SUBARU Group’s Six Priority Areas for CSR TOPIC: People-oriented Car Culture

An “Unmistakably SUBARU” BEV

Customers and dealerships are increasingly telling us that “SUBARU is a different kind of brand” and about the SUBARU-ness they experience from our vehicles. Today, SUBARU is focusing its efforts on evolving SUBARU-ness, further enhancing its corporate distinctiveness to truly become a brand that is “different” from others for its customers.
A prominent example is SUBARU’s first global BEV,^*1 the SOLTERRA, which launched in 2022. This newly designed EV platform, based on the SUBARU Global Platform concept offering a quieter, more comfortable ride, provides greater strength and rigidity than ever before and improved handling stability. In addition, by placing a large-capacity battery under the floor of the platform, we achieve a low center of gravity. Plus, the compact and highly efficient eAxle power unit offers excellent axle response and agile acceleration performance, resulting in a powerful and smooth driving performance unique to BEVs. The capabilities of our all-wheel drive (AWD) technology cultivated over many years are also on full display in the SOLTERRA BEV. It employs a new AWD system using separate motors to drive the front and rear tires, quickly and precisely distributing driving force. We have poured our expertise from SUBARU vehicles into these control mechanisms. As a result, we have succeeded in taking SUBARU’s unique value of stable driving unaffected by road and driving conditions to a new level. At prototype test drive events held for media and journalists in Japan, the U.S., and Europe, we were able to help many people see firsthand that this electric motor AWD and other features are very much in keeping with our SUBARU-ness.
SUBARU’s philosophy that the car is a partner that enriches people’s lives by understanding and meeting their expectations, and that we should deliver “Enjoyment and Peace of Mind” to each of our customers, remains unchanged with BEVs. Rather, we see the electrification of cars as an opportunity to express SUBARU-ness more clearly. We at SUBARU believe that while we must of course respond to market and regulatory changes, the most important thing for our focus is advancing electrification while assessing the changing demands and values of our customers and the convenience of BEVs, including with regard to infrastructure. Based on this concept, we will continue to build a system for developing products that will bring happiness to our customers and to build a flexible production system that incorporates the state of the market environment.

*1

BEV: Battery electric vehicle

SOLTERRA

AWD Technology Continues Its Evolution in EVs

SUBARU’s first vehicle equipped with AWD technology was the Leone 4WD Estate Van, the first all-wheel drive passenger vehicle made in Japan, launched in September 1972. In June 2021—49 years later—the cumulative production of AWD vehicles reached 20 million units^*2. Currently, AWD vehicles account for 98%^*3 of global SUBARU vehicles sold. All of these are SUBARU’s unique symmetrical AWD vehicles featuring horizontally-opposed engines.
We have refined AWD over the past half century as a core technology underpinning SUBARU’s approach to safety and driving pleasure, and we are continuing our efforts to improve the technologies and performance of EVs. For example, models equipped with e-BOXER^*4 being rolled out in Japan and other regions around the world take advantage of the high responsiveness of the electric motor. With the resulting precision of AWD control, we have achieved even greater stability on slippery surfaces and rough-road capability. In addition, we plan to further enhance the driving performance of strong hybrid vehicles scheduled for launch in the mid-2020s by harmonizing electric motors and AWD control.
SUBARU aims to be not only a provider of technologies and products, like cars and aircraft, but also a company “delivering happiness to all.” Regardless of the era, we want to maintain a people orientation, thoroughly thinking about what is important to people who use cars and being a good partner sincerely addressing our customers through our products and services.
Looking ahead, we at SUBARU will continue to provide the added value that only “different” cars can offer to our customers, the people who have made us a brand unlike any other.

*2

Including non-symmetrical AWD vehicles.

*3

Based on sales data from 2018 to 2020 (calendar years). Excludes OEM vehicles from other companies.

*4

e-BOXER: SUBARU’s unique power unit that combines a horizontally-opposed engine and electrification technology. Based on a symmetrical AWD layout, a compact, high-performance motor and lithium-ion battery are arranged symmetrically and in a straight line (Chinese specification units are called “INTELLIGENT BOXER”).