Kupper Subaru Earns Subaru of America 2013 Subaru Stellar Care Award

- Award Recognizes Dealer Excellence in Customer Service –

Mandan, N.D. – Subaru of America, Inc. today announced that Kupper Subaru of Mandan, N.D. joins an elite group set to receive the prestigious 2013 Subaru Stellar Care Award.

“The Subaru Stellar Care Award is earned by top ranking Subaru dealers who deliver an exceptional ownership experience to our customers,” said Bill Cyphers, senior vice president, sales for Subaru of America. “Award recipients meet the high Stellar Care benchmarks for customer satisfaction, brand representation, and operational excellence. Our brand has enjoyed record sales for the past four years and this success is in large part due to the excellence of our retail body.”

“All Subaru dealerships deliver a high quality experience to our customers,” said Cyphers. “The Stellar Care Award winners excel in the way they take care of their customers and represent the Subaru brand.”

Achieving this highly coveted award requires truly exceptional dedication and Subaru dealers must devote significant time and resources to the customer experience throughout the year. Performance measures for the program range from participation in all customer-focused Subaru programs to maintaining a customer-friendly, inviting facility. Dealers must also achieve outstanding satisfaction scores for all key areas in Sales and Service and demonstrate outstanding performance in Customer Loyalty.

Kupper Subaru is located at 805 East Main Street in Mandan. For more information, the dealership can be contacted at 701-663-8223 or at www.kupper-subaru.com.

SUBARU SURRENDERS AND CONFIRMS AWD TURBO CONVERTIBLE TWO-SEATER DIESEL HYBRID BRZ

Cherry Hill, N.J., -  Bowing to continued media and internet speculation, Subaru of America has confirmed that it will launch an AWD Twin-Turbo Convertible two-seater Diesel Hybrid BRZ for sale in 2015. The new model essentially takes all of the media and internet rumors surrounding the highly successful BRZ sports car and delivers them in one fell swoop. 

A spokesman for the company said: “Having just launched the current model to widespread critical acclaim, we are tired of fighting off the constant speculation about what’s “next” and so we are just giving in and delivering all the speculation in one vehicle.”

The new model, which is expected to have a starting price, will however NOT come with a much anticipated rear back-up camera. The spokesman confirmed that after shoehorning two convertible switches (up and down) onto the fascia there just wasn’t room for any more instruments. The AWD Turbo Convertible two-seater Diesel Hybrid BRZ will come in a single color, noseeum black and will be hand produced at Subaru’s Brigadoon facility. 

More denials about future BRZ variants can be found at media.subaru.com

SUBARU TO INTRODUCE FIRST-EVER PRODUCTION HYBRID MODEL AND NEW PERFORMANCE CONCEPT CAR AT 2013 NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW

Cherry Hill, N.J., -  Subaru of America, Inc. announced the brand’s first-ever production hybrid vehicle, the Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid, will debut at the 2013 New York International Auto Show at the Jacob K. Javits Center. Based on the popular XV Crosstrek crossover introduced for 2013, the new XV Crosstrek Hybrid model uses a Subaru engineered Hybrid system and Subaru’s Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive. 

In addition to the new XV Crosstrek Hybrid, Subaru will also reveal an all-new performance concept car. 

About Subaru of America, Inc. 
Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of more than 600 dealers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill production plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. is the only U.S. automobile production plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. For additional information visit www.subaru.com.

Subaru and the Center for Pet Safety to Test Pet Car Safety Restraints

• Subaru to fund a quest for the top performing safety restraints so consumers can keep their best friend as safe as possible on the road 

• Lawmakers in Subaru of America’s home state of New Jersey are the first to consider the requirement of pet restraints when riding in vehicles

Cherry Hill, N.J.,, Mar 5, 2013  -  Subaru of America, Inc. today announced a partnership with the Center for Pet Safety, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit research and advocacy organization dedicated to companion animal and consumer safety, to fund testing of pet car safety restraints.

Currently, there are no performance standards or test protocols in the U.S. for pet travel products. Although many manufacturers claim to test their products, without test standards, these claims cannot be substantiated. Together, Subaru and the Center for Pet Safety will create standards for testing restraints, while announcing those that perform best.

“The Center for Pet Safety conducted a pilot study which showed that the majority of pet safety restraints currently on the market do not provide acceptable protection in a crash situation,” said Michael McHale, Subaru's director of corporate communications. “As many of our owners have dogs, we feel it’s our responsibility to help them keep their pets as safe as possible when they journey with us.”

The Center for Pet Safety conducted rigorous crash testing on commonly available pet safety restraints using realistic, specially designed, crash test dogs, not live animals. A 55-pound crash dummy dog was used to see how the seat belts would hold up in a collision at 30 miles per hour, patterning the same motor vehicle safety standards used to test child seats. Of the four popular dog car harness brands, none held up in the tests. All of them demonstrated that they either could lead to plausibly serious or fatal injuries for not only the canine but driver, too.

“We are thrilled to have the support of Subaru as its love for pets is as deep as ours,” said Lindsey Wolko, Center for Pet safety’s founder and CEO. “We have received requests from all over the world from manufacturers who want guidance on developing a safer harness and, through this partnership, we can finally conduct additional testing to help develop a suitable standard, provide the needed knowledge-base to manufacturers, as well as determine the top performers.”

The Center for Pet Safety is not affiliated with the pet product industry. The organization uses scientific testing and references Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to study pet products and establish criteria and test protocols to measure whether pet safety products provide the protection claimed by advocates and intended by the manufacturer.

About Subaru of America, Inc.
Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of more than 600 dealers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill production plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. is the only U.S. automobile production plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. For additional information visit www.subaru.com.

About the Center for Pet Safety
The Center for Pet Safety (CPS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and advocacy organization dedicated to consumer and companion animal safety. Based in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area, the Center for Pet Safety’s mission is to have an enduring, positive impact on the survivability, health, safety and well-being of companion animals and the consumer through scientific research and product testing. For additional information visit www.CenterforPetSafety.org