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Subaru rolls out BRZ Premium Sports Edition in Japan [w/poll]

The Subaru BRZ is many things: fun, affordable, communicative... but premium is not one of them. Yet that is precisely more of that upscale look and feel Subaru is going for with its new BRZ Premium Sports Edition.
Thus far exclusive to the Japanese Domestic Market, the BRZ Premium Sports Edition upgrades the standard model with unique 17-inch alloys and an interior spruced up with two-tone black and tan leather, along with contrast-stitched Alcantara trim for the instrument cluster, center console and door panels. There's also a set of aluminum pedals, metal and carbon trim, black mirror housings and more.
The luxed-up model wears a sticker price of 3,034,500 yen, which translates to about $31k. That would make it about $6k more expensive than a base BRZ in the United States, but to put it into more relevant context, the upgrades represent a 241,500 yen ($2,450) premium over the top-spec BRZ Type S in Japan. Assuming Subaru could keep that price premium intact, do you think it would be wise to offer the BRZ Premium Sports Edition in North America? Vote in our poll below, then have your say in Comments.

How Subaru saved itself by marketing to the gay community

Almost everyone who's in the car community, and even people that aren't, have probably heard the stereotype that lesbians drive Subarus. What you may not realize is that stereotype was fostered by Subaru, and it helped make the company relevant again in the '90s. This is the story told by NPR's Planet Money podcast. Apparently, as the company was trying to figure out who was buying its cars, the marketing folks discovered that gay and lesbian people were a large segment – along with all those outdoorsy types. The discovery led to subtle advertising directed specifically at what we now refer to as the LGBT community, which in turn led to more sales to gay and lesbian consumers. There were other components to Subaru's sales strategy in the '90s, but this particular campaign was an important part and quite successful. Thanks to that success, today we still have Subaru around building reliable, all-wheel-drive transportation, as well as rally-inspired sport compacts. There are of course many more details, but we don't want to spoil them for you. For the whole story, you need to head over to the Planet Money site and listen in. Related Video: News Source: NPR / Planet MoneyImage Credit: Copyright 2016 Drew Phillips / AOL Marketing/Advertising Read This Subaru lgbt

Scion rules out roadster, turbo versions of FR-S

Ever since Toyota and Subaru released the sports car alternatively known as the GT86, 86, BRZ and Scion FR-S a couple of years ago, rumors have circulated that even more exciting variants could be in store. But at least as far as Scion is concerned, those rumors are apparently nothing more than wishful thinking. Speaking with WardsAuto at the LA Auto Show last week, Scion chief Doug Murtha said that the prospect of an FR-S roadster has been taken off the table entirely. Apparently Scion lobbied parent company Toyota to produce just such a model, but after failing to find other markets interested enough in the model to put it into production, corporate HQ said no. "I think we were pretty aggressive on our (submitted plan), but we looked at what we would have conceivably lost on the product and said, 'We're not going to even push it further,'" Murtha said, going on to note, "Nobody was more disappointed than we were." Murtha further shot down the idea of a turbo version of the FR-S, dismissing it as a prospect the blogosphere (that's us) wanted to happen but "that's not something that's coming." Either variant might have helped Scion and Toyota boost sales of the model (which are predictably dropping after their first two years on the market), but the investment also might not have paid off their development, tooling and marketing costs. Of course, Murtha can only speak for Toyota, but we'd be surprised to see Subaru go it alone on either model, as costs would be that much more prohibitive without a partner. Bummer.