Subaru is very much a niche brand in the UK, unlike some other countries, with a core base in the countryside community. But what’s the history of this offbeat Japanese car company?
During the 1990s and 2000s, Subaru grabbed the attention of motorsport enthusiasts through its successful world rallying programme, which inspired a series of high-performance Impreza WRX models. But that’s rather an aberration in the Subaru story.
In fact, Subaru’s core customer base was always, and still is, farmers and other rural car buyers, attracted to the fact that Subarus are almost always all-wheel-drive and can drive properly off-road.
While Subaru has never made that much of a dent in the UK market, selling less than 2,500 cars in 2024, the brand has always maintained its reputation amongst those rural customers. Now it’s firmly allied with its much larger fellow Japanese manufacturer, Toyota, Subaru is moving into the electric age while ensuring it continues to offer the rugged off-road capable products that its core market expects.
So who or what is Subaru?
While many automotive companies started out making cars and diversified into aircraft manufacture, Subaru did it the other way around. The Aircraft Research Laboratory was formed in Japan in 1915, and grew into a major manufacturer by the mid-1930s under the name of Nakajima Aircraft Compan, producing many of Japan’s planes for the second world war.
The first motor vehicle appeared after the war in 1946, called the Fuji Rabbit, which was a scooter made using redundant aircraft parts. Nakajima Aircraft was now known as Fuji Sangyo and had been divided into 12 different corporations.
By 1953, four of these had merged with another company to form Fuji Heavy Industries, with all the elements needed to produce automobiles. The scooter manufacturer was joined with a body builder, a chassis producer, an engine manufacturer, and a trading company to sell the finished products.
The initial car was known as the P1 during its development, but Fuji Heavy Industries CEO Kenji Kita settled on a name he was particularly fond of – Subaru. The word is Japanese for the six stars that form the Pleiades cluster in astronomy, and Subaru’s badges still bear the six stars today.
Just 20 examples of that initial model, the Subaru 1500, were made but the company soon ramped up production, and an important launch was the 1000 of 1965. This was Subaru’s first car to use the ‘boxer’ engine format, in which two banks of cylinders lie flat facing each other (also famously used by the Porsche 911 for the last 70 years), rather than upright as in a typical engine. The boxer engine soon became a Subaru signature feature that remains today.
Japanese government efforts to make the country’s car industry more efficient saw Nissan acquire a 21% stake in Subaru in 1968, and in 1974 Subaru officially arrived in the UK.
The ‘Nissan period’ also saw the launch of three core Subaru models, the Legacy and Forester SUVs, and the Impreza saloon, which with its blue livery and gold wheels would become famous in world rallying and effectively became the worldwide image of Subaru. But Nissan joined a new alliance with Renault in 1999 and its Subaru stake was sold to General Motors, which kept it for six years.
Some of that investment was then snapped up by Toyota – by 2008, Japan’s biggest manufacturer owned 16% of its tiny rival. To date, the best-known joint project between the two has been the small sports car launched in 2012, known as both the Subaru BRZ and Toyota GT86, with only a few minor cosmetic differences separating the two. It broke the Subaru mould in being rear-wheel drive instead of all-wheel drive. A second-generation model is sold here as the Toyota GR86, but the Subaru version is not available in the UK.
The two brands have continued their alliance ever since and it is demonstrated by Subaru’s most recent model, the company’s first foray into the electric age – the Subaru Solterra, which is little more than a Toyota bZ4X with some minor visual tweaks and Subaru badges.
What models does Subaru have and what else is coming?
Subaru’s current UK model range is sparse, comprising just four models. The Toyota-based Solterra electric SUV earns the best Expert Rating from The Car Expert, clocking up a New Car Expert Rating of A. It’s offered in a more limited, all-wheel-drive-only format (as are all Subaru models), without the 2WD versions offered by Toyota. But while it’s not considered the best mid-sized vehicle in its market, the Solterra scores on its space and its reliability.
The Crosstrek is a replacement for the previous Subaru XV. It’s effectively an off-road hatchback with mild hybrid assistance to its 2.0-litre petrol engine and, like most Subaru models, is aimed firmly at more rural buyers. An impressive safety package is offset by high running costs and average CO2 emissions to give the Crosstrek a New Car Expert Rating of C.
The Forester is a larger crossover model, with more rugged-looking SUV styling than the other models in the range. It’s the newest model in the current line-up, but still only rates a C in our New Expert Ratings.
Current Subaru range on our Expert Rating Index
Finally we have the Outback, on sale since 2021 and described by Subaru as an SUV, whereas it’s really more of a jacked-up estate car. Again this is one for those who live well out of town, with proper off-road ability. It has a New Car Expert Rating of C and for the same reasons – good safety but high running costs.
The current Outback’s days are numbered – in 2026 it is set to be replaced by a second EV, the E-Outback. Displayed in concept form and sold outside the UK as the Trailseeker, the new model uses the same platform as both the Solterra and a third new EV, the Uncharted, which is a crossover based on Toyota’s C-HR+ but with a greater ride height and styling to suit Subaru’s core rural customer base. The E-Outback, however, will only be sold as a Subaru.
Where can I try a Subaru car?
Subaru is not exactly one of the largest car manufacturers in the UK market and so its dealer network is rather smaller than some rivals – potential buyers may have to travel a little further to try out a car.
However, there are 65 outlets well spread across the country, and the network is still changing – the latest outlet, Startin Subaru in Twycross, Warwickshire, was appointed in July 2025.
What makes Subaru different to the rest?
Subaru has always been presented as a brand favoured by the more rural customer, such as the farming community, who like quality vehicles but need them to be robust, The company has sold itself on its combination of go-anywhere all-wheel-drive chassis and its flat ‘boxer’ engines – the former can definitely progress into the electric era, the latter not so much.
A Subaru fact to impress your friends
Flying on a modern Boeing 777 or 787 airliner? You are actually sitting in something partly made by Subaru.
The company’s aerospace division has three plants and, amongst its many aircraft products, it makes the centre wing section for both airliners.
Summary
To many in the UK, Subaru has long appeared to be one of those tiny manufacturers that often goes unnoticed. But the brand has a core following and is sensible enough not to try anything that might alienate those customers. Expect to see tough, all-wheel-drive Subarus doing their job well into the era of electric vehicles.
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