on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Subaru Indiana plant to stop building Toyota Camry

Subaru may be set to end production of the Toyota Camry at its Lafayette, IN facility by 2017, according to a report from the Louisville Journal-Courier and a CBS affiliate in Columbia, South Carolina. Speaking to the plant's Executive Vice President Tom Easterday, the whole affair sounds like a done deal.
"Based on changes in Toyota's production plans, they have decided that the award-winning Camry production contract will not be renewed," Easterday said. Easterday was quick to emphasize that just because Camry production would end, doesn't mean jobs will be lost. "There will be no loss of jobs at SIA as a result of this," he said, before adding that the loss of Camry production will have no impact Subaru's $400 million investment to ready the plant for Impreza production in 2016. That said, adding a promised 900 jobs may take longer than originally planned, as Camry production staff are set to be retrained on Subaru production.
SIA currently has the capacity to produce 100,000 Camrys per year, and began production of the family sedan in 2007 alongside production of the Subaru Outback, Legacy and eventually, the soon-to-be-discontinued Tribeca.

2020 Subaru WRX STI S209 Prototype First Drive Review | The best is just for us

We're about 70 miles southwest of Tokyo on the grounds of Fuji International Speedway. Yoshihide Yano puts his hand on the camouflaged carbon fiber roof of the 2020 Subaru WRX STI S209 prototype we're about to drive and smiles. "This will never make a business case," says the assistant manager of Subaru's North America Business Planning Department. "We don't want to make more than 250. The more we make, the more money we lose." From the wince of his co-workers, Yano is clearly off the script, but his statement isn't a huge surprise. Building the STI S209 is complicated and time-consuming, with most of its extensive engine, suspension and aerodynamic modifications being installed by hand at STI's small off-site headquarters just outside Toyko. Founded in 1988, Subaru Technica International is the automaker's motorsports division and employs only 120 people. It can produce just two cars a day. Subaru STI Car Show View 30 Photos And why not show off your fastest street car ever on Fuji's world-class 2.8-mile road course? Especially today, while the track is packed for its annual STI Motorsports Day, a yearly pilgrimage for the brand's faithful. The place is flooded with WRXs, BRZs, and models we don't get in America like the Levorg STI Sport, a hot rod version of its mid-size wagon. Although STI's new Super GT and Nurburgring race cars are making hot laps on the main circuit, our drive of the inexplicably camouflaged S209 (which was fully revealed at the Detroit Auto Show) is on a small half-mile road course tucked away in a remote corner of Fuji's massive acreage. And we get just three laps. 2018 Subaru WRX STI S208 View 15 Photos STI's S-Line of cars have been the brand's most capable machines since the S201 launched in 2000, but the S209 will be the first S-Line model sold in the United States – and exclusively in the United States, for that matter. It will also be the first S-Line WRX that won't be powered by a modified version of the brand's venerable 2.0-liter EJ20 engine family, which Subaru introduced in 1989. The company says the EJ20 cannot meet emissions and make more than 300 horsepower on our low-octane fuel. The fix for this is a version of the turbocharged EJ25 series, which has powered every U.S.-spec WRX STI since we got it in 2003. To create the S209, STI's engineers started by mixing together certain parts from both the S208 and the 310-hp WRX STI RA Subaru sold in America last year.

2020 Subaru Legacy revealed with sublime interior, new platform

The completely redesigned 2020 Subaru Legacy just took the stage at the Chicago Auto Show, and it looks like a ... Subaru Legacy! We tease, because while Subaru has ever so subtly changed the metalwork everywhere you look, it's not obvious at first glance. Creases turn in slightly different directions, the fenders pop out just a bit more, and the wheels are different. To really see the difference, you should look at the cabin, underpinnings and mechanicals, where Subaru gave the seventh-generation Legacy a thorough overhaul. Subaru hasn't changed the Legacy's identity, but we're glad to report that this "all-new" Legacy represents a significant step forward for the model. The midsize sedan hops onto the Subaru Global Platform introduced a couple years ago with the Impreza. This structure is much more rigid than the 2019 model year car's platform, and also increases the use of ultra-high-tensile steel and structural adhesives. All this basically means that the new Legacy is stiffer, lighter and safer than the outgoing model — all good qualities to inherit. Both engine options are reasonably attractive for 2020. Subaru is ditching the 3.6-liter flat-six as the premium option and moving to its new 2.4-liter turbocharged boxer-four introduced in the Ascent SUV. It makes the same 260 horsepower and 277 pound-feet of torque here, good for 0-60 mph times of 6.1 seconds. Most buyers will end up with the standard 2.5-liter four-cylinder boxer, outputting 182 horsepower and 176 pound-feet of torque (0-60 mph in 8.4 seconds). This engine is also relatively new, as we got our first shot at it behind the wheel of the 2019 Forester. Both engines are predictably paired with Subaru's CVT. Your best fuel economy is achieved with the naturally aspirated four, rated at 27/35 mpg city/highway. You'll take a small hit with the turbo at 24/32 mpg city/highway. As the Legacy is still a Subaru, every version is equipped with all-wheel drive. A revised suspension design features a MacPherson strut setup in front and double-wishbone layout in rear. Subaru claims much higher dynamic performance and ride comfort with this suspension in combination with the new structure. We'll be the judge of that once we get behind the wheel, eventually. The interior is, in a word, impressive. We saw some hints of what Subaru is capable of with the Ascent's interior materials and design, but the highest-trim Legacy takes it to another level.