2011 Subaru Impreza Wrx Wagon 4-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

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Subaru to stop building Camry for Toyota in the US

It was back in 2007 that Subaru of Indiana Automotive, under contract from Subaru minority shareholder Toyota, built the first Toyota Camry at its plant in Lafayette, Indiana. Rumblings of the end of that contract work have been around for a while, as Subaru talked of expanding capacity to build more units and add a line for the Impreza, and Toyota talked of moving Camry production to its Georgetown, KY plant. The news was official internally last November when SIA Executive Vice President Tom Easterday told the Louisville Courier-Journal that Camry production would end. Now, Automotive News reports that both automakers have admitted publicly that the end will come in 2016.
SIA currently has a 170,000-unit capacity devoted to the home-brand Legacy and Outback models, while a $400-million expansion increases that to 300,000 units to prepare the facility for Impreza production in two years. Freeing up the 100,000 units of production devoted to the Camry means a 400,000-unit capability, which is far more than Subaru needs at the moment, but the Toyota exit will allow it to expand any way it sees fit. Subaru has said it will absorb the workers on the Camry line and no jobs will be lost, the mayor of Lafayette saying the development could change the timetable for the expansion.

Honda, Hyundai top car residual value / depreciation awards list

J.D. Power announced its 2022 U.S. ALG Residual Value awards Thursday, with Honda and Hyundai topping the charts at three models apiece in the industry-standard study. The term "residual" is an industry projection of how well a car will hold its resale value three years from the original purchase date – a key metric in calculating lease costs and projecting new-car depreciation.  Award winners included several enthusiast-friendly options, including the BMW 2 Series, Dodge Charger, Subaru WRX, Mercedes-AMG GT and Toyota Tacoma. Even the Ford Bronco was recognized, beating out the Jeep Wrangler in the Off-Road Utility segment. That may seem odd given the car's issue-plagued launch, but scarcity apparently trumps quality control issues over the longer term. Here's a scrolling complete list of winners broken down by segment: “Accurately forecasting residual values in the auto industry is a key factor in assessing an estimated $225 billion lease portfolio of vehicles in the United States,” said ALG VP Eric Lyman in the company's announcement. "The brands and vehicle models that rise to the top demonstrate that they score well across the award programÂ’s criteria, including manufacturersÂ’ superior design and quality." ALG looks at several factors to determine future value, which is especially tricky with new models. For 2022, 16 different brands were recognized across 29 segments. Behind Honda and Hyundai, Audi, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover and Subaru all managed to chart with two different models. Here's the rundown of those who won in more than one category: Honda Civic Honda Passport Honda Odyssey Hyundai Accent Hyundai Kona Hyundai Kona EV Audi A6 Allroad Audi Q3 Kia K5 Kia Telluride Land Rover Range Rover Velar Land Rover Discovery Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Mercedes-Benz Metris:  Subaru  WRX and  Subaru Forester Toyota Tacoma  Toyota Tundra "The award process consists of evaluating 284 models through analysis of used-vehicle performance, brand outlook and product competitiveness," the announcement said. "Eligibility for a brand award requires a manufacturer to have model entries in at least four different segments. To account for differences across trim levels, model averages are weighted based on percentage share relative to the entire model line."   Audi Honda Hyundai Kia Land Rover Mercedes-Benz Subaru Toyota

If your TV rats you out, what about your car?

Vizio, the TV manufacturer, recently had to pay a $2.2-million fine to the FTC recently because it was discovered that its sets were collecting data about viewers' watching habits and then using the information for its own benefit. Last year, it was revealed the Samsung smart TVs were busy listening to what was being said, even if the conversations in question had absolutely nothing with switching the channel away from the Matt LeBlanc Top Gear. Nowadays, auto manufacturers seem to be tripping over each other pointing out that they offer Apple CarPlay and Google Android Auto. And more recent phenomenon are announcements—from companies including Ford and Hyundai—that they are offering Amazon Alexa capabilities. You talk. It listens. In late January, General Motors said it is releasing a next-generation infotainment software development kit (NGI SDK) to software developers to write apps for GM cars. The NGI SDK includes native Application Program Interfaces (APIs) that allow access to expected things - like oil life and tire pressure and whether lightbulbs are burned out - but unexpected things, as well. Like the presence of passengers in the vehicle. When your TV set is ratting you out, isn't it likely that your car will? In making the announcement of the NGI SDK, GM pointed out that it has the largest connected fleet on the road, some 12-million vehicles. The company also noted: "From 2015 to 2016, GM has seen data usage by customers increase nearly 200 percent. Mobile app use for GM vehicles also hit an all-time high in 2016, with more than 225 million interactions." Is it not plausible that they know more those interactions than simply the number of them? GM's privacy agreement is like most privacy policies, which boils down to: You use it (the device, software, etc.), you potentially give up a portion of your privacy. While on the subject of apps, coincident with this year's CES, Subaru announced that it has added eight cloud-based apps to the STARLINK multimedia system in the 2017 Impreza. Some are familiar, like Yelp. Some are a bit narrow in focus, like eBird, which was developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for birdwatchers. And one ought to give a bit of pause: RightTrack. According to Subaru, "RightTrack Test Drive from Liberty Mutual Insurance monitors driving habits and provides customers with tips on driving safer to help lower their insurance rates and improve their safe driving skills." Or said more simply: You drive. It watches.