[benebob]

I've always noticed the same thing about Outbacks but you have to keep in mind what and where these vehicles are being marketed. The traditional Subie buyer was and still is perfectly happy with the Legacy Wagon and old Impreza wagon. It is the SUV-types that tend to gravitate towards the Outback versions. Yes there is some positive things with the Outback (an extra inch of ground clearence is great for the country folk) but overall it doens't handle as well as a Legacy Wagon, takes longer to stop and aside from the 3.0 H-6 is slower accelerating then a normal wagon. Same thing goes with the Forester. What I'm getting at is the majority of these buyers don't know crap about cars, don't really care to know about cars, they just bought it cause it has SUV looks w/o many of the bad things about an SUV. If Ford or Toyota made a viable alternative that had cool commercials they'd gravitate toward there.

You can't fault Subaru for the marketing ploy though. I mean when was the last time you saw a normal legacy commercial? They make a ton more money per car by selling their pricier models. Ford makes nearly $8000 ($7750 more than they do on the base Focus) for the Excursion.