pdw Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Well it is interesting that Carr Subaru does sell the most Subaru's in the nation. Not that it means anything really. It could mean there's fewer Subie dealers in the Portland area than there is in the Boston area. The Boston metropolitan area spreads up to Southern NH and it is known to get pretty bad weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeTrout Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 It could mean there's fewer Subie dealers in the Portland area than there is in the Boston area. The Boston metropolitan area spreads up to Southern NH and it is known to get pretty bad weather. Portland: 9 dealers in a 50 mile radius, 12 within 75 miles. Pop: under 2 million. Boston: 24 within 50 miles, 29 within 75 miles. Pop: 4.4 million. But in Portland, they are all in the I-5 or I-205 corridor, and only a couple are accross the Columbia in Washington. I can get to the furthest dealership in around an hour. From Boston, it takes you an hour to get out of the city, much less to cross a couple of states. And I agree with you about the weather here in town. Even this winter, I'd wager the average weather in Boston is worse than in Portland. However, most of the folks who have Subies here are serious skiiers, snowboarders, snowshoers, or do some kind of severe weather sport that puts them up in the mountains during winter. We went cross-country skiing Sunday, and the lot for Teacup Lake snow-park was overflowing - and 75% Subarus. We took my mother-in-law with us, and on the way back to the car, she had to look inside a half-dozen cars to figure out which one was ours! The average annual snowfall for Mt. Hood is 5-600" per year. Ich bin echt viel netter, wenn ich nuechtern bin. Echt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdw Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 It does not take an hour to get out of Boston. It might take an hour to get in though. I'm not sure where you got your population info but if it says 4.4M for Boston, they're talking about the metro area. Boston itself has a population of about 600k last I knew. So, for most people in the area, getting to a Subaru dealer is no more difficult than a VW, BMW or other brand that has similar sales numbers. I'm not really sure who buys Subarus around here. Obviously, we have our share of lesbians buying Forresters (oops, did I say that?) as well as skiers/boarders. Mostly what I see are Outbacks which seem to sell well to people who are in a higher demographic than the car would suggest. If I drive through some of the richer towns around here, there are plenty of Outbacks in the driveway. Finally, I see plenty of WRX's that are often a modded a bit. At least the WRX mods are more functional than the mods (body kits, uber stupid wings) that I see on Hondas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeTrout Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 It does not take an hour to get out of Boston. It might take an hour to get in though. I'm not sure where you got your population info but if it says 4.4M for Boston, they're talking about the metro area. Boston itself has a population of about 600k last I knew. So, for most people in the area, getting to a Subaru dealer is no more difficult than a VW, BMW or other brand that has similar sales numbers. I'm not really sure who buys Subarus around here. Obviously, we have our share of lesbians buying Forresters (oops, did I say that?) as well as skiers/boarders. Mostly what I see are Outbacks which seem to sell well to people who are in a higher demographic than the car would suggest. If I drive through some of the richer towns around here, there are plenty of Outbacks in the driveway. Finally, I see plenty of WRX's that are often a modded a bit. At least the WRX mods are more functional than the mods (body kits, uber stupid wings) that I see on Hondas. You said the Boston Metropolitan area stretches up to S NH, so I looked up the population for the metropolitan area, and compared that to the population for the PDX metro area, including SW Washington. Interestingly, the population-corrected density of Subaru dealers is a precise match. My cousin lives in the northern suburbs of Boston: it takes an hour to get out there, most of the time, by car. Perhaps the reason why there is an "aristocratic" demographic for Outbacks in Boston is related to this: [ame=http://youtube.com/watch?v=jM_rb_ndOww]YouTube- Broadcast Yourself.[/ame] Ich bin echt viel netter, wenn ich nuechtern bin. Echt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatmank Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 I think the OB's sell better because the majority of people don't view them as wagons. Since they sit higher off the ground it has more of an SUV feel. And everyone knows that American's just don't dig on the wagons. what a shame Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyboy333 Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Ive seen in my entire lifetime: 1 GT Wagon. L.A. and surrounding apparently doesn't like Leggy wagons. Have seen 2 or 3 spec b.s though. 06 Represent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psi365 Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 My $0.02 IF SOA is run anything Like AOA then this is kind of how things work. The head of Soa talks to SOJ and sees what models and versions of those models are available. The heads of SOJ and SOA go back and forth and decide which models will sell and which aren't including different versions. I know in europe, Audi offered RS6 avants which we never saw in the states, but offered the S6 in avant only (02-03 If I remember right) which in europe they got the choice of S6 avant or sedan. Same principal with the Legacy wagons. They've been selling them for awhile and aren't moving them as much as a OB or Forester. They offer the Impreza wagon which should be able to cover the space between the OB and legacy so they don't need the legacy wagon since it doesn't move anyways (due to possible poor marketing, advertising, etc). So now the head of SOA says instead of a legacy wagon we'll give them this souped up legacy sedan at first as a limited edition model to test the waters (06 spec B) and if we sell it good enough we'll make it a regular option. This will also help move some product for the next two or so years until out new body Legacy hits the market so we'll make that limited edition an option package to help keep that product moving. Ever notice how limited editions/ special models come out at the end of a bodystyles life cycle? That's to move that batch of cars between the old and new bodies, ie spec B's and Sti Limited's. If demand comes back, who knows the legacy wagon may reappear in the new bodystyle after a year or so. Another thing that is killing it is that the new thing is crossovers which the OB fits perfectly since it pretty much is the original crossover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeTrout Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 ^ I agree with most of what you've said here. The only hole, and it's not in your logic, it's in SOA's, is that they've failed to cover the WRX + STi buyer who is upgrading to a larger car. The Impreza wagon isn't any help. The Tribeca isn't anywhere close, unless they fit it with a H3.6 supercharged and lower it. The Outback XT is close, but too tall. The LGT wagon fits just right, but needs to at least have a manual option. While a lot of us would get a LGT STi wagon, I think the plain LGT wagon with manual is a better fit, as a "boy racer" going domestic probably isn't gonna spring for a $40k car. Ich bin echt viel netter, wenn ich nuechtern bin. Echt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Of course they blew it in 2006 when they killed MT option. They should have given it another chance and adjust expectations. They are idiots. I have no much regard to decision making process in a Yankee-Jap companies... happen to work in one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdw Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 You said the Boston Metropolitan area stretches up to S NH, so I looked up the population for the metropolitan area, and compared that to the population for the PDX metro area, including SW Washington. Interestingly, the population-corrected density of Subaru dealers is a precise match. My cousin lives in the northern suburbs of Boston: it takes an hour to get out there, most of the time, by car. Perhaps the reason why there is an "aristocratic" demographic for Outbacks in Boston is related to this: http://youtube.com/watch?v=jM_rb_ndOww That makes sense on the population. The northern suburbs are a bit of a worst case scenerio on the commute but it depends a lot on which suburb exactly. If the town is right on 93 (like Peabody forinstance) the commute can be great depending on time of day or it can be a nightmare at the wrong time of day. For the western suburbs, it tends to be better overall. Also, you're not necessarily going that direction to get to the nearest Subaru dealer. As for the Topgear vid, you may be onto something there. I'd say the rich people in this area are a bit less showy than some other areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeTrout Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 That makes sense on the population. The northern suburbs are a bit of a worst case scenerio on the commute but it depends a lot on which suburb exactly. If the town is right on 93 (like Peabody forinstance) the commute can be great depending on time of day or it can be a nightmare at the wrong time of day. For the western suburbs, it tends to be better overall. Also, you're not necessarily going that direction to get to the nearest Subaru dealer. As for the Topgear vid, you may be onto something there. I'd say the rich people in this area are a bit less showy than some other areas. Old money. Hand down the three-century-old house, the century-old tweed, and the 4-decade-old car. Boston is very old money for the US. Within the 75 mile range, there were dealerships in Rhode Island and in New Hampshire on the Maine Border. For Portland, the furthest dealerships were in wine country, which most folks would still consider "the suburbs." Ich bin echt viel netter, wenn ich nuechtern bin. Echt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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