Automotive News - February 12, 2018 - v2 - 29

SUBARU OF AMERICA

SUBARU

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Getting consumers and dealers on board
with Subaru's awd portfolio in locations that
rarely, if ever, saw snow was a tough task.
"We had to develop a retail network there,"
Doll said of the Sun Belt markets. "We recruited retailers, identified them and wanted
them to represent Subaru. That was tough at
the time because we were small. We weren't
well-known."
But Subaru's retail development outreach
and marketing attention in the South and
Southwest have returned dividends for the
automaker. In 2017, 23 percent of Subaru's
U.S. sales came from the Sun Belt, Doll said.
"That helps us to have a national presence,"
he said.
To keep up with its growth, Subaru has devoted more attention to increasing its retail
service capacity. Doll believes the brand's
ability to grow will be limited by the ability to
service the vehicles it already has sold and
making sure those customers have a positive
service experience to keep loyalty high.
In some metropolitan areas, service departments are operating on double shifts and
weekends but still can't keep up with demand. In 2013, Subaru began offering financial incentives to retailers to expand and invest in their service departments.
Doll has said participation in the Fixed Operations Expansion program, or FOX, has exceeded the automaker's expectations, with
roughly two-thirds of Subaru's retailers participating.

Show me the love
Now that awd has become a recognized pillar of the brand, Subaru is promoting another
defining concept, which it calls "love."

50 YEARS

"Share the love," began not long
after the "love" campaign
launched. Last year marked the
10th consecutive annual sales
event to use it. The basis is simple. Subaru donates $250 to charity for each vehicle sold between
November and January.
The campaign is a stark difference to what the company previously ran, when year-end campaigns routinely focused on vehicle features and pricing to move
metal. In the most recent camSubaru's "Share the love" sales event donates to charity
paigns, Subaru vehicles are aband ties in with the brand's "love" marketing theme.
sent from the ads.
"It's been a good campaign for us," said
In 2007, Subaru named Carmichael Lynch
Garcia, the Detroit area dealer. "It's heartfelt.
of Minneapolis as its agency of record. The
But now they're pushing it more and showing
hiring came after the automaker had
that they're doing good in communities. That
launched the "It's what makes a Subaru a
has helped us."
Subaru" ad campaign.
The word "love" entered the advertising
mix in 2008, with a marketing approach that
New heights
remains part of Subaru's strategy.
and new records
Doll said its not uncommon for him to hear
from a customer that they've had the same
U.S. sales would continue to increase. In
Subaru for 10, 15 or 20 years.
2006, Subaru sales surpassed 200,000 vehi"They become attached to it," he said. That
cles for the first time ever, at 200,703.
sense of attachment has been highlighted in
Subaru's decadelong streak of yearly U.S.
ads over the years.
sales increases began in 2008, as the U.S.
The spots focus on safety, outdoors and
plunged into a recession.
love between owners, whether toward a famiNot only was 2009 - a year of harrowing
ly member, pet or a Subaru vehicle.
trouble for some automakers - Subaru's best
"The love affair with Subaru is very real,"
sales year ever, up to that point, it was the beGeylin said of Subaru owners. "It's a tight
ginning of a nine-year streak of consecutive
community."
record sales.
Subaru initially committed two years to the
"As the economy weakened, we went right
campaign. But it quickly became apparent to
through it," Doll said. "As we came out of it,
Subaru that the "love" was resonating.
we brought new products out."
Subaru then doubled down and structured
A redesigned Forester launched in 2008,
its holiday season sales event around the
followed by a redesigned Outback and Legacampaign.
cy in 2009.

Shaping the future

Today, technical innovations come in rapid succession and change our lives. The social
significance of mobility is growing and so are our expectations of what a vehicle can do.
Our engineers work in interdisciplinary teams and strive to make it happen.
Brose is shaping the mobility of tomorrow.

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FEBRUARY 12, 2018 * 29
The company quickly added the BRZ coupe
and the Crosstrek, a raised and cladded Impreza hatchback.
By 2016, U.S. sales had reached 615,132.
Last year, 647,956 sales. Through January
2018, Subaru has chalked up 74 consecutive
monthly year-over-year sales increases.
This year finds Subaru and its parent company a long way from the small sales outpost
the U.S. represented 50 years ago. The market
has become the Japanese manufacturer's
most important.
But Subaru's past and less certain times
have not been forgotten.
"We know what it's like to scrape and skimp
and save money and have to make payroll,"
Doll said.
Forecasts for U.S. new-vehicle sales in 2018
hover between 16.7 million and 16.8 million,
down from 17.2 million in 2017. That does not
mean Subaru's fortunes will decline, but it
does mean the competition across brands
will be fiercer.
"I hate hearing people say, 'It's got to start
coming back down,' " Doll said. "It will if you
think that way. But we don't think that way."
This year will bring more key events.
In addition to moving into a new U.S. headquarters in nearby Camden, N.J., Subaru will
launch another round of fresh products. The
three-row Ascent crossover fills a segment
hole and lands in early summer, while the
next-gen Forester comes later. A plug-in hybrid variant of an existing model also is expected to join the lineup.
Subaru Corp. believes the U.S. company
will buck the shrinking overall market and
deliver 5 percent sales growth. If so, it would
set still another yearly record, with about
680,000 sales.
Declares Doll: "There's no reason this thing
can't go on." a

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