2011 Subaru Forester 2.5 X Premium on 2040-cars

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Subaru takes another look back, this time at the 2004 WRX STI

Here we have the followup to the rally-mimicking Impreza 22B STI that Subaru recently chronicled in its Vintage Garage series: the 2004 Impreza WRX STI. Displacement for the boxer four was upped from 2.2 liters to 2.5, and after noticing how many buyers had installed larger turbochargers on their WRXs, Subaru decided to bolt on one in-house. That gave the final product 300 horsepower and a 0-to-60 mile-per-hour run of just 4.6 seconds.
It was stiffer, it's body from nose to front doors was penned by Peter Stephens, he of the McLaren F1, it came with a driver-controlled center differential, driver-activated cooling spray for the turbos and 300 pound-feet of torque. This is a curio from a time when, after a new WRX STI came out, you started poring through magazines to see how the Mitubishi Evo was going to respond. You can find out more about it in the video below.

Subaru nixes plans for US-built XV Crosstrek

Subaru is on a sales tear, with numbers up 21 percent through the end of November compared to last year. It's been investing in its Indiana factory, and having ended its contract to build the Toyota Camry there, the 400,000-unit capacity was once seen as more than Subaru needs. At some point Subaru had plans to build the XV Crosstrek here in the US, but Reuters reports that the company has changed its mind and will build the little crossover Scooby in Japan, in the same Gunma Prefecture factory where the Impreza, BRZ and Levorg are built. The report cites "the relatively high sales price," the weakening yen versus the dollar and capacity constraints at the Indiana facility. For a planned production run of 65,000 Crosstrek units annually, the new math – especially the yen valuation, which has declined against the dollar to a rate not seen since 2007 – makes Japanese production a viable option. Subaru isn't the only manufacturer taking its toys back home, either: the Reuters report says Toyota is considering shifting some Camry production back to Nippon, while Nissan plans to do the same with the Rogue. Our guess is that if Subaru sales continue the trend they've been on for years, the assembly decision will give them more local flexibility here for addressing it. Featured Gallery 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid: First Drive View 53 Photos News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Copyright 2014 AOL Plants/Manufacturing Subaru Crossover subaru xv crosstrek

Subaru ups US sales projections to 500k units

Subaru is going absolutely gangbusters so far in 2014, with growing year-over-year sales every month this year adding to the streak of 33 consecutive months. The prognosis is so positive that the Japanese brand is revising its 2014 forecast to 500,000 vehicles or more, from a previous estimated 460,000. If it reaches the goal, it would be the first time that the automaker hit the half-million mark here.
Subaru has been growing steadily in the US for a while now. Annual sales have increased for the past five consecutive years with 2014 not indicating for that to change. For August alone, the company moved 50,246 vehicles, up 22.37 percent year-over-year, and the business proclaimed it as the best month in its history.
According to Subaru, it believes that the growth for the last two years has been fueled by the latest Forester and XV Crosstrek last year and the new Legacy and Outback this year. "The market is telling us that we are delivering products that consumers want at the right prices," said Thomas J. Doll, president and chief operating officer at Subaru of America. Scroll down to read the company's full announcement.