2002 Subaru Outback Limited Only 40k 1-owner Warranty 5speed on 2040-cars

Auto blog

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

Ford tumbles to second worst in Consumer Reports reliability survey, list dominated by Japanese [w/video]

It's no secret that MyFord Touch has had its share of problems since being introduced, but the most recent reliability survey from Consumer Reports shows just how much this infotainment system has affected Ford. Just two years ago, the automaker was in the top 10 for the institute's reliability rankings, but since then, it has tumbled to the second-lowest rung just above dead-last Jaguar. In addition to MyFord Touch, CR also attributes a handful of new products that have had issues right out of the gate.
Compiled from 1.2 million subscriber surveys, this year's auto reliability survey heavily favors Japanese automakers, with eight of the 10 spots hailing from Japan. Toyota brands grabbed the top three spots (Scion, Toyota and Lexus - in that order) with Mazda, Subaru, Honda and Acura filling the next four spots. The only non-Asian automaker cracking the top 10 was Audi at number eight.
Audi climbed a total of 18 spots from last year, and Cadillac and GMC round out this year's top gainers breaking into the top 15. Helping Cadillac's upward movement, the CTS Coupe was named the most reliable domestic car. Lincoln, Volvo and Chrysler join Ford on this year's biggest loser list.

CCTV footage shows Red Bull trophy heist going down

Any Formula One team knows the deal: you train, you prepare, you make the best car possible and put it in the hands of the best people you can get. But then out of nowhere another driver crashes into one of yours and your race is over. That's just the way it goes sometimes, but even that didn't prepare Red Bull Racing for the crash that happened at its headquarters last month. That's when some bandits drove a silver Subaru Legacy wagon backwards through the front door of the team's headquarters in Milton Keynes, UK, and made off with a bunch of the trophies displayed in the lobby. Now video footage from a closed-circuit television camera has surfaced, showing the crime go down in a brief twelve-second clip. It was a senseless crime since most of the trophies don't have much intrinsic value, and it's not exactly like they could sell them to someone else. All it accomplished was to damage the team's facility and demoralize the men and women who worked so hard to win those trophies – many of which ended up dumped in a nearby lake. News Source: BBC via YouTube, World Car Fans Motorsports TV/Movies Subaru F1 security trophy heist