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2015 Subaru Outback

"We like producing cars that are different." That's the company line trumpeted by several Subaru executives during the launch of the 2015 Outback - one of Fuji Heavy's most successful vehicles to date. Managing Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski accurately noted that while Subaru has never really found salvation with its mainstream sedans, it's the higher-riding, butcher offerings like the Outback and the Impreza-based XV Crosstrek that have been sales stars for the Japanese company. In 2013, for example, Subaru sold nearly three Outbacks for every Legacy it moved. And in 2014, the XV is on pace to outsell the Impreza upon which its based.
But Subarus have always been different, catering to unique customers that desire something a bit more special than your run-of-the-mill sedan or crossover. It's clearly worked, with Subaru having posted 30 months of year-over-year sales increases as of this writing. And even as the automaker's portfolio goes more mainstream, smoothing out its serially awkward styling and gunning for a larger market share here in the United States, that intrinsic Subaru differentiation is still baked in to each and every product.
It's that new Outback we're here to talk about today, a vehicle that's been comprehensively redesigned for the 2015 model year while not shaking up the formula that's made it successful since its inception in the mid-1990s, back when it (arguably) launched what we now know as the crossover utility vehicle segment. It's still plenty different - and plenty good, too.

Subaru Viziv Tourer Concept brings back the WRX wagon in Geneva

Last month, we ran a dimly-lit teaser image depicting the taillight of the new Subaru Viziv Tourer concept, slated for a Geneva Motor Show reveal. Now the wraps have come off the handsomely bronze concept, and it all looks good for a future WRX wagon design. The second-generation wagon was replaced by a hatchback variant, so there hasn't been a WRX wagon for 10 years now. The Viziv Tourer is a welcome Subaru return to longer roofs in this segment, albeit with slight crossover flavors. A production version is still expected for a 2020 launch. The taillights cut into wide wheel arches, but the sides are slightly less bulging than with the Viziv Performance STI Concept shown at the Tokyo Auto Salon earlier this year: If you get your ruler out, the Tourer is 20mm narrower. It all looks very production ready, just lacking door handles and side mirrors — and perhaps it could use some slightly bigger headlights. The concept's glasshouse is tinted heavily enough not to reveal anything from the interior. Subaru says the Global Platform underpinning the Viziv and its Tourer sibling includes the combination of Subaru's Symmetrical AWD and a boxer engine, so the core Subaru values are still present. There should be EyeSight advanced driver assists introduced in the production car, but the performance variants are likely to focus on "active enjoyment of driving," as Subaru politely puts it. Related Video: Featured Gallery Subaru Viziv Tourer Concept: Geneva 2018 View 11 Photos Related Gallery Subaru VIZIV Tourer concept View 9 Photos Image Credit: Live photos copyright 2018 Drew Phillips / Autoblog.com Geneva Motor Show Subaru Wagon Concept Cars Future Vehicles Performance 2018 Geneva Motor Show subaru viziv

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.