After seeing months of record sales and profits, Subaru has revealed a new business plan focused on boosting sales and developing new platforms and engines by the end of the decade.
Parent company Fuji Heavy Industries forecasts a jump in North American volume to 600,000 vehicles, up from the current 478,000, according to Automotive News. The company also says it could further boost production at its Lafayette, Indiana manufacturing plant to 400,000 cars and SUVs by 2017, on top of an already planned expansion to 310,000 vehicles.
Subaru also intends to indroduce a new modular platform by 2016. Known as the Subaru Global Platform, it will underpin every model in the lineup and is slated to first appear in the upcoming Impreza. In addition to the next-generation Impreza, Subaru is also planning to introduce a new seven-seat SUV, pegged as a replacement for the now discontinued Tribeca, sometime between 2016 and 2020.
In 2016, Subaru is planning to roll out a new series of direct-injection Boxer engines in a bid to meet increasingly strict emissions standards. Currently, Subaru offers a direct-injection Boxer engine in the BRZ, Forester XT and WRX.
Last but not least, Subaru is planning to introduce a plug-in hybrid for the North American market to meet zero-emissions regulations in the U.S. set to take effect by 2018, as well as another new version of its EyeSight suite of collision avoidance technology.
Over the last six years, Subaru is the only automaker in the U.S. to post consecutive yearly sales increases, and has even seen double-digit boosts for the past 16 months. If all goes to plan, Yoshinaga said sales could reach 1.1 million vehicles by 2020.
