Subaru developing new global platform, more efficient engines

Subaru‘s parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries, has revealed ambitious plans aimed at enhancing the brand while building a stronger business structure. Dubbed "Prominence 2020," it seeks to extend the firm’s current record sales and profits to the end of the decade by introducing a number of new products and advanced technologies. Subaru is the only automaker to have racked up increased sales and profits here in the U.S. for the last six consecutive years.

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According to a report in Automotive News, the "Prominence 2020," program is aimed at bumping Subaru’s global volume by 20 percent while trimming costs by an equal percentage. It will kick off with the introduction of a new Subaru Global Platform set to launch in 2016 with the next-generation Impreza. Ultimately, this extremely flexible architecture will underpin everything from the Impreza to the Outback. Subie’s effort also includes fitting direct fuel injection to its existing engines as well as all future ones, including a new boxer powerplant currently under development. To improve fuel economy and boost thermal efficiency beyond 40 percent, Subaru also will introduce cylinder deactivation and lean-burn/Atkinson cycle systems. 

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New models in the automaker’s upcoming mix include a 7-passenger crossover-style replacement for the late and quickly forgotten Tribeca along with a plug-in hybrid set to arrive here by 2018 that reportedly will use Toyota-sourced powertrain technology. Subaru also confirmed it’s working on an even more sophisticated version of its EysSight driver assist system that will be able to help prevent or mitigate impacts from all other directions and not just frontal crashes. 

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