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Auto diesel Forester model hinges on Outback sales
By RON HAMMERTON
SUBARU Australia might yet realise
its wish for an automatic transmissionequipped
diesel Forester, although it
would not be for at least two years.
The local branch of Subaru is
pinning its hopes on the success of the
upcoming Outback diesel automatic –
the fi rst vehicle with that powertrain
combination in the Subaru range – to
convince head offi ce in Japan that
spending the money and effort on an
auto diesel Forester also would be
worthwhile.
Subaru Australia managing director
Nick Senior said at last week’s Forester
XT launch that he had high hopes for the
Outback diesel that gains an automatic
variant from April.
“We see the Outback diesel with CVT
(continuously variable transmission) as
a big opportunity for strong incremental
sales,” he said.
Mr Senior said no such version
of Forester was on offer or in the
engineering pipeline, but was not
completely out of the question.
“We hope that with strong sales
of Outback (diesel CVT), we can
demonstrate the potential for a Forester
diesel CVT,” he said.
Subaru decided to develop the CVT
diesel powertrain for Outback as it
was seen as the model that would most
benefi t from it.
Mr Senior said the Outback’s medium
SUV class had a stronger take-up of
diesel than the Forester’s compact class,
where petrol had a stronger hold.
However, a diesel engine with a CVT
transmission would attract more buyers
to Forester.
Plummeting sales of vehicles in
the diesel stronghold of Europe in the
post-GFC recession has not helped
Australia’s cause in its quest for a CVT
version of its diesel Forester, which
comes only with a manual transmission
in the new fourth-generation range
arriving in showrooms this month.
With minimal diesel light-vehicle
sales in the United States, Japan and
China, Subaru Australia is struggling
for allies in its quest for the CVT diesel
Forester, which Mr Senior believes
would enhance the attractiveness of the
thrifty diesel engine in Australia where
automatic transmissions are king.
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Jan 30, 2013 Page 14
Subaru Australia snares
extra 200 BRZ coupes
By RON HAMMERTON
SUBARU Australia has good news for
long-suffering BRZ customers awaiting
delivery of their two-door coupes – an
extra 200 vehicles are being rushed to
Australia over the next two months.
Instead of the usual 30-35 cars a
month, Subaru dealers will get about
130 BRZs a month in February and
March, shortening the wait by several
months for many buyers.
The extra allocation comes courtesy
of a drop in demand in Japan for the
base model of the BRZ’s Toyota twin,
the 86, freeing up supply from the
Japanese Subaru factory that builds
both models for the world.
Subaru Australia managing director
Nick Senior said the waiting time for
BRZs had been out to September, but
the extra cars would cut that to July.
He said all the cars in the extra
deliveries were spoken for under
Subaru’s build-to-order system for
BRZ, with customers ordering their
vehicles online.
Subaru hopes to deliver up to 550
BRZs this year – small numbers in
Subaru’s annual sales of about 40,000
vehicles.
Mr Senior had bad news for buyers
hanging off for a hotter version of
the BRZ or perhaps a convertible –
he says no such vehicles are in the
production schedule.
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