Subaru: The Forgotten Japanese Manufacturer That’s Having the Last Laugh

Trolling through the automotive news, as one does, I came across an interesting story about Subaru, the long-forgotten ‘other’ Japanese manufacturer. And I have to confess, I have always rather liked Subaru, largely because of its apparent willingness to embrace automotive madness.

Where else could you find rally-bred Imprezas, enormous wings, flat-four engines, symmetrical all-wheel drive and the occasional performance car that looked as though its designers had been given too much coffee and not enough supervision?

But beneath all that eccentricity lies something rather more important: quality.

According to a recent report, Subaru has managed to nearly triple its operating profit in North America to an impressive US$466 million, despite US sales falling by 10%. That’s particularly impressive when America accounts for around 73% of its global sales.

So what’s the secret? Fewer warranty claims, lower repair costs and favourable currency movements. In other words, building cars that don’t keep coming back to haunt you.

Now there’s a revolutionary business concept!

And it isn’t because Subaru has an enormous model range. Quite the opposite. Unlike manufacturers seemingly determined to offer seventeen variations of every possible SUV, Subaru keeps things relatively focused. A handful of core models, a clear engineering philosophy and a reputation built around reliability, safety and all-weather capability.

Of course, Subaru isn’t perfect, and this quarter’s results also benefited from favourable exchange rates. But the underlying message is difficult to ignore.

Perhaps the automotive industry should spend a little less time dreaming up new models, gimmicks and enormous touchscreen displays, and a little more time making sure the cars they already sell actually work.

Quality, it seems, isn’t just good engineering. It’s rather good business.

Take note, literally everyone else.