AWD_Rules3830 Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 Guys, all of this is not going to happen lol. I love my car ... basically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeTrout Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 You can't claim Toyota isn't business savvy. If they buy a controlling stake in FHI, they'll take a look at the Subaru business unit and say, "Here's a relatively small but respectable company, both here in Japan and in the US, with big growth potential in Europe. They grow, albeit slowly, with almost no advertising dollars by word-of-mouth and customer loyalty. Their R&D consistently comes up with innovative ideas, again with little funding. Why would we mess with it? Let's use the intellectual property we acquired them for, keep the business unit fairly autonomous, and if the performance weakens we can still spin it off with a net win." The conservative business approach with this hypothetical pairing would be to keep FHI independent and milk it for technology and profits until/if it is no longer advantageous on those two points, at which point it is easy to spin off or sell. If Toyota absorbs Subaru and deconstructs its product line, they gain very little and potentially lose a sizable investment. Ich bin echt viel netter, wenn ich nuechtern bin. Echt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogmeat Posted February 7, 2007 Author Share Posted February 7, 2007 - 2008 Supra - $75,000 - the MR2 still exists outside the US - not in the US, dweeb - ever heard of Mark X ? - is it FWD? Yup. Not a fun car. I'm pleasantly surprised... It was most certainly worth the couple bucks and 10 mins of my time. CLICK HERE FOR THE HOGZAUST Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongHiway Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 Try this spin, can Subaru continue to exist as a small niche automobile company offering "value" (whatever the heck that means to you) cars? The last several years have seen quite a lot of manufacturer consolidation, there are efficiencies to be had and, passed on to consumers in a competitive market. To some extent, cars are like breakfast cereal, you need to cover the shelves with as much product as possible. That means the Subaru brand could (should?) survive. I've heard, Toyota will bring the AWD to the Camry, it's in the Lexus now right? I drive a 2.5i but, would not go back to a Camry or, a Camry with Subaru skin on top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTsullyman Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 I've heard, Toyota will bring the AWD to the Camry, it's in the Lexus now right? Only on some of the high end models. 2007 DGM LGT 2003 Suzuki SV650S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanoswrx Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 The problem is Subaru just doesn't market their cars well, just look at their commercials. Then look at the people who actually drive them. The last commercial I saw for the Impreza had some girl plugging in an ipod to an auxiliary input and opening a sun roof saying she was in control. Then a guy next to her. But when I drive by 90% of the Imprezas out there it's a guy driving it in his 20s-30s. Maybe Toyota will knock some sense into Subaru, fire their exterior designers and marketers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeTrout Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 Why would they fire their exterior designers - both Subaru and Toyota designed a Camry! Ich bin echt viel netter, wenn ich nuechtern bin. Echt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWD_Rules3830 Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 Try this spin, can Subaru continue to exist as a small niche automobile company offering "value" (whatever the heck that means to you) cars? The last several years have seen quite a lot of manufacturer consolidation, there are efficiencies to be had and, passed on to consumers in a competitive market. To some extent, cars are like breakfast cereal, you need to cover the shelves with as much product as possible. That means the Subaru brand could (should?) survive. I've heard, Toyota will bring the AWD to the Camry, it's in the Lexus now right? I drive a 2.5i but, would not go back to a Camry or, a Camry with Subaru skin on top. even if they put AWD on the camry, its unlikely it would come from subaru. Subaru awd is designed for subaru cars and adapting it to a FWD Camry platform would be cost prohibitive. subaru AWD is based on a engine mounted forward with a transaxel gearbox. Not fwd based with a drive shaft going to the rear wheels. Why take from subaru what you can do yourself? I love my car ... basically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Pimp Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 The Japanese word for what Subaru would gain is keiretsu. Subaru would have access to Toyota's suppliers and other benefits. BTW I am the senpai and you are the kohai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdw Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 What I suspect will happen is Subarus will remain Subarus but with better quality. I assume everyone knows that Nissan used to own 20% of Subaru. When that was true, I could look around a Subaru and see a lot of subcomponents that obviously came from Nissan. Personally, I think Nissans (not Infinitis) are crap. Toyota makes very smart business moves and I think keeping Subaru independent and moving them towards performance would be smart business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogmeat Posted February 8, 2007 Author Share Posted February 8, 2007 I am the senpai and you are the kohai no, you're the cornhole! I'm pleasantly surprised... It was most certainly worth the couple bucks and 10 mins of my time. CLICK HERE FOR THE HOGZAUST Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWD_Rules3830 Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Toyota makes very smart business moves and I think keeping Subaru independent and moving them towards performance would be smart business. subaru is already a performance car maker lol. People just don't know it lol. I love my car ... basically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLegacy99 Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Just because toyota buys them doesn't mean subaru is going to go in a different direction. Look at all the companies Ford and GM own and last time a checked toyota owns lexus and i don't hear to many lexus owners coplaining about that. GM took over Saab...look at Saab now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bosco Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 GM took over Saab...look at Saab now Ford took over Jaguar actually saved them. bosco Stay Stock Stay Happy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWD_Rules3830 Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Ford took over Jaguar actually saved them. bosco Subaru doesn't really need saving lol. (weather jag has been saved or not is debatable. Sure great products, but well they sell?). Subaru is a small but very profitable company. Again ... ALL Toyota is interested in is FHI batteries, if they purchase Subaru stock, its purely to make more money; not turn Subaru into Toyota-ru. its unlikely they will buy Subaru, in my opinion. I love my car ... basically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notafanboy Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Subaru doesn't really need saving lol. (weather jag has been saved or not is debatable. Sure great products, but well they sell?). Subaru is a small but very profitable company. Again ... ALL Toyota is interested in is FHI batteries, if they purchase Subaru stock, its purely to make more money; not turn Subaru into Toyota-ru. its unlikely they will buy Subaru, in my opinion. Just how profitable is Subaru? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTsullyman Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Ford took over Jaguar actually saved them. bosco I kinda thought it was the death of jag IMO. If someone else with a little vision and balls would have taken over they could be soo much better. 2007 DGM LGT 2003 Suzuki SV650S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hutru01 Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 I kinda thought it was the death of jag IMO. If someone else with a little vision and balls would have taken over they could be soo much better. Nothing like a European Ford....aka Jaguar/Eurotaurus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hokiebird Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 I kinda thought it was the death of jag IMO. If someone else with a little vision and balls would have taken over they could be soo much better. I didn't like all of the choices that were made in the Jaguar line up (x-type ), but Ford has helped Jag's quality control more than words can describe. You can't really appreciate the newer cars until you have had to deal with an older British made Jag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTsullyman Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 I didn't like all of the choices that were made in the Jaguar line up (x-type ), but Ford has helped Jag's quality control more than words can describe. You can't really appreciate the newer cars until you have had to deal with an older British made Jag. Me and my Dad restored a late 1980s XJS v-12 back in the day. It was a fun car but you had to know what you were doing. IMO all ford did was rape Jag for its tech and then water it all down. They seemed to trade everything jag was about for that quality control. Im just glad ford is selling Austin Martin before its dead to me too. Nice name BTW! 2007 DGM LGT 2003 Suzuki SV650S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanKen Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Don't everyone panic and freak out with baseless speculation!. Oh wait. Too late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RacerX100 Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 It would be nice if Subaru was run like their Scion division. You can really customize the car and they sell all kinds of performance stuff (super chargers and CAI) that would be more warranty friendly. . That is an excellent idea. Especially if it is more performance oriented. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FourMoBro Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 "Again ... ALL Toyota is interested in is FHI batteries" You sure it has absolutely nothing to do with FHI making composite barrells for the new Boeing 787? The best selling new aircraft to date! You sure they don't want the aerospace and composite technology to make a dive into making planes of their own? Honda has some planes, why not Toyota? All new planes will have composites in them. Why not get a piece of this market? With Boeing outsourcing the composite manufacturing, it only seems logical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdw Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 The Japanese word for what Subaru would gain is keiretsu. Subaru would have access to Toyota's suppliers and other benefits. BTW I am the senpai and you are the kohai A keiretsu is a lot looser organization than one company owning another. A keiretsu is vaguely like a set of companies in this country that are all owned by the same venture capital firm (like Baine). The companies in a keiretsu tend to be all centered around a particular bank and cooperate where it makes sense. The companies don't have to be in related businesses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdw Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 I kinda thought it was the death of jag IMO. If someone else with a little vision and balls would have taken over they could be soo much better. Quite simply, Jaguar would not be in business anymore if it weren't for Ford. The same goes for Aston Martin and Land Rover. Volvo and Mazda are different stories. They probably would have survived on their own but Volvo corporate definitely wanted to get out of the passenger car business. Volvo still exists as a seperate company making trucks, heavy machinery and big diesel engines. They essentially lease the Volvo name to Ford. I think Ford has done a pretty good job overall with the brands they purchased in the 90's. In fact the cars Ford produces overseas are pretty nice overall. It's the cars they produce in the US for the US market that suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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