2005 Subaru Outback I Wagon 4-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

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Subaru says Forester logs 8,000 JDM orders in first month, 4x expectations

The 2014 Subaru Forester is not on sale yet here in the US, but it has been on sale in Japan since the middle of last month. In that time, Subaru says that the 8,149 customer orders it has received have more than quadrupled the original expectation of just 2,000 units.
To go along with these impressive orders so far, Subaru has also provided a breakdown of exactly what initial customers are ordering, and based on the numbers provided, it would appear that early customers are choosing well-equipped models. This includes almost 90 percent of all models being ordered with the new Subaru EyeSight system, and while close to two-thirds of the Forester models are equipped with the base 2.0-liter engine, the turbocharged Forester 2.0XT is the most popular individual trim level accounting for almost 40 percent of the orders out of four available trim levels. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues as more Foresters hit dealers, but this is definitely a good sign for the compact crossover right out of the gate.
There's a brief press release after the jump that gives a full breakdown of customer orders so far in Japan.

Subaru parent company celebrates 60th birthday

Fuji Heavy Industries, parent company of Subaru, celebrated its 60th anniversary on June 15. And while the company is largely known in the automotive world for its innovative all-wheel-drive cars, its history stretches far back before the days of symmetrical all-wheel drive, World Rally Blue and gold wheels.
FHI was founded, much like Germany's BMW, as an aircraft company. It went through a series of names before settling on its current title in 1953. And while its aerial successes were never quite as famous as Mitsubishi and its Zero, FHI did fly Japan's first jet-powered trainer. The same year, 1958 to be exact, it unveiled the iconic Subaru 360 minicar. While the 360 never quite caught on in the US (at least not with the fervor of the similarly laid-out Volkswagen Beetle), the small, affordable and simple Subie had a wide-ranging appeal across the island of Japan.
The rear-drive, rear-engined 360 was eventually joined by the 1000, Subaru's first front-engine, front-wheel-drive car. More importantly, the 1000 ushered in Subaru's use of a horizontally opposed engine. The Subaru Leone, which arrived in 1971, expanded on the 1000, by offering a combination we're all familiar with nowadays - all-wheel drive with a flat-four engine.

Subaru Levorg Concept has us dreaming about a WRX wagon

We're not sure what got in the water supply of Subaru's Tokyo Motor Show team, but we like the results. After checking out the Cross Sport Design Concept, which we would love to see as a BRZ shooting brake, Subaru took the wraps off its Levorg Concept. Naming convention aside, the idea of a sport-tuned wagon with a boxer engine is music to our ears.
The design language fits in with recent Subaru products, and the Levorg's face is very similar to the 2015 WRX that was just unveiled across the Pacific Ocean at the LA Auto Show. In terms of its size, though, this concept is roughly the same as the current Outback, only it sits about five inches lower. Power comes from either of a pair of boxer engines: a fuel-efficient 1.6-liter or a 296-horsepower, 2.0-liter. Both engines would be paired to Subaru's Symmetrical all-wheel-drive system.
Subaru says that the Levorg is a thinly veiled version of the production sports tourer that will go on sale (likely in Japan and/or Europe) next spring. Could this mean we could soon see a sporty Legacy wagon in the US? We can only hope. More details about the Levorg are posted in the press release found below.