New Subaru Impala???

awdsvx · #1 02-28-2004, 07:33 PM

I was reading the April issue of Sport Compact Magazine at Target. On page 33, they were featuring the Saab-Subaru 9-2 (WRX). At the bottom, they just so happened to mention that Subaru will be taking a Chevy Impala and putting a Subaru badge on it. I knew something stupid will happen when G.M. bought some portion of Subaru. Subaru got infected by G.M. Why couldn't Subaru go to Porsche instead, they have common technologies as far as engines. Hmm, is time to buy an Audi A4 instead! Please all of you write Subaru of America, stating that is a stupid move. Anyway, just a F.Y.I.

awdsvx · #2 02-28-2004, 07:52 PM

I was just at the store reading a car magazine (Sport Compact, April 04), the article was featuring the all new Saab-Subaru 9-2 (WRX). At the bottom of the article, they mentioned that Subaru will be taking a Chevy Impala and putting a Subaru badge on it. If this is true, I think it is a really stupid move on Subaru part. G.M. cars are not known for their reliability. Why are you people doing this, I thought before, that the Subaru brand was unique and to its own, but after reading that, I have lost interest in buying your products. I don't like the fact that G.M. owns a percentage of your company. I knew it was only time that Subaru will be infected by G.M. I don't agree on the fact that Subaru WRX is being sold as Saab 9-2. Me and my wife are loyal Subaru customers, we both own a 1994 Subaru SVX LSI and a 2000 Legacy Outback Limited. We are both happy with our cars, but after reading that article, we will be considering going to Audi for our AWD needs.

SubaSteevo · #3 02-28-2004, 09:53 PM

I just read that article. SCC called it the Impalaza. If you noticed (or didn't

), the very next sentence was something to the effect of "Hey, even we make jokes sometimes." They were kidding, there is no Impalaza.

SubaSteevo · #4 02-28-2004, 09:56 PM

Oh yeah, now I realize how rumors start

Seraph · #5 02-28-2004, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by awdsvx
Hmm, is time to buy an Audi A4 instead!

SOA made a ton of stupid moves. One of them happens to be how they marketed the SVX. As for A4, you do know that it's all VW right? I just love the way people think. Hey Acura is better because it's Aucra. NO it's a Honda with a slightly better trim. Lexus and Toyota. Infinity... well, i'll stop now.

awdsvx · #6 02-28-2004, 11:28 PM

Refinement on a Audi, is much better than a Subaru. Atention to detail. Nice materials, real wood, instead of fake (SVX). Better plastics that don't look cheap. Consistant gaps all around the body, using chrome trim instead of cheap plastic. In the general public, Audi has more of a name.

DavieGravy · #7 02-29-2004, 12:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Seraph

SOA made a ton of stupid moves. One of them happens to be how they marketed the SVX. As for A4, you do know that it's all VW right? I just love the way people think. Hey Acura is better because it's Aucra. NO it's a Honda with a slightly better trim. Lexus and Toyota. Infinity... well, i'll stop now.

AUDI IS NOT VW'S LUX BRAND. Audi is NOT to VW what Lexus is to Toyota. There are many Toyotas just rebadged as Lexus, and Lexus was created just to legitimize (for those people that care - Americans some might say) selling Toyotas at twice the cost of ordinary Toyotas.

VW and Audi share parts and resources, and are under the same ownership. Other than this they have very different histories, cars and company values.

NomadTW · #8 02-29-2004, 01:30 AM

how can you say that audi is not the same?

every audi vehicle is built on a VW platform
the TT is a golf, the rest are rebodied passats or jettas, it's exactily the same, different heritage perhaps but still the same cars, basically the same engines and the same low reliablity

#9 02-29-2004, 01:48 AM

"AUDI IS NOT VW'S LUX BRAND. Audi is NOT to VW what Lexus is to Toyota. There are many Toyotas just rebadged as Lexus, and Lexus was created just to legitimize (for those people that care - Americans some might say) selling Toyotas at twice the cost of ordinary Toyotas.

VW and Audi share parts and resources, and are under the same ownership. Other than this they have very different histories, cars and company values"

I love Audis and have owned several. They are very special cars, but since the '70s, they share more then just corporate ownership with their VW sisters. Audi and VW are not merely two seperate companies under the VAG ownership umbrella. Since Audi's acquisition by VAG, they have been an integrated part of the VW portfolio, the same place that Cadillac occupies in the GM range. VW executives often trace their corporate path through management of Audi - the most famous of which is former VAG chairman Ferdinand Piech. Audi is often used as the technology testbed for VW products - such as AWD, five valve per cylinders, light turbocharging, engine management systems, and more.

- The old Audi Fox was essentially a rebadged VW Dasher, using the same platform, body stampings, suspension components, and engines.

- The '80s Audi 80/90/4000 used VW's Type 44 chassis, and most of the mechanical parts were from the VAG corporate parts bin, to the point that the parts are stamped with both the Audi and VW logos.

- The Audi 100/200/5000 shares it's five cylinder engine with the VW Quantum/Dasher, which, incidentally, also rides ona version of the Type 44 chassis.

- The Audi A4 rides on a shared platform with the Audi TT, VW Golf/Jetta/Bora/New Beetle, the Skoda Octavia, and the SEAT Ibiza. The Audi A3, more to the point, is for all intents and purposes a rebadged Golf, sharing all of it's core mechanical pieces.

- The next A6 will share it's platform with the VW Passat, and most likely a SEAT and Skoda counterpart as well.

VW is shifting more and more into the platform sharing strategy that crippled GM and killed off British Leyland. Audi, VW, Bentley, Skoda, and SEAT all share platforms, engines, drivetrains, and interior pieces. Audi and Lamborghini will share platforms, and there's nothing to suggest VW won't help itself to that as well. Worse, Audi and Fiat have just consumated a deal that gives Maserati access to Audi's Quattro drivetrain, and their aluminum technology used on the A8. Hopefully they'll be able to escape the fate that has befallen GM and BL - it would hurt to one day think of the A4 as a Cimmaron.

#10 02-29-2004, 04:24 AM

$5 says the next Subaru/GM rebadge will be a forester rebadged as a chevy..

-adam

Seraph · #11 02-29-2004, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DavieGravy

VW and Audi share parts and resources, and are under the same ownership. Other than this they have very different histories, cars and company values.

I understand that but they share a ton of things that's its pratically the same crap.

DavieGravy · #12 02-29-2004, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Seraph

I understand that but they share a ton of things that's its pratically the same crap.

In many cases, they share the same chasis and other parts, but VW has had issues with quality control in the past that Audi has not.

"Volkswagen AG is working on three fronts to improve the quality of vehicles sold in the United States.

VW will monitor its suppliers more closely, tighten production and improve dealer training, says Jens Neumann, a member of the VW board of management in charge of North American strategy.

"But there's still some work to be done," Neumann concedes. "We are working to improve quality and to improve the perception of Volks-wagen quality." http://www.autoweek.com/cat_content...._code=04365644

Quote:

Originally posted by NomadTW
how can you say that audi is not the same?

every audi vehicle is built on a VW platform
the TT is a golf, the rest are rebodied passats or jettas, it's exactily the same, different heritage perhaps but still the same cars, basically the same engines and the same low reliablity

No, not true.

phoenix96 · #13 02-29-2004, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by alacrity024
$5 says the next Subaru/GM rebadge will be a forester rebadged as a chevy..

-adam

GM's ahead of you:

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/200...s/motoring.htm

GreenMarine · #14 02-29-2004, 02:15 PM

Yea it outright sicks that GM is trying to infect Subaru and "steal" Subaru's AWD technoligy...

... As long as the cars stay the same and they remain true to thier history I will continue to buy Subaru's... If they leave thier rally history and start making inline engines or if GM starts to call the H engines "thier product" or something like that, then I'm off to LandRover...

drivemusicnow · #15 02-29-2004, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by GreenMarineSVX
Yea it outright sicks that GM is trying to infect Subaru and "steal" Subaru's AWD technoligy... ... As long as the cars stay the same and they remain true to thier history I will continue to buy Subaru's... If they leave thier rally history and start making inline engines or if GM starts to call the H engines "thier product" or something like that, then I'm off to LandRover...

so you like ford more so than GM?