|
Subaru Forester production has passed the one million mark just nine years
and three months after the first model was made in December 1996.
The All-Wheel Drive (AWD) Forester was the best-selling compact Sports
Utility Vehicle (SUV) in Australia last year with 12,320 sales.
Sales outside Japan dominate its success, with 83.2 per cent occurring
overseas.
Forester has the highest proportion of overseas sales among all Subaru
models. It is made at Fuji Heavy Industries Gunma Yajima plant.
Developed around the basic concept of a crossover AWD SUV, Forester blends
the best features of an SUV and a passenger car and is suited to a wide variety
of driving conditions.
First generation Forester set a new world record with an average speed of
180.082 km/h* in a 24-hour challenge in October 1996, as certified by FIA and
ACCUS.
With its outstanding performance, durability, and reliability proven before
introduction, Forester went on sale in Japan in February 1997, followed by
introductions overseas that year, including Australia.
Second generation Forester was first introduced in Japan in February 2002,
offering improvements in the key areas of manoeuvrability, performance, safety,
comfort, usability, and design.
A variant of the second generation Forester was the first compact SUV to
achieve a five star crashworthiness rating for occupant safety from the
Australian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP). It was also the first time any
Japanese-built car achieved a five-star ANCAP rating. The rating is now shared
by all Forester variants sold in Australia.
Forester has become one of Australia’s most awarded vehicles, including
multiple class awards in the Australia’s Best Cars programme, conducted annually
by the nation’s motoring organizations.
Worldwide Forester sales in 2005 totalled 119,743, a 6.2 per cent increase
from 2004.
Forester international chronology
October 1996: Forester establishes a new world record with an average speed
of 180.082
km/h in a FIA certified, 24-hour endurance challenge
December
1996: Forester production starts at the Gunma Yajima Plant
February 1997:
Debut in Japan
July 1997: U.S. introduction
August 1997: Australian
introduction
September 1997: European introduction
February 2002: Second
generation Forester introduced
February 2006: Cumulative production reaches
one million
|
