NEWS
Forester diesel-auto for 2015
Subaru SUV sales boost on the way as it targets CX-5 and RAV4Sales leadership in the booming medium SUV segment will be a realistic opportunity for the Subaru Forester in 2015 when an automatic transmission finally becomes available with the 2.0-litre turbo-diesel boxer engine.
The Forester has been available as a diesel-manual since 2010, but the auto version has sat in the queue as more pressing engineering projects have been performed in Japan.
When it does arrive the combination of diesel and Lineartronic CVT auto should command a premium of around $2500 over the diesel-manual, as it does in the Outback, which has been on-sale with the diesel-auto combination since early 2013.
On current day pricing that means an entry-level diesel-auto Forester 2.0D would be pitched at $37,990 plus on-road costs. At that price it would undercut the cheapest Mazda CX-5 and Toyota RAV4 diesel-auto combinations.
The Forester has been a sales staple for Subaru since it first appeared in 1997, but the latest fourth generation version has been surpassed by both the CX-5 and RAV4, which already offer automatic transmissions with their diesel engines.
In sales terms, Subaru Australia managing director Nick Senior estimates the diesel-auto Forester would be capable of "easily a couple of hundred units per month".
To the end of March 2014, according to VFACTS figures, the Forester sits in third in the Medium SUV segment, 499 sales behind the Toyota and 543 behind the Mazda. Do the sums and the diesel-auto potentially puts the Forester back on top of the pile.
"A Forester diesel automatic ... is on the cards for the first half of next year," Senior confirmed to motoring.com.au.
"It fills a big gap if you look at the success of the CX-5 around the auto diesels, similarly RAV4.
"That is the first SUV segment where diesel starts to play significant sales part and we are okay with diesel manuals but all the volume is really in the autos."
The drivetrain would essentially be the same as the Outback. The latest fifth generation of the Liberty-based wagon was launched last week at the New York auto show, although only details of petrol engines were revealed.
Currently, the EE20 engine makes 108kW and 350Nm in the six-speed manual Forester and 110kW and 350Nm in the manual and auto Outbacks. The Forester averages 5.9L/100km and the CVT Outback 6.5L/100km.
Subaru Australia has already chopped the recommended retail price of its entry level petrol-manual Forester 2.0i $1000 to $29,990 in an attempt to make it more competitive against the front-wheel drive base models offered by other medium SUV brands.
All-wheel drive and boxer engines are core components of the Subaru model program in Australia. Only the BRZ coupe deviates with rear-wheel drive.
The Forester diesel auto will be one of three or four big product launches for Subaru in Australia in 2015, with the all-new Liberty and Outback due in the first quarter and the push on to get the compact Levorg wagon here as well.
Senior travels to Japan for meetings in May and is hoping to press the case for Australian sale of the Levorg then.
"Levorg is one I would love. It is the right size, right mix, right interior, right performance," he said. "I think it has a big future in Australia. My job is to convince them that we need it.
"We will have friendly discussions about the possibilities of it coming."
Subaru has completed its new generation model launch activity for 2014 with the arrival of the WRX and WRX STI, but has plenty of updates planned for the remainder of the year.
"There will be Forester special editions, Impreza special editions, we are looking at some XV special editions and BRZ special editions," Senior revealed.
He remains bullish about setting a new sales record for Subaru Australia in 2014 despite running behind on the 2013 rate after three months.
"We will improve marginally on last year," Senior said. "We finished at 40,200 (last year) and we are still on track to beat that. We will close the gap a little in April. We had a very strong start to last year because we had a run-out of Forester in January-February last year and launched a new one. But that is still under control."
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Written byBruce Newton
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Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
If the price does not contain the notation that it is "Drive Away", the price may not include additional costs, such as stamp duty and other government charges.
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