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Subaru launches production of Ascent crossover in Indiana

Subaru began production Monday of the new Ascent, its much-anticipated three-row crossover, at its plant in Lafayette, Ind. It's set to arrive at dealers in June as a 2019 model and will start at $32,970, including shipping. The Ascent joins the Impreza, Legacy and Outback as vehicles built at the plant. It'll compete with three-row utility vehicles like the Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, Chevrolet Traverse and Volkswagen Atlas. (Read our comparison of the Ascent to the former two here.) Subaru built around 364,000 vehicles at the Indiana plant last year and expects the Ascent to nudge that up to around 400,000 vehicles a year. The automaker spent $140 million and added 1,200 jobs at Lafayette to support the Ascent. The company in late 2016 shifted production of the Impreza sedan and hatchback to the factory, its lone manufacturing site outside of Japan, to free up room at its plant in Gunma Prefecture for the hot-selling Crosstrek, which has been singlehandedly lifting Subaru's U.S. sales lately. A Subaru spokesman told Autoblog recently that the company hopes to sell 60,000 Ascents in the first year and had already booked more than 4,000 sold orders on the vehicle from customers who hadn't seen or driven it. The Ascent will come in either seven- or eight-seat configurations, is offered in all-wheel-drive and is based on a modified version of the same Subaru Global Platform that underpins the Impreza. It's powered by an all-new 2.4-liter turbocharged boxer four-cylinder that makes 260 horsepower and 277 pound-feet of torque. It fills a slot formerly occupied by the Tribeca, Subaru's last three-row vehicle, which was discontinued in 2014. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

2020 Subaru Outback gets new-and-improved roof rack

The next-generation, 2020 Subaru Outback introduced at the New York Auto Show is quite obviously an evolution of the vehicle it replaces. Actually, we wouldn't be surprised if many folks can't tell the difference between the new and previous ones on the outside. There are many improved elements, however, and one of them is the Outback's unique roof rack system that returns for a third generation. As before, the roof rails swing inward to be their own cross bars. There's therefore no need to mount and remove separate crossbars, or alternatively, keep them on the car where they'll create noise and hurt fuel economy. Considering that so many Subaru owners mount things to the roofs of their cars (bikes, kayaks, gear boxes, skis, tents, etc.), this is one of those things than can really make the Outback stand out from the hordes of compact SUVs out there, including the Forester. The fact that the Outback's roof is lower, and therefore easier to lift thing upon, certainly helps. Again, the swing-in roof rails were there before. For the 2020 Outback, Subaru added sturdy arches at the edge of the roof rail assembly. Besides looking cooler than the rather bulky old set-up, these serve as large, easily accessed tie-down points for especially large items like kayaks. It seems like a simple thing, but it can actually make a difference in the way people actually use their cars.

Subaru files for S209 trademark in the U.S.

Last week, Subaru filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Organization to trademark "S209." The paperwork indicates Subaru would like to apply it to "automobiles, structural parts, and structural fittings therefor," and "floor mats for automobiles." An application doesn't mean anything, but the obvious deduction would be that Subaru is thinking about another special edition Impreza WRX STI for the U.S. market, one that brings a taste of JDM-only nomenclature our way. The S appellation is as serious to the Subaru Tecnica International division as STI is to Subaru overall. The STI boffins have rolled out these extra special modes since the S201 STI in 2000, the Japanese market reaping a new S harvest every couple of years. Our last distant visions of such were the S207 shown at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show, and the S208 revealed last year. The 208 benefited from a bump in horsepower, from 323 hp to 329 hp and 319 pound-feet of torque, quick-ratio steering, a front strut tower brace, Bilstein dampers as part of a DampMatic II suspension, torque vectoring front and rear, 19-inch BBS wheels, Brembo brakes, a carbon roof, and an unmissable rear spoiler. None of the previous "S" models made it to the U.S. If this one does, we can only guess how Subaru will differentiate it from the hottest Impreza we've had, the recent Type RA (pictured). Our Type RA lost 68 pounds with the help of a carbon roof and spoiler, while a bag of engine mods and revised gearing helped make the most of unchanged 310 hp and 290 lb-ft from the 2.5-liter EJ25 engine. A power bump would likely be first on the wishlist for an S209, but it should be noted that the recent Japanese S cars have used the EJ207 2.0-liter boxer-four, not our 2.5-liter. As with the carmaker's home market, we'd expect an S209 to go into severely limited production. Subaru built 300 units of the S206, 400 of the S207, and 450 of the S208. Even if we do get a brawnier STI, Japan is likely to keep its power close with the WRX STI TC 380 teased last month, putting out 375 hp from a 2.0-liter turbocharged boxer-four. Still, the South-Africa-only WRX STI Diamond Edition rocked 349 hp and 342 lb-ft from its 2.5-liter, so there's a lot of headroom for a U.S. S209 to play with. If we get one, that is. Related Video: