3 Millionth Subaru!

Since 1989, Subaru has been producing it cars stateside in Lafayette, Indiana. The first car to roll off the assembly line was a Subaru Legacy, and in those 27 years, they have never slowed down. On Thursday July 28^th, Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. crossed a giant threshold, producing its 3 millionth Subaru. Rolling off the line was a Blue 2017 Subaru Outback. Those 3 million Subarus made at SIA are being driven and enjoyed across America and 50 other countries.

Every Subaru dealership around the country is selling their cars so fast they can barely keep them on the lot. And as the sales continue to rise, SIA continues to expand. The Indiana location recently went through yet another expansion, the third in six years. The $140 million addition added 1,200 new jobs to the central Indiana plant. This addition added an extra production line, allowing them to manufacture the Impreza now in America and boosted overall production value. 

“This is an exciting time for SIA, with our rate of growth and recent expansions, it’s easy to see that the next 3 million Subaru vehicles will come much faster. That’s good news for all of us at SIA, for our local community and for Indiana.”

-Tom Easterday, SIA Executive Vice President

These expansions have allowed Subaru to produce 3 million cars in less than 30 years. Over the last fiscal year, from April 2015 until March 2016, SIA produced 313, 511 vehicles. They are expecting the total to be close to 350,00 in 2017.

Help Subaru work towards their next 3 million vehicles. Check out our inventory and contact us to schedule your test drive today!

Why is the Subaru I want so hard to find?

So you decided you’re getting a Subaru. Congratulations!

You’ve picked model, year and features.

Now find one…..

            New or used, Subaru’s are hard to find. From the popular and sporty WRX to the versatile midsized SUV models, the Forester and Outback, the Subaru’s are HOT commodities. And that’s a good thing, for Subaru.

            Have you noticed that your local Subaru dealer is sometimes running out of the popular models that you are looking for? That’s because Subaru has a problem that most businesses would love to have: people are buying their cars as quickly as they can make them. Part of the shortage issue is that while Subaru exports most of the vehicles it sells from Japan, it has a manufacturing facility in Indiana. Only one, though: other Japanese automakers have multiples. And because of this demand, Subaru doesn’t offer deep price cut and entertaining promotions to get customers in the door. The brand typically sells itself.

People love their Subaru’s, and because off this, pre-owned and certified pre-owned are hard to come by. There are “Subaru Clubs” where owners get together and show off classics. Owners hold on to their Subaru’s for a long time, and when they sell them, they often go inside the Subaru communities. So, if you happen upon the perfect Subaru for you, don’t hesitate, hurry before it disappears!

Luckily for the company, most people who want one of their vehicles are willing to wait. Up to a point. Customers generally won’t wait ten weeks to get the vehicle they want, they will however wait four to six weeks because Subaru owners are that passionate about their vehicles!

Check out our great Subaru Inventory and contact us to get yours today!

Grizzly Situation

Grizzly Situation

This week in Colorado, a Subaru owner found themselves in a grizzly situation as there was a Black Bear in their Subaru Outback!

Just before 9am on July 13^th, deputies responded to the call. They believe that the bear entered through an unlocked door looking for picnic baskets, a door that then closed once the bear was inside. Based on moisture on the windows they say the bear had been inside the vehicle awhile.

It is also believed that the bear had previously “tried on” other Subaru’s first. The Forrester and Legacy didn’t go as he had hoped, but found the Outback…just right.

The owner of the Outback was hoping there would be bearly any damage; however that wasn’t the case. While no windows were broken, the inside was destroyed, the steering wheel chewed up, door panels ripped off and the seats torn from his claws. The deputies decided the best option was for one of them to stand guard while the other popped the latch. Once free, the bear happily took off into the 100 Acre Woods.

No Bears were harmed in this writing.

Contact us to get your "Bear Approved" Subaru today!

Subaru is now your radio playing nanny.

Subaru is getting mixed reactions on their newest in car product. The newer models of Subaru’s Legacy and Outback’s have a feature in which the SiriusXM satellite radio will change the channel when you turn off the vehicle.

When the owner is listening to “mature” content and they turn off the car the next time they turn it on the radio will revert back to SiriusXM channel 001, the preview channel. This is done so the next whomever enters the car they will not be subjected to something considered offensive.

Some owners claim that Subaru is censoring and monitoring what they are listening to, however this is not the case. 

“We don’t censor anything. We don’t put the kibosh on any channels. Nor do we monitor what you are listening to. It was added as a convenience feature which to some might not be convenient, but two clicks and your station is back on.”

–Michael McHale – Subaru Spokesman

Subaru’s “extra layer of protection” can neither be disabled nor changed by the owner. It only comes on the Outback wagon and Legacy sedan models that Subaru manufactures here in the US.

To shop our Subaru models check out our inventory or contact us today to schedule an appointment and get yours today.

Subaru's 600HP STi

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For the 2016 Isle of Man TT, Subaru put driver Mark Higgins in a special STi, with the express purpose of setting a course record that would be tough to beat, with this being Subaru's last year of sponsorship for the event. 

 

Two years ago, Subaru set a then-record with a lap time of 19:26 and 116.47 mph.  This year, they upped the ante with a beastly 600 horsepower STi, that Higgins pushed to a new-record time of 17:35.1 around the 37.7-mile Snaefell Mountain Course. 

 

The legendary Prodrive race shop, winners of four Lemans 24 Hours, three FIA WEC titles and the Le Mans series took a standard Subaru WRX STi, and turned it into a 600-horsepower monster.  Torque comes in at 590 ft-lbs from a production-based (stock block and heads) 2.0-liter turbocharged boxer engine out of the STi.  From there Prodrive got very creative with the engine, transmission (a six-speed semi-automatic) that Prodrive created along with transmission gurus at Xtrac.

 

The tires are 245/18 Dunlops that come straight from the British Touring Car Championship, and are mounded on Speedline rims.

 

Aerodynamics are mostly typical rally-car.  A deep front bumper and fender flares are used with a mostly stock body.  Prodrive added an active rear wing, which is activated by a button on the driver's steer wheel to reduce drag. 

 

Below is a short video of the record-setting lap.

 

 

Subaru, Zero-Landfill, and Why it Matters

Subaru has long been committed to the preservation of the planets resources.  The Subaru plant in Lafayette is the first of its kind to be designated as a zero-landfill factory.  This is an amazing achievement for a facility of its size and production. 

 

Now, Subaru has turned its attention to the U.S. National Parks Service and is working with them to help make our parks zero-landfill as well.  As one can imagine, this is a huge undertaking, considering the millions of visitors the parks host on a yearly basis.  The first such park in this project is Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska.

 

Denali poses unique challenges.  First is its massive size.  Denali is over 6 million acres, compared, for example, to Yellowstone National Park with 2.2 million acres.  Also, with it being in Alaska, there is little in the way of readily accessible recycling infrastructure because there are no major urban areas nearby.  The park sees roughly a half million visitors per year. 

 

 

 

The Denali community has rallied around the initiative, and are committed to its success.  If Subaru and the National Parks service can have success at Denali, there is no reason to think that it couldn't be accomplished across the country.  It is estimated that over 100 million pounds of trash are generated in our National Parks every year. 

 

The National Parks Zero Landfill Initiative is one more way that Subaru is "Showing the Love" by giving back to our country and the planet. 

 

 

Subaru WRX to Get a Power Boost for 2017

Much like it's Toyota-badged sister model, the Subaru WRX will receive a bit of a boost in the power department for 2017.  The 2.0-liter flat-four Boxer engine will get a new aluminum intake and redesigned exhaust that is expected to bump horsepower from 200 to 205 and torque from 151 to 156 lb-ft on the manual transmission models. 

New for 2017 will be a Performance Package, which according to autoblog.com "includes Brembo brakes with upsized rotors fore and aft, new Sach-branded shocks, and black 17-inch wheels." 

The Performance Package will only be available with the manual transmission Limited models, and will not be available on the Toyota 86- one more notch in the Subaru's favor. 

the Subaru WRX Premium and Limited will be available at Gurley Leep Subaru later this summer, but we will have to wait until the winter of 2017 for the Performance Pack vehicles.