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Subaru sells 2 millionth Outback in U.S.

Subaru just sold its 2 millionth Outback in the U.S. The Outback is Subaru's most popular vehicle, and the brand's sales growth in recent years means it took far less time to reach the 2 million mark as it did to sell the first million (from 1995 to 2011). Currently in its fifth generation, the Outback is built in Lafayette, Ind., and the 2 millionth example was sold at Subaru Pacific in Hawthorne, Calif. Andrew Simpson is the new owner (that's him in the center in the photo below), and a host of Subaru's top executives were there to close the deal and to give Simpson a few gifts the buyer of Outback No. 1,999,999 apparently didn't get. Best of all, there was a charitable donation to the Grades of Green program on his behalf from the automaker's environmental philanthropy arm, Subaru Loves the Earth. The second millionth Outback is worth a look back 24 years down the long rutted trail it has traveled, with bragging rights over SUVs strewn along the way. It all started in 1995, with "Crocodile Dundee" Paul Hogan offering "a ripper deal": This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Hogan did Outback commercials for years. But this may be the first instance of dogs as Subaru pitchmen: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Here's a pretty great extended commercial with Daniel Tosh, "proud Subaru owner." For once he's not kidding. He even held a contest on "Tosh 2.0" to give his 2011 Outback away to a viewer: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This one is wrapped in a Snuggie: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. In recent years, in the "Love, it's what makes a Subaru a Subaru" era, there has been a focus on the Outback's reputation for safety. This ad pulls a heartstring: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. And finally, a toast from the Barkleys (in "two completely different voices"), to you, Subaru Outback, and your many loyal customers, including the 2 millionth: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Subaru previews Levorg concept ahead of Tokyo reveal

When I was a kid I went with my family to a Subaru dealership. My brother, being clever as he is, pointed out that Subaru backwards spelled "you're a bus." The portly salesman was not amused, and we bought a Passat instead. Fast forward a couple of decades and we can't help but wonder if Subaru wasn't thinking the same thing when it named its new concept Levorg, which spells "grovel" backwards. The company itself says the name is a combination of the words "Legacy," "Revolution" and "Touring," but one way or another, that's what they're calling it, and here are the first preview images and details on the concept which Fuji Heavy will unveil at the Tokyo Motor Show this year.
Designed to combine the feel of a sports car with the practicality of a touring car, the Levorg looks set to preview the next step in a long line of performance-oriented Subaru wagons. It packs a 1.6-liter turbocharged boxer four and next-generation EyeSight technologies in what looks to be a svelte yet muscular form that could point the way forward for the next Legacy.
The Levorg, however, is not the only concept which Subaru will reveal in Tokyo this year. The Japanese automaker has also revealed plans to unveil the Cross Sport Design Concept (which could preview the replacement for the discontinued Tribeca), the Crossover 7 Concept (which looks like a taller version of the Legacy wagon with an apparent third row of seats), and an Evolution version of the Viziv concept presented in Geneva earlier this year. Scope them out in the gallery above and press release below.

Subaru details BRZ tS, stops short of full-on STI

Fans of the sweet-handling Subaru BRZ awaiting some performance enhancements got their hopes up earlier this month when parent Fuji Heavy Industries dropped some teasers hinting at an apparent STI version, but as was subsequently suspected, the model in question - now revealed in full - stops short of being a full-on STI model.
What we're looking at here is the new Subaru BRZ tS, which incorporates a series of enhancements but leaves the engine alone. Available exclusively in the Japanese Domestic Market, the BRZ tS package includes a thicker driveshaft, a front lip spoiler, Brembo ventilated brake discs packed inside 18-inch wheels and a smattering of STI logos inside and out. STI has also upgraded the suspension components, retuned the stability control and exhaust note and enhanced the interior with some carbon and Alcantara touches. An additional GT package includes further upgrades, most noticeably the giant rear wing (made of carbon fiber) shown above, black-painted alloys and Recaro bucket seats.
Only 500 examples of the BRZ tS will be offered in Japan, with no more than 250 of those outfitted with the supplementary GT package. Here's hoping Subaru gives us a taste on this side of the Pacific as well - or better yet, maybe they'll quit joking around and give us the full-on STI already.