2012 Subaru Impreza Wrx Sti Sedan 4d on 2040-cars

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Acura may go all AWD in bid to mimic Subaru's success

Acura's struggles have been well publicized. The Honda-owned luxury brand doesn't seem sure of where it's going or what it's trying to accomplish, with its cars and marketing lacking a coherent theme. Now, a new report from Automotive News claims that the brand could follow the success of Subaru and (to a lesser extent) Audi, and adopt all-wheel-drive as standard across its model range.
"I think that's the way we should go," Acura boss Koichi Fukuo told Automotive News.
Acura already offers some form of all-wheel drive on every vehicle in its line aside from the lamentable ILX sedan. That could change as Acura begins rolling out next-generation versions of its still relatively new stable of sedans and crossovers.

Subaru WRX STI prototype spied in motion

Earlier this week, we got all hot and bothered over a set of spy photos showing the next-generation Subaru WRX STI testing at the Nürburgring. And while pretty still shots of a camouflaged car are always nice to look at, stirring up lots of speculation, having video is even better. Good thing, then, that our trusty spies were on hand to get some rolling footage of that STI as it lapped the infamous German track.
Now, as a good majority of the comments on our previous post will point out, it looks like Subaru has dumbed down the design of that decidedly hot WRX Concept from New York for the road-going car. Of course, we need to wait until all that swirly paper is pulled off the body, but from what we can see here, it looks like this new 'Rex will be more akin to the current Impreza than we were originally led to believe.
So while we wait and hope that what's under the camouflage will be something sexy, have a look at the video below to watch the WRX STI prototype get worked out on the 'Ring.

Subaru puts China production on hold amidst slowing growth

Subaru's 2015 sales and production forecast estimates the Japanese brand to sell about 60,000 vehicles in China this year, a 10 percent rise. However, a recent decision not to build a factory there might make future growth more difficult. Given the changing state of the market, the automaker doesn't seem concerned by the potentially lost sales. According to Bloomberg, even if the Chinese government gave permission for Subaru to build its planned joint venture factory with Chery, the Japanese brand would not take advantage of it. "Since the profits are split with your partner, you would have to double the sales to maintain the profits you earn by exporting from Japan," said Akira Mabuchi, the company's executive in charge of China, according to Bloomberg. Subaru is in the odd position of being the only major Japanese automaker without a joint venture partner to build cars in China, but the massive year-over-year growth there seems to be slowing. Auto sales in China were up 6.9 percent in 2014, according to Bloomberg, compared to 14 percent in 2013. Also, Chinese consumers have been famously averse to buying Japanese vehicles with only half of the consumers there even willing to purchase one. Instead, the company is focusing on the US market, according to Bloomberg. The decision makes sense. While Subie's sales in China shrunk 2 percent in 2014 to about 55,000 vehicles, the company grew 21 percent in the US to 514,000 units. The automaker already has plans to add capacity to its factory in Indiana. News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Jae C. Hong / AP Photo Plants/Manufacturing Subaru