Subaru History and Motorsport

At Subaru, finding new and original ways to innovate is what drives us forward. We continuously endeavour to anticipate customer needs and to put our customers first in everything we do. It’s why we’ve been asking “what if” for the past 60 years.

In 1996, Subaru asked, “what if we combined the capability of a 4WD with the practicality of a station wagon?” And that’s how the Sport Utility Vehicle was born. In fact, the Subaru Outback kicked off Australia’s love affair with family SUVs - and it’s still one of the country’s most popular and award-winning SUVs today. Read more

Every year, our engineers push themselves further to make Subaru one of the safest cars on the road
– which led to the highest ANCAP safety rating being awarded to every Subaru model in the range.

In 2014, they asked “what if we could put another set of eyes on the road?” The result was the EyeSight® Driver Assist system: award-winning technology that uses forward facing cameras to monitor the road ahead for obstacles and other dangers.

Next our Motorsport team asked, “what if we broke with tradition and named Molly Taylor as the first female Motorsport driver?” In 2016, that thinking was rewarded, when she became the first and only female of the Australian Rally Championship.

Then our engineers built on that “what if” thinking with next generation tech. Introducing Subaru’s innovative new driver focus tech; the Driver Monitoring System personalises the driver’s experience by delivering convenience and safety.

With each year the innovation continues, as evidenced by the launch of the next generation 2021 Subaru Forester Hybrid AWD and Subaru XV Hybrid AWD - designed with an innovative petrol and self-charging electric e-Boxer engine.

It’s been an extraordinary 60 years of innovation at Subaru. And we intend to keep asking “what if” for the next 60 and beyond.