This Small Japanese Car Co. Grew Twice As Much As BMW In Sales
By Paulo Acoba
This Japanese car maker has grown twice as fast in terms of percentage growth in sales compared to its next best compeitor in the United States, BMW.
If you had to name that one Japanese car manufacturer that is pretty much killing it in terms of sales growth so far this year you’d probably say Mazda, Honda or Toyota and you’d be wrong. According to an inside look at the success of Subaru earlier yesterday (Oct. 1, 2015) Bloomberg noticed that in terms of sales in the United States, Subaru is leaving everyone else in the dust. Now if we’re talking total number of cars sold, none can touch Ford’s mighty F-150 or the Toyota Camry, but when it comes to growth Subaru takes the cake.
According to Bloomberg, it’s a combination of things. A quick glance through their main US website reveals a product lineup that’s perfect for today’s modern day automotive consumer. Besides the Subaru BRZ, every car can be offered in all wheel drive, a powertrain that’s always in season. Practically half of their lineup consists of the Forester, XV Crosstrek, XV Crosstrek hybrid and Outback, all models that toe and cross the line of crossover SUV. Crossover SUV’s happen to be one of the hottest commodities in terms of what’s selling right now. You have car manufacturers like Honda, Toyota and Ford all scrambling to bolster their crossover offerings.
Most importantly Bloomberg found out that,
"…Subaru started excelling when it stopped acting like a car company. A few years ago, it started crafting ads around kids and dogs and kayaks, rather than cash-back discounts. And it gave its dealers more support and crafted philanthropic programs to pump money into their communities. Subaru became a lifestyle choice, not a car company."
Plug in the keywords “Subaru” and “Commercial” into youtube and you’ll see exactly what lifestyle choice means.
Rarely in the ad do you see Subaru hardselling their specs and features. Oftentimes Subaru commercials are filled with montages of slow motion dogs, happy children, plenty of nature thanks to an off roading nature and an all around sense of a wholesome lifestyle choice.
Sometimes bigger is better, but sometimes that’s not what matters in the end. The next time you’re in the market for a new crossover, it would behoove you to head on over to a Subaru dealership.