Subaru is the automotive trademark of Fuji Heavy Industries. In Japan, people call its cars as “Fuji” instead of “Subaru.” FHI was founded as an aircraft manufacturer but since 1960s its core business had become car production, although it still has a small aerospace division today.

Subaru is internationally known for their use of the boxer engine layout similar to those in cars like the Volkswagen Beetle and Porsche 911, in most of their vehicles above 1500 cc as well as their use of the all-wheel drive-train layout, the 4×4 introduced  in 1972, and the AWD became standard equipment for mid-size and smaller cars in most international markets as of 1996, and is now standard in all US market Subaru vehicles. They also offer many turbo charged versions of their passenger cars, such as the sporty Impreza WRX.

The company sells only half a million units of cars every year to concentrate on quality car manufacturing. However, special technology alone is not enough to keep it independent. Subaru needs a strong strategic partnership to share purchasing costs and increasingly expensive safety / environmental technology. General Motors used to own 20% stakes in FHI. As itself is deep in trouble, most of the stakes have been sold to Toyota. We can expect some joint projects and badge-engineered models produced as a result.

The Subaru logo is simple but influential in all the car logos in the market. Subaru logo is the Japanese name for the Pleiades star cluster. The company in turn inspires the Subaru logo and alludes to the six companies that merged to create FHI. The inspiration of Subaru car logo represented by stars seems to have brought luck because it became one of the giant car names in the world of car logos. The company continues to soar high no matter what challenges and competes with other car logos known in the motor world.

Fuji Heavy Industries, the parent company of Subaru, is currently in a partial partnership with Toyota Motor Corporation.

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