Information AboutSubaru |
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Subaru (In ese Car company, is a subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI). "Subaru" is the Japanese word for the Star Cluster Pleiades that is depicted in the company Logo . The Pleiades (also known as the Seven Sisters) has seven stars visible to the naked eye. The Subaru logo's six stars represent the five companies that came together after World War II to form one large company. While an automotive minnow compared to many of its competitors, Subaru has been a highly profitable company for many years. It is noted for the production of conventional-bodied cars with full-time AWD (in fact, in many markets its entire product range has this feature) and its use of the Horizontally-opposed Engine . It is currently an affiliate of Toyota Motor Corporation , with them owning 8.7% of FHI. They acquired that stake from General Motors , who bought 20% of FHI in 1999 to have an extended presence in international markets, and collaborate technologically with FHI. Before that, the stake owned by GM was owned by Nissan , who acquired the stake around the mid- 1980s in order to utilize FHI's bus manufacturing capability. In turn, many Subaru vehicles, even today, use parts from the Nissan manufacturing Keiretsu . In fact, it was Subaru that introduced Renault to Nissan when they asked for assistance in All-wheel Drive (AWD) technology, when FHI told Renault to discuss their plans with Nissan, the discussions eventually led to the successful Renault-Nissan alliance. Subaru's best-known vehicles are high performance , Richard Burns and Petter Solberg ). Several endurance records were set in the early and mid-nineties by the Legacy. Popular nicknames (especially among owners) for the Subaru brand name are "scoob", "scoo-bee" and "Scooby-Doo". The Impreza WRX model is often referred to as the "Rex". HISTORY Toyota announced a contract with Japanese rival Subaru on March 13. The under-used Subaru of Indiana Automotive plant in Lafayette will hire up to 1,000 workers and set aside an assembly line for Camry, beginning in spring 2007. General Motors was a 20% minority shareholder of Fuji Heavy from 1999 until 2005 when they sold 8.7% to Toyota and put the rest on the open market. As of October 5 , 2005 , Toyota stated that it will purchase 8.7% of the shares of FHI from General Motors . In addition, GM announced that it will eventually sever all ties with FHI, the parent company of Subaru. FHI has also stated that there have been 27 million shares (worth 3.4% of its stock) acquired before the start of trading by an unknown party on October 6 . It is speculated that a bank or perhaps another automaker was behind it. {Link without Title} From 1995 to 2000, Subaru ran a series of advertisements for the Subaru Outback which starred Paul Hogan . The advertisements were intended to hilight Subaru's all wheel drive, and depicted the Outback in a number of rugged australian locations. CULTURAL REFERENCES The Subaru brand name is mentioned in the Bruce Springsteen song "Pink Cadillac" It was also mentioned in Blondie 's song "Rapture" PRESENT MODELS All present models of Subaru are AWD vehicles.
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