Automotive News - February 12, 2018 - v2 - 20

20 * FEBRUARY 12, 2018

SUBARU OF AMERICA

50 YEARS

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It was a long shot, but the little importer
built a clientele that prizes function over glitz

Jack Walsworth

jwalsworth@crain.com

ubaru of America is fresh off its
best U.S. sales year.
Its lineup is anchored by three
all-wheel-drive crossovers that
remain in strong demand, and
the brand has achieved 74 consecutive months of year-overyear sales increases.
This year, with a flowing pipeline of fresh products headed to
retailers, including its largest
model ever, the three-row Ascent,
Subaru anticipates it will chalk up still another record sales year in the United States.
That hasn't always been the narrative for
Subaru, a car brand created by the Japanese
industrial conglomerate formerly known as
Fuji Heavy Industries.
This month, as the automaker marks its
50th anniversary of selling vehicles in the
U.S., Subaru of America officials and people
who shaped today's business over the last
few decades remark that success has been a
long, and occasionally bumpy, road.
Since its start here in 1968 as an importer of
a quirky microcar called the 360, Subaru has
fought - and usually won - a slew of uphill
battles to reach the market position it enjoys
in 2018.
But the automaker isn't resting at 50.
"You can't get satisfied," said Tom Doll,

SUBARU
THE UNDERDOG TURNS 50

what not to do, and we've learned
president of Subaru of America, in
what works for us."
Cherry Hill, N.J., a headquarters on
He has seen considerable change
the opposite side of America from
in his own role at Subaru during his
the Los Angeles-area locations that
36-year career with the company,
Asian automakers maintained in
holding positions from manager of
the 1970s and 1980s.
treasury operations to CFO to COO.
Doll has been an influential force
He's been president since 2013.
in getting Subaru where it is today.
An accountant by trade, Doll
Since joining the automaker in
worked at Arthur Young and Co. in
1982, Doll has been through moPhiladelphia before joining what
ments when Subaru struggled to Doll: "You can't
was still, in 1982, a fledgling autosell 100,000 vehicles and dealt with get satisfied."
maker with no guarantee of sucbloated inventories. But he also has
ceeding here.
witnessed its expansion and record growth in
A colleague at Arthur Young knew someone
the U.S. firsthand.
in the Subaru human resources department
"A lot of us at Subaru have been around for
and mentioned to Doll that there was a job
a long time," Doll told Automotive News.
posting for an audit manager.
"We've seen ups and downs. We've learned

There were these two
entrepreneurs ...
But before that, Subaru was still the brainchild not of a Japanese industrial company,
but of two American entrepreneurs - Malcolm Bricklin and Harvey Lamm.
Subaru of America was incorporated in Bala Cynwyd, Pa., on Feb. 15, 1968, as an independent import company with an exclusive
contract to market and distribute cars made
by Fuji Heavy in Japan.
Bricklin was president while Lamm served
as executive vice president and national sales
manager.
The utilitarian 360 microcar was the first vehicle they sold under the Subaru banner in
the U.S. Despite its friendly looks and weight
of less than 1,000 pounds, it was painfully
slow. It contained a puny 25-hp engine.
Subaru of America was a publicly traded,
independent, national distribution company.
But it had its own independent distributors,
two of which live on today: Subaru of New
England and Subaru Distributors Corp. of
upstate New York.
Subaru of America went public in 1972 simply because it needed the cash flow, according to the founders.
Bricklin left Subaru that year. His success in
getting the company off the ground would
see SUBARU, next page

It all started in 1968
with the Subaru 360.
The microcar was
painfully slow, with
a puny 25-hp engine.

S U B A R U
1968

I N

T H E

U. S.

1978

Subaru of America Inc. is
incorporated.

Sales top 100,000 vehicles for
the first time, at 103,274.

1969

1985

Sales total 2,407 vehicles in the
brand's first full year in the U.S.

The wedge-shaped XT coupe
joins the lineup.

1972

1986

1976

1987

Co-founder Malcolm Bricklin
leaves.
Subaru partners with the U.S.
Ski Team, and its
four-wheel-drive
wagon becomes
the team's official
car.

1977

Subaru launches
the Brat. The
brand's sales
hit 80,826.
Bricklin

T H RO U G H

Sales reach 183,242. Nine
years of declining sales follow.
Subaru-Isuzu Automotive Inc.
manufacturing joint venture
breaks ground in Lafayette, Ind.

1989

The first Indiana-built
model, a Legacy

T H E

Y E A R S

1991

Subaru hires Wieden &
Kennedy as its new ad agency.
The "What to drive" tag line
flops.

1993

The first
Legacy

sedan, rolls off the line.

1990

Fuji Heavy Industries acquires
full ownership of Subaru of
America. Sales total a meager
108,547. Co-founder Harvey
Lamm exits the
automaker.

The Impreza nameplate launches
and even has a Super Bowl spot.
Wieden & Kennedy is abruptly
fired as sales remain stagnant.

1994

100,000-vehicle mark, with
100,619 sales.

1995

The Outback becomes its own
nameplate for the 1996
model year. Australian actor
Paul Hogan is brought on to
pitch the new model. Sales
decline to 100,407,
Subaru's lowest figure since
1977.

The Outback trim line for the
Legacy wagon is introduced for
the 1995 model year. Subaru
barely cracks the

Impreza
launches

Subaru XT coupe

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