Ikuo Mori, Fuji Heavy Industries new CEO, will outline a 'new course' for the Subaru brand on Wednesday Feb. 28. Nothing is yet known what this entails, but it is suspected the company's focus on engineering over customer appeal may get axed. If that's true, it could be either a sad day for fans of Subaru, or a great day...
I guess we'll just have to wait and see...
Full story here at Autoblog, via source story over at Automotive News.
Full story here at Autoblog, via source story over at Automotive News.
ateixeira says:
08:59 AM, 02/26/07
I read that article, too. I'm not crazy about them actually saying they'll shift away from an engineering focus.
They changed so many things at once, so it's hard to gauge what the problem was. Styling? Premium pricing? Fuel costs, efficiency, and the fact that most engines wanted premium fuels?
I hope they don't go too conservative with the styling, once bitten, twice shy. Last thing I'd like to see are boring cars.
mirth says:
12:36 PM, 02/26/07
I think their main problem was pricing - it was hitting the near-lux level and Subaru ain't a lux brand.
estreka says:
02:10 PM, 02/26/07
I hope styling remains aggressive and edgy. A flat Subaru isn't a Subaru. I could certainly stand to see pricing come down, but not at the expense of the product. AWD is expensive, and I think the premium required for it is just fine.
vvk says:
03:25 PM, 02/26/07
If they start making conventional product for mainstream buyer, they wil DIE.
robr2 says:
07:35 AM, 02/27/07
The problem with being engineering focused instead of customer focused is that nobody will buy your products if you don't focus on the customer.
Now if you take an engineering focus to customer demands and make what they want - that's great. But if you take an engineering focus for the sake of engineering, that's not great.
An example - my company imports a product for sale in North American. Our Austrian/German supplier made a change in the product that was beautifully engineered. It improved the installation process and was heavy duty. Problem is that nobody asked for or cared about it. There was nothing wrong with the old method. It added 5% to the cost of the product which translates to a 35% increase at retail. It caused us to have to change our packaging, installation instructions, processes, and web site.
All because engineering took precendence over what the customer wanted.
gmguy111 says:
10:29 AM, 02/28/07
yeah pricing was and still is a problem have any of you guys seen the jump in price for a Impreza lately. and Subaru did not focus on a broad range of customers. They had the rice burners and bargain car buyers with their impreza lineup and moms with the tribeca but they need more vechicles. not to say that subaru is a bad company and that their products are bad they actually have a decent product line with the exception to the the tribeca that looks hideous on the front fascia. There primary problem is pricing as i said even the impreza in non WRX/ WRX STI form you know its base car form and has had a huge jump in price subaru is not a luxury company it never was Subaru was known at first for having reliable cars with turbochargers. Now they are known for having one hell of a car in the WRX STI and the award winning legacy series