Subaru Wants To Shed "Quirky" Image, Broaden Mainstream Appeal

[uvawyo]

I agree with Dave and others
I like quirky
I'd rather Subaru did not mainstream.
We own an 09 Tribeca but I really prefer the looks of the b9 with the horse collar grill at least when you meet one you know right away it is not a Chrysler or a Hyundai, What is worng with a "flying vagina" anyway?
I like the new Outback but but I love my less mainstream 07 Outback and don't plan to trade for a new one soon.

[thefuryinside]

Lol. Flying Vagina... Thanks for the laugh.
As a fan, I can't help but think we've been given a big "thanks but no thanks". But... as a fan I'm excited to see where Subaru will go with this new direction.

First off, I'm not a huge fan of the new Outback. It's alright. I'm not about to bash my Subaru bretheren. It's just not what I would call an Outback. It's something different. It's not the size (although they are a little tall) and it's not necessarily the styling. The front end styling is a little messy, but it's growing on me. If it were a little cleaner, I think I'd be alright with it. The rear is fine and I actually like the side profile except for the sorta tall roof. I absolutely love the clean, simple, classy, but some somehow rugged and sporty design of the classic Outback (especially the 3rd gen). I'm all for them cleaning up the lines and I'm all for them making some more money becoming slightly more mainstream. Honestly, it's about time. Quirky doesn't have to mean ugly anymore. It's the natural evolution of things and there's nothing we can do about it. We hardcore fans will just have to support our darling Subaru as it grows up in the world! At this point, they're still considered a "small player" among the big automakers. Once they make some more money, the fancy engineering will come soon after. One of the major things keeping people from buying Subaru is the styling. With new duds, they will undoubtedly win new converts. Let's just hope they don't lose their soul completely. Toyota isn't the devil, but it doesn't help.

My personal opinion: I'm looking forward to the future of Subaru. Without losing too much of their soul, I think they could step up their styling game a notch or two. I'd love to see clean, sporty lines. Too many cars these days add crazy character lines all over. The end product is overstyled and sometimes ugly. Simple, clean lines don't necessarily mean boring cars. I think it mean a classier, possibly more upscale product. I just hope they keep the sporty-ish rugged vibe of Subaru. I like the rally heritage. I miss the two tone colors and the side cladding. It really helps pick out an Outback from a mile away. Eventually they will be able to update the engineering, but I can respect them sticking with something they do well instead of putting untested product out there. Subaru has a history of closely watching customer needs and complaints. Sometimes they fail... But overall, I'd say they're going in the right direction. The Hybrid Tourer Concept is well.. a concept but I like it! If the 2010 Outback took some styling cues from that concept (primarily in the front end) it stands a chance of looking great!

I urge current fans not to get too emotional with this new direction. It's easy to feel like we've been disowned by Subaru. I really think it's a good idea for them to move on and try new things. I encourage them to make more money and covert more people to the world of Subaru. Try to keep a positive outlook and trust Subaru.

[thefuryinside]

Originally Posted by AA9ZZ

Where are the door handles and rear view mirrors on the above car? That's quality styling? Also, isn't the steering wheel on the wrong side?

It's a concept car. They are rarely exact copies of what a production car will look like. Concept cars are famous for sometimes not even having engines let alone side mirrors and door handles. They are literally rolling pieces of art used to gauge the public's reception of such a design. They also tend to debut new technology or just to boost publicity. If you saw other pictures of that concept, you'd notice gullwing doors and a crazy, futuristic interior. None of this will make it to production of course. Concept cars are almost always form over function.

What you should glean from this concept is the overall general styling. Imagine it toned down a few notches, slap it on an impreza or a legacy and you get the idea. Subaru says that this concept should be an approximate indication of where they want to take their current designs. Future Subarus should be somewhat reminiscent of this concept.

We should expect to see a mid cycle refresh of the current Outback at an auto show in a year or two. It will likely pull a few cues from this design, but still be the same general vehicle. A major redesign won't likely happen for at least five years.

[lfdal]

Given the current model line-up, I expect our two OBW's to be our last Subarus.

We've owned a 03 Forester XS, 04 FXT, 03 OBW, 08 OBW 2.5i, and 08 OBW 2.5 Ltd.

Subaru has succeeded in making the current line-up either too bland, or styled too much like everyone else's, and really unless you must have Subaru's AWD, there are better vehicles, even with AWD to be had for less money, IMHO.

The SG FXT Premium was a great car, no bargain price wise, and had too many rattles for a vehicle that came in above 29k, and truly awful gas mileage @ 14 around town and 22 or so on the highway. I know people have gotten better mileage but you can find a lot of posts with the same mileage I just mentioned.

And, to get the best handling performance you pretty much had to add at least a RSB and some end links. It was a highly functional vehicle that was a blast to drive.

Our 03 OBW was a cluster mess, and the worst car we've ever owned in terms of reliability. Didn't cost much out of pocket, but that's where the good news ended.

We rolled the dice with the two new 08 OBW's since I didn't like what they hadn't done to the 08 FXT's i.e. way too similar to my 04 FXT except for a degraded block (WRX block vs the 04 and 05's STi blocks), and I wanted some better mileage, and less rattles. Despite the bad luck with the 03 OBW the 08's looked like an acceptable risk.

Now I look at the current line-up and I see nothing that really stands out. The Forester looks just laike any other small SUV on the market. In base model its a good deal but gets pricy quickly.

They've supersized the OB to the point I'd have no use for one.

I'm no fan of CVT's.

The Imprezas offer a good package for the price but are too small for my needs and definitely seem to have a love / hate styling.

The WRX doesn't enter into the equation for me as its small size and the god awful insurance rates are deal breakers.

The Legacy sedans? Well, again too much like everyone else's.

That being said, other than a wheel bearing @ 9k on my wife's OBW and 4 new struts on my OBW @ 30k, they've been pretty reliable and I can get in the vicinity of 20 mpg around town and 30 on the highway.

For some reason or other the North American market seems to be shut out of some of their more (at least to enthusiasts) interesting models.

Am I upset at Subaru personally? Not really. I don't like that they're selling out their most loyal customer base to make money, but corporations do it all the time.

If what I'll call the loyal customer base (folks that helped put Subaru's name out there as a contender) is of size X but the market appeal can be increased by a factor big enough to make X irrelevant, it makes perfect sense.

I do plan on taking both the Forester and OB for a test drive to get a base comparison when I start vehicle shopping.

Just my opinion and I won't take it personal if anyone (everyone) disagrees with me.

[MapleScones92]

You said everything I wanted to say, but much better than what I could type out. Thank you!

We hope Subaru reads the comments here.

Our 2002 Outback has had no problems. None. Drives beautifully! We love it.

[OldBay]

As the models get larger, maybe the impreza will get to the size of the Gen 2 outbacks.

[subiesailor]

My 2010 OB assuming our oil doesn't run out in the next 15+ years will probably still be parked in the garage. At that point I will be selling all my cars renting the house out and headed for the south pacific on a sailboat.

When or if I decide to come back I'm thinking an old 911 and some sort of new light duty SUV type machine for camping adventures.

[AWDFTW]

Originally Posted by OldBay

As the models get larger, maybe the impreza will get to the size of the Gen 2 outbacks.

Heh. My wife agrees with you on that one. Our first OB was a 1996 (her favorite), we now have a 2003 and my folks have a 2006. I parked beside a 2010 and asked her how she liked it. Her response, "That's an Outback?! It's the size of my mom's Highlander!"

Somehow, I don't see a 4th Gen in our future. Plenty of 1996 to 2009's to keep us happy for a good long while though.

[tbinion]

By defaulting design to "bolder, with fewer soft curves and more muscular styling, eschewing the understated and functional designs of the past", do they mean UGLY? I have an '06 Outback. I love the styling. I think the styling of the '10-'11 is UGLY!! I for one happen to prefer understated, soft curves. It worked pretty well for Porsche for forty years. If I wanted mainstream, I would drive a Toyota!

[Colin M]

I have to agree with tbinion on all grounds. I am appalled that Subaru have replaced the conservatively styled 2006 Outback with the bulky and hideous 2010 model. The lesson from Porsche is that you can have a styling identity that shows clear continuity all the way from the 1950s, put an uncommon configuration of engine in the "wrong" place and so long as you engineer it right people will beat a path to your door. Porsche learned their lesson with the 928 (anyone remember it?)

Manufacturers always assume that the only way to expand and survive is to join the herd and produce something indistinguishable from the large, established main-stream manufacturers. Unfortunately there is no guarantee that there will be a market share for them when they get there. Indeed there is every chance that there won't be.

Just edited to add a link to a UK newspaper article which I think sums up the opinion of many here on the way Subaru are going:-

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-st...y-1800810.html