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Subaru weighing Outback vs Forester approach for seven-seater

Subaru is gearing up for a return to the seven-seat crossover segment, and it's focusing the new model on the US market, but just which approach it will take has yet to be decided. One possibility, according to Automotive News, would be to position it as a larger counterpart to the Outback wagon, with rugged off-road styling. The other would be to sell it as a big brother to the Forester, with cleaner styling. One thing Subaru most definitely does not want to repeat is the Tribeca fiasco, so we wouldn't expect the new model to carry that same nameplate. Introduced in 2006, the Tribeca's divisive front-end styling kept it from being a serious player, and it underwent a facelift only two years later. It was withdrawn from the market altogether after 2014. The company had targeted moving 36,000 units of the Tribeca each year, but sold fewer than 2,800 in America in 2011, barely over 2,000 in 2012, less than 1,600 in 2013 and just a few hundred in 2014. The new seven-seat crossover will go after the likes of the Toyota Highlander, Nissan Pathfinder and new Honda Pilot among three-row Japanese crossovers. Like those rivals, it will be built in the US for the US market – namely at Subaru's assembly plant in Indiana, the same state where the Highlander is produced. The new crossover's arrival will, according to reports, mean that the Levorg wagon offered in Japan and Europe won't be offered Stateside. Related Video:

Comedic Hasselhoff car ad leads to a dream job in Sweden

Last month a guy in Florida posted a homemade ad for his 1996 Nissan Maxima online and Nissan bought it from him. This month a guy in Sweden posted a homemade ad for his 1985 Subaru Justy J10 Trendy online and got a job with Swedish car magazine Auto Motor und Sport. When Nils Jangan relocated to a new city and couldn't get a job, the financial drain eventually demanded he get rid of his car. Looking for a way to convince anyone to purchase a 29-year-old hatchback, he enlisted the help of Mordor, Saruman and, naturally, David Hasselhoff giving the thumbs up.
The picture was accompanied by text describing the "Japanese mountain goat" that was "hand-forged" by "the Saruman of carmakers," and its "54 frighteningly well-hung horses." One of its other advertised features was "I.D.N.R.I.S" seat belts, the "Instant Death No Retardation Impact System" meaning the occupants would never have to worry about long-term care if they were "in any collision at speeds higher than 12 km/hour." He asked 10,000 kroner (about $1,500 US) for the beauty, but he was also willing to trade for a job.
After posting the ad on Blocket, a Swedish craigslist, and having it shared throughout the community, Jangan got a ton of interest in the car and a job offer from Auto Motor und Sport, which he accepted. As for the Subie, it ended up going to a local repair shop for just a few hundred kroner, but we imagine Jangan's gets a decent work-related loaner or two to make up for it.

Toyota GT86, Scion FR-S sales disappointing worldwide?

Okay, folks - it appears we've got a problem. The Toyota GT86, Europe's counterpart to our own beloved Subaru BRZ and Scion FR-S coupes, is apparently not selling too well. This, according to Toyota's European Vice President of Research and Development, Gerald Killman, is what's limiting plans for additional variants of the rear-drive coupe.
"A faster version of that car would be at the top of most people's wish lists, but like the cabriolet, it is hard to justify a business case to push either model into production based on the current sales," Killman told AutoExpress. "Personally, I think that engine could use a little bit more," he added.
More troubling is that slow sales aren't limited to the Euro-spec car, with Killman claiming that the GT86 have been missing sales targets in major markets around the globe. It may not be that the US is one of those major markets, though. Scion's Vice President, Doug Murtha, tells Autoblog that his brand is happy with the sales of its version of the GT86, the FR-S. 18,000 units were sold last year, which Murtha says is "generally in line with original expectations for the car."