Subaru of New Zealand
Subaru of New Zealand is the exclusive importer and distributor of Subaru vehicles. Manufactured by Fuji Heavy Industries, Subaru vehicles have been imported by Subaru of New Zealand since 1988.
All Subaru models sold in New Zealand have featured All Wheel Drive since 1997.
The Subaru Journey
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1965 — Subaru 1000 became Japan's first massproduced front wheel drive car. |
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1970 — Aggregate production of Subaru cars surpassed 1 million units. |
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1971 — Subaru Leone Coupe introduced. |
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1972 — Leone AWD Estate (1400cc), a pioneer of AWD passenger vehicles, introduced. |
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1983 — Aggregate production of Subaru cars surpassed 5 million units. |
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1984 — Subaru Justy introduced. |
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1989 — The Legacy was introduced and set the 100,000 kilometres world speed record, average speed 223.345km/hr. |
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1992 — Aggregate production of Subaru cars surpassed 10 million units. Subaru Impreza introduced. |
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1993 — Legacy wins the Rally of NZ, driver Colin McRae. First Subaru WRC victory. |
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1994-5 — Impreza wins Rally of NZ, second consecutive win for Subaru. Subaru wins World Rally Championship, Manufacturers and Drivers titles. |
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1996 — Subaru Outback introduced Subaru wins World Rally Championship Manufacturers title for second consecutive year. |
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1997 — Subaru Forester and 2.5 litre Legacy introduced to NZ Subaru wins World Rally Championship Manufacturers title for the third consecutive year. |
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1998 — New generation Legacy and Outback introduced to NZ Legacy voted Car of the Year by Wheels magazine. Impreza WRX voted Performance Car of the Year by NZ Autocar magazine. |
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1999 — Aggregate production of Subaru cars surpassed 13 million units. Impreza WRX voted Car of the Decade by UK Car magazine. Impreza wins first place in Argentina, Acropolis, Finland, Australia and Great Britain in the WRC series. Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru) wins Most Improved Car Company at the 1999 Global Automotive Awards. Legacy RSK B4 and GTB introduced with sport shift transmission. |
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2000 — Legacy voted Car of the Year by NZ Herald and NZ Autocar magazine. Legacy voted 4 cylinder Car of the Year by National Business Review. Legacy RSK B4 voted Car of the Year by NZ Driver magazine. Impreza voted Car of the Year by Wheels magazine. Subaru wins Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, driver Possum Bourne. |
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2001 — Impreza wins Australian Rally Championship, driver Possum Bourne. Impreza wins World Rally Drivers Championship, driver Richard Burns. Impreza wins NZ Rally Championship, Group A, driver Bruce Herbert. |
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2002 — Impreza wins Australian Rally Championship, driver Possum Bourne. Impreza WRX STI voted Performance Car of the Year by NZ Performance Car magazine. Impreza wins NZ Rally Championship. Group A driver Bruce Herbert, Group N driver Chris West. Impreza wins first place in Monte Carlo and Great Britain in the WRC series. |
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2003 — Impreza wins Australian Rally Championship, driver Cody Crocker. Impreza wins World Rally Drivers Championship, driver Petter Solberg. Impreza wins NZ Rally Championship. Group A driver Bruce Herbert, Group N driver Chris West. Forester wins AA Autocar Car of the Year, Class winner. Forester wins NZ Company Vehicle 4WD of the Year. Legacy wins Japanese Car of the Year. Legacy wins Sunday Star-Times Large Car of the Year. |
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2004 — Legacy 2.5i wins AA Autocar Car of the Year. Legacy 2.5i wins AA Autocar Medium Class Car of the Year. Impreza wins NZ Rally Championship Group N, driver Chris West. Impreza wins Australian Rally Manufacturers' Championship, driver Cody Crocker. Impreza wins Australian Rally Driver's Championship, driver Cody Crocker. |
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2005 — Legacy 3.0R wins NZ Autocar Best Executive Car of the Year. Legacy 3.0R and Outback 3.0R Ltd win AA Motoring Excellence Safety Award. Legacy 2.5i wins AA Motoring Excellence Medium Car Class Award. Impreza wins New Zealand rally Manufacturers' Championship. Impreza wins Australian Rally Drivers Championship, driver Cody Crocker. Impreza WRX STI is awarded Motor magazines 'Best Bang for your Bucks'. |
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2006 — Cumulative production of the Subaru Forester (launched 1997) reached one million units. Subaru Impreza 2.0i received the highest possible 'gold safety pick' rating from the IIHS for frontal, side and rear impact crash tests. Subaru's 2.5-litre turbocharged engine wins the International Engine of the Year Award, 2.0-2.5litre class. Subaru Tribeca introduced to New Zealand. Subaru Tribeca wins Interior of the year Award in the crossover utility vehicle category by Wards Auto World Magazine, USA. Subaru Tribeca awarded Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) 5-star occupant safety rating. Subaru Forester ranked highest in independent Used Car Safety Ratings (UCSR) by Monash University Accident Research Centre in Australia. Subaru celebrates the 40th anniversary of the introduction of the "Boxer" or horizontally-opposed engine. Subaru Impreza wins New Zealand Rally Manufacturers' Championship. Subaru Impreza win's New Zealand Rally Drivers Championship, driver Richard Mason Subaru Impreza wins Australian Rally Drivers Championship, driver Cody Crocker |
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2007 — 10 Years All Wheel Drive Anniversary - Subaru of New Zealand has been selling exclusively AWD vehicles in New Zealand for 10 years. Third generation Impreza launched in New Zealand. Impreza earns maximum 5-star ANCAP occupant safety rating and maximum 4-star ANCAP pedestrian rating, making it only the second car in the world to earn the maximum available 9-stars. Subaru of New Zealand achieves 5-star ANCAP occupant safety ratings across the whole 2008 model year range, making Subaru the only manufacturer to have 5-star ANCAP Safety Ratings on all New Zealand specification vehicles. Subaru Impreza wins AMI New Zealand Autocar Compact Car of the Year award for 2008. Subaru Impreza wins New Zealand Rally Drivers Championship, driver Sam Murray. Subaru Impreza wins New Zealand Rally Manufacturers' Championship. Subaru Insurance made available to New Zealand new Subaru owners. |
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2008 — Subaru Forester - New Zealand Herald Car of the Year. Subaru's 2.5-litre turbocharged engine wins the International Engine of the Year Award, 2.0-2.5litre class. Impreza WRX STI Spec. R wins AA Motoring Excellence Car Of The Year Award. Impreza wins AA Motoring Excellence Safest Car Award. Impreza WRX STI Spec. R wins AA Motoring Excellence Performance Car Class Award. Third generation Forester launched in New Zealand. Third generation Impreza WRX STI launched in New Zealand. New 2008 model Tribeca launched in New Zealand. |
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2009 — Subaru Legacy - AMI and New Zealand Autocar Medium/Large Car of the Year. Fifth generation Legacy launched in New Zealand. Fourth generation Outback launched in New Zealand. FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Cup for Manufacturers - Subaru. Subaru tops USA Safety ratings - Top Safety Pick U.S Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS). |
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2010 — Subaru Legacy and Outback – NZ Driver Magazine Car of the Year. Subaru announces return of the Impreza STI Sedan and the first 5-speed Automatic transmission in an STI. Subaru launches the Impreza XV. Subaru WRX wins the AMI Insurance / New Zealand Autocar. Performance car of the Year award. |
