Subaru

Subaru (スバル; or ; Japanese pronunciation: [sɯꜜbaɾɯ]) is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the twenty-first largest automaker by production worldwide in 2017. Subaru cars are known for their use of a boxer engine layout in most internal combustion vehicles above 1,500 cc. The Symmetrical All Wheel Drive drive-train layout was introduced in 1972. Both became standard equipment for mid-size and smaller cars in most markets by 1996. The lone exceptions are the BRZ, introduced in 2012 via a partnership with Toyota, which pairs the boxer engine with rear-wheel-drive, and the Uncharted, introduced in 2026 also in partnership with Toyota, which is front-wheel-drive in its standard configuration and offers Symmetrical All Wheel Drive as a factory option. Subaru also offers turbocharged versions of its passenger cars, such as the WRX, Levorg STI, Outback XT, Ascent, and formerly the Legacy GT, Legacy XT, and Forester XT. In Western markets, Subaru vehicles have traditionally attracted a small but devoted core of buyers. The company's marketing targets those who desire its signature engine and drive train, all-wheel drive and rough-road capabilities, or affordable sports car designs. Subaru is the transliteration of the Japanese すばる, meaning the Pleiades star cluster M45, or the "Seven Sisters" (one of whom tradition says is invisible — hence only six stars in the Subaru logo), which in turn inspires the logo and alludes to the companies that merged to create FHI.