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Subaru, Mazda profits dip; both blame exchange rates

While some larger automakers took a beating on Q4 earnings, some of Japan's smaller operations managed to keep their heads just above water despite currency issues and slumping sales industry-wide. Subaru, which capped off its 11th consecutive year of U.S. sales increases, reported a 42-percent drop in operating profit in the final quarter of 2019; Mazda, which operates on an even smaller scale, saw a 76-percent drop.  Per Automotive News, both companies faced challenges apart from navigating currency exchanges.  Subaru Subaru's 2019 was marred by warranty costs stemming from repairs on high-volume models, including the Impreza and Crosstrek. Despite the drop in profit, company revenues only slid 2.3 percent. The company also says that it has managed to curtail incentive spending, largely thanks to replacement models that needed less help moving out of showrooms.  America remained a bright spot, with 2019 sales volumes increasing by nearly 3 percent over 2018. Subaru is hoping that figure will increase to 4.0 percent in 2020. Subaru's wholesale deliveries also increased in western Europe, but dropped precipitously (28 percent) in the company's home market.  Mazda The smaller Mazda faced similar challenges, but its 2019 lacked some of Subaru's more dramatic bright spots. Worldwide shipments of new vehicles dropped by 8 percent, aiding a revenue decline of 5 percent. Mazda's vehicles remained profitable on a per-unit basis, but only just.  Mazda has been undergoing aggressive cost-cutting measures, but even those were no match for reduced volumes and unattractive currency exchange rates.  Despite these challenges, both companies are keeping their earnings outlooks unchanged. The fourth quarter of 2019 represented the third quarter in both companies' fiscal years, which will end in March.  Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 2020 Subaru WRX STI S209 | POV Drive

2018 Subaru Outback Buying Guide | The original crossover, explained

From outside, the 2018 Outback has a clean look that's similar to the rest of the Subaru range. The front and rear have been reshaped and fitted with new headlights and taillamps. A wide range of new wheel designs are also available, along all trim levels. Overall, it's a slightly more upscale design, which is exactly what you'll find when stepping inside. The dashboard and infotainment system have received a substantial refresh and have a more modern look and feel. Higher-quality materials help give the Outback cabin an overdue upgrade, since the previous model was starting to significantly trail its rivals when it came to interior style and amenities. Mechanically, the 2018 Outback carries on as before, with the same four and six-cylinder engine options, both of which are coupled to standard all-wheel drive and a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) across all trim levels. Here you'll find all the information needed to make an educated buying decision if you're considering a 2018 Subaru Outback, including safety and reliability ratings, engine specs, horsepower, fuel economy ratings and pricing. We'll also summarize what Autoblog's professional auto reviewers think of the Outback. Is the 2018 Subaru Outback Safe? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gives the 2018 Subaru Outback an overall crash-test rating of five stars. The Outback scored perfect five-star ratings in front and side impact tests, along with a four-star rating for rollover resistance. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which provides ratings for new vehicles based on its own comprehensive crash tests, gave the Outback its "Top Safety Pick+" — the highest possible rating. The Outback scored "good" ratings in every crash test. It also earned a good rating for the effectiveness of its headlights, along the ease of use of onboard LATCH anchors for child seats. Ratings may differ for Outbacks from other model years, so be sure to visit the NHTSA and IIHS websites to review ratings on the specific vehicle you're researching. At the time of this writing, the 2018 Outback is not subject to any ongoing recalls, according to the NHTSA database. Is the Outback reliable? J.D. Power most recently reviewed initial quality in the 2016 Outback, before the current model year's significant makeover. At the time, it gave the Outback three out of five possible stars for Overall Quality — an "average" score.

Subaru suing CA dealership for alleged false customer surveys

Whenever you buy a new car from a dealer these days or sometimes even go in for service, you can expect to fill out a customer satisfaction survey at some point down the road. The responses are actually quite important to showrooms because automakers require the businesses to keep things at a certain level or face penalties. However, a Subaru dealer allegedly found a way to game that system, at least briefly, and now the Subaru of America has filed a lawsuit in US District Court for breach of contract. South Coast Subaru in Costa Mesa, CA, reportedly falsified 224 customer satisfaction questionnaires in 2014, according to Automotive News. The scheme wasn't that hard to figure out, though. All of the faked surveys were allegedly submitted through the IP address of an Acura showroom managed by the same dealer. Under normal circumstances when someone buys a Subaru, the dealer is supposed to collect the customer's email address and submit it to the automaker. However, South Coast allegedly presented false addresses, and then managers had employees fill the forms out during lunch. Subaru claimed in the suit that by doing this the dealer harmed the company's product reputation and its goodwill among customers. "Defendants prevented Subaru from discovering the actual customer satisfaction level of Subaru retail customers at South Coast Subaru by providing sham customer surveys to [Subaru]," the complaint said, according to Automotive News. Related Video: