oppposed to a Toyota or Ford buyer.
SF Chronicle sounds pretty clueless.
-juice
http://automobilemag.com/news/2006_automobile_of_the_year/
Bob