Impreza impresses

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), April 20, 2007

Byline: By Steve Hughes

Subaru's Impreza has clinched the top spot in a satisfaction survey among owners of older high-performance models.

Imprezas dating back five years lead the Performance Car category of Auto Express magazine's 'Driver Power 2007' reliability and satisfaction survey.

The entire Subaru range comes sixth in the manufacturer's category with 93% of owners saying they would buy another.

The magazine received 30,000 replies from owners who were asked to report on various aspects of owning and running their cars including reliability and running costs.

Subaru has also been voted the 'Best Automotive Franchise Opportunity 2007' by the Institute of Transport Management.

The ITM awards committee studied the performance of nominated UK franchises during the past 18 months and concluded that Subaru was top for customer service, vehicle range, after-sales solutions and overall professionalism.

Representing 10,000 transport managers and logisticians, the ITM says it regards Subaru as the safest investment as a new car dealership.

Announcing the award, Patrick Sheedy, director of the ITM said: "The ITM awards committee is pleased to put Subaru (UK) Limited forward to its members as Best Automotive Franchise Network 2007."

Terry Leach, national franchise development manager for Subaru, says: "Interest in our open points is at an all-time high partly due to the prospect of a new Impreza at the end of the year and tremendous sales growth potential offered by our first diesel engine in early 2008.

"We also appeal to new dealer appointees, thanks to our low set-up costs, less prescriptive approach and swift decision-making processes with less bureaucracy than with larger manufacturers and importers."

Subaru currently has 85 dealers with 28 other sites spread throughout the country.

Among its newest current models is a special edition Outback with pounds 1,000 worth of extra equipment and limited to just 200 vehicles.

Based on the Outback 2.5 SE automatic, the new model features an ivory leather interior, rear air-conditioning outlets and a leather steering wheel with inset audio controls.

The special edition Outback costs the same pounds 24,925 as the regular SE automatic and comes in either diamond grey metallic or dark green mica with urban grey bumpers and body cladding.

The Outback crossover all-wheel drive estate was facelifted for 2007 with new front and rear styling and a higher quality interior.