1995 Subaru Svx Ls Coupe 2-door 3.3l on 2040-cars

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Subaru punches out 15 millionth Boxer engine

It's a small milestone for our favorite manufacturer of gold-wheeled, all-wheel-drive sedans and crossovers, as Subaru announced that it has built its 15 millionth Boxer engine – a mere 49 years after it installed a tiny, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder mill in the 1966 1000 sedan. The milestone engine powers something a good bit larger than the 1000, which was (ironically considering Subaru today) the brand's first front-drive vehicle. Today's boxer, the so-called FB25 2.5-liter four, was built for the current Legacy and Outback. The 15 millionth Boxer hasn't been the brand's only accomplishment in 2015. The company built its 14 millionth Symmetrical all-wheel-drive system just last month. Subaru has only been at its trademark AWD system for 43 years, and with sales going the way they are, it seems only a matter of time before the Boxer engine is surpassed. Related Video:

Toyota, Mazda drop Takata as Mitsubishi, Subaru weigh options

It's not a very good time to be Takata right now. Fresh on the heels of longtime partner Honda ditching them, Toyota and Mazda have both come out and said they will not use the company's airbag inflators if they continue to rely on ammonium nitrate. Bloomberg reports that Subaru and Mitsubishi are also contemplating a divorce. "The inflator using ammonium nitrate produced by Takata will not be adopted by Toyota," President Akio Toyoda said during a briefing today. "What's most important above anything else is the safety and peace of mind of customers." Mazda echoed that position, simply saying it "will not use Takata airbag inflators which contain ammonium nitrate in our new cars." When you lose three huge OEM accounts in as many days, it's certainly going to have a deleterious effect on your fortunes. In Takata's case, that's meant a staggering 39-percent drop in their share price over the last three days. Yesterday alone, the company saw a 6.2-percent fall, Bloomberg reports. As the business publication reports, though, Takata isn't going down without a fight. The company is "considering some plans to survive," including a fundraising plan that will see it potentially offer up additional shares for sale. Still, at least one analyst doesn't see whatever company survives staying involved in the airbag inflator business. "I really don't see how they're going to be able to survive as an inflator manufacturer," Valient Market Research founder Scott Upham told Bloomberg. "When your major clients publicly come out and say that they're not going to use your products anymore, it makes this very difficult to sustain your business." News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Carlos Osorio / AP Honda Mazda Mitsubishi Subaru Toyota Safety supplier

BTW: Subaru's SHARC won the 2012 Design Challenge

Part of the festivities that encompass the LA Auto Show is the annual LA Design Challenge. This year's winner was the Subaru Highway Automated Response Concept, or SHARC. It envisioned automated, zero-emission highway patrolling.
The 2012 edition of the challenge was to envision the future of highway patrol in the year 2025. The goal was to conceptualize a vehicle that would account for the needs of "dynamic urban environments." In addition to Subaru's participation in the contest BMW, General Motors, Honda and Mercedes-Benz, all took part in the challenge.
The SHARC is essentially a law enforcement land-drone. It is entirely automated and runs on renewable energy. Subaru envisioned a future where the Hawaiian Islands are connected to each other by a large highway system. Such an expansive area would require considerable manpower to patrol. The concept of an autonomous patrol vehicle would eliminate the need for a good number of full-time personnel.