Quote:
Originally Posted by LarryIII
From my point of view Subaru is just doing what SAAB did. SAAB quit selling quirky cars and moved into the boring mainstream. That is where the money and main sales are. However, Toyota, Ford, Honda, Chevy, and soon Hundai, have the bulk of the mainstream market sewn up with just some crumbs falling to Mitsubishi, Subaru, Kia, Chrysler, etc.
Auto companies are in business to make a lot of money. That is why they don't cater to people on the fringe, like us.
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I agree somewhat with this, however, you're missing the key difference. Like Saab, Subaru had a "cult" like following of people who didn't look for anything else when it was time to replace their cars. Sure, that translated into 2-300k sales in the US from the early 80s thru the mid to lat 90s but it also cost them a heck of a lot to sell their cars (i.e. less advertising, less need for redesigns to try to keep up with the big boys, etc.) While today Subaru is selling about 100k more vehicle then the 80s and 90s, they also have a lot more expenses to sell that many more so I'd be very suprised if they are making even the same amount of profits as they did 20 years ago. Give it another 5 years of their current linecrap and those like me who thought I'd buy Subarus until I die steadily multiply and leave the marque in droves. As you said, all you need to do is look at Saab.