a match made in hell
December 7th, 2005Many of you may have observed that GM has a serious problem when it comes to managining its brands. This is especially true of companies it buys into. Wheras companies adopted by Ford tend to improve in quality (e.g. Volvo, Jaguar), GM tends to run the brands into the ground by forcing them to use existing components.
The result: the Trailblazer based Saab 9-7x and WRX based 9-2x. (Some have argued that Subaru and Saab have more in common than youd think – after all both companies have histories rooted in eccentric cars built by aircraft engineers. But while the 9-2x outhandles any Saab in history, you have to question why the 9-7x wasn’t based on the Tribeca. Perhaps a 9-2 based on a shortened version of the Legacy platform would have fared better in the marketplace…)
Anyone who’s driven a Subaru (or Porsche 911 or Boxster) can appreciate the way the flat engine enhances both ride and handling response, while the equal length halfshafts of the Symmetrical AWD layout benefits steering feel. Despite all this, Motor Trend’s Mike Connor reports in the Jan. ‘06 issue that GM’s descision to liquidate its 20% share in Subaru was in reponse to Subaru’s insistence that these singular distinctions be retained in future products.
One Motown analyst… slammed Fuji’s conviction that the boxer engines are an integral part of Subaru’s brand character, saing few U.S. Subaru buyers knw or care about what’s under the hood of their cars. Julst like all those Oldsmobile buyers who didn’t know or care when GM fitted their cars with Chevy engines…
We wonder if those at GM who were so insistent in platform sharing ever drove a Subaru. (If they did, perhaps GM would move towards flat-fours and sixes and away from overpowered, clumsy handling front wheel drivers).