Why not mention LGT?

[lilycat]

The WSJ often misses opportunities to mention Subaru when it makes perfect sense to do so. It irritates me when I read their articles on wagons, all wheel drive, etc. and there is no mention. Here's the latest:

Q: I have owned several Toyota Camrys and I am very pleased with the model. However, I think an all-wheel drive vehicle would be very useful in my circumstances. Does Toyota have any plans to produce an all-wheel drive version of the Camry?
-- Erwin Naumann,
Blairstown, N.J.
A: No. Toyota is preparing to roll out a new redesigned Camry for 2007, but says it will not offer the vehicle with all-wheel drive. This is surprising because many rival sedan designs, such as the Ford Five Hundred and Chrysler 300, have all-wheel drive as an option. However, since the Camry has been a top-selling sedan for several years (the company sold 431,703 of them in the U.S. last year) it makes sense that Toyota may not be eager to make such drastic design changes.
• Have a question about cars? Write to mecar@wsj.com.

[DukeTrout]

The WSJ often misses opportunities to mention Subaru when it makes perfect sense to do so. It irritates me when I read their articles on wagons, all wheel drive, etc. and there is no mention. Here's the latest:

Q: I have owned several Toyota Camrys and I am very pleased with the model. However, I think an all-wheel drive vehicle would be very useful in my circumstances. Does Toyota have any plans to produce an all-wheel drive version of the Camry?
-- Erwin Naumann,
Blairstown, N.J.
A: No. Toyota is preparing to roll out a new redesigned Camry for 2007, but says it will not offer the vehicle with all-wheel drive. This is surprising because many rival sedan designs, such as the Ford Five Hundred and Chrysler 300, have all-wheel drive as an option. However, since the Camry has been a top-selling sedan for several years (the company sold 431,703 of them in the U.S. last year) it makes sense that Toyota may not be eager to make such drastic design changes.
• Have a question about cars? Write to mecar@wsj.com.

Did you email the author with a comment? It might be published if you do a little homework at Edmunds. Point out that Mr. Naumann can walk into a Subaru dealer and drive off with a AWD, 250 HP sedan for less than a similarly equipped F500, C300, and within $2k of a Camry and not have to wait for 2008 or 2009 for Toyota to get their act together...

[lilycat]

No, I didn't e-mail the author. I didn't think it would go anywhere.

[IwannaSportSedan]

is it the chicken or the egg...

Does nobody know about Subaru because Subaru doesn't advertize, or does the lack of marketshare prohibit Subaru from advertizing well enough to be better known.

I still think it is rediculous for a automotive journalist to be ignorant of a commonly availalbe automobile model.

How many articles is this now, that have completely passed over subaru without mention, or that have ignored the Legacy specifically.

My favorite example, is the Mazdaspeed 6 coming out and being enthusiastically compared to the EVO and WRX STI...

...morons.

[wheatleya]

I think some of you have the wrong idea. I could care less if some ignorant guy doesn't mention any subarus. I personally prefer to drive a car that I will almost never see another one on the road. If you want to drive a popular car by an accord, or a camry.

[CombatCQB]

Although the Legacy is AWD, it is not really the same class as a camry or C300. The author might be trying to stay in the large family sedan catagory vs mentioning sport sedans. It's possibly the same reason he won't mention the Acura RL with HD-AWD.

I think someone looking for camry style comfort and space would find a GT a little bumpy and less spacious.

[lilycat]

For my own vanity, I don't care if it is popular. I do, however, have a desire to see good work rewarded. Also, the success of Subaru is important for continued product improvement...at least to an extent.

People often argue for never seeing our cars mentioned anywhere as a positive. I don't see it as an absolute negative, but it isn't all good either. There will be fall out if Subaru doesn't see some growth in acceptance of the vehicle. I think we already felt that when they pulled the MT wagon.

[Rommel]

I would prefer that the LGT has it's own market "the car enthusiasts". If the LGT will become a mainstream car like the Accord or Camry we will be introuble of carnappings. The Camry has highest % of cars being stolen evey year. I don't want that to happen.

[lilycat]

I don't think gaining some market share would turn the car into a Camry. That would take a lot of cars. It sounds like if ten more are sold we're in trouble. I don't think that's the case at all.

As for assuming the guy bought the Camry for size alone, can we do that? The guy in the article may not be in the "I bought a Camry for the size" matrix. He could be in the "I bought a Camry for Japanese reliability" matrix - in that case the Subaru, Lexus, or Infiniti would be more acceptable solutions for him. We can't know why he purchased the car, really.

I like being smaller, but this is a profit venture for Subaru, I think. So, I'm sure a little more cars sold would be good for them??

[DukeTrout]

There really is no danger of Subaru becoming a Toyota, company-wise. However, it would be good for all of us enthusiasts if the company was successful and profitable in the US market. They had good solid growth last year, but they expect things to be pretty flat this year. If Subaru sees good growth in 06, we are much more likely to get things we want in 07, 08, etc.

[intercede007]

The WSJ often misses opportunities to mention Subaru when it makes perfect sense to do so. It irritates me when I read their articles on wagons, all wheel drive, etc. and there is no mention. Here's the latest:

He answered the question that was asked:

Does Toyota have any plans to produce an all-wheel drive version of the Camry?

He sited two examples (of which there are several) and rendered his opinion. It's not a matter of omission; the question about a suitable substitute wasn't asked.

[tintinet]

Snubbed again: WSJ Friday Weekend Edition story: "Manwagons" includes a SAAB, Infinity, Volvo, Porsche Cayene, MB, etc. Although the LGT wagon is faster than almost all (stock), with the exceptions of the Volvo, perhaps, and Porsche Cayenne with the soon to be available 520 HP engine, it's not mentioned.

[hal9e3]

I think some of you have the wrong idea. I could care less if some ignorant guy doesn't mention any subarus. I personally prefer to drive a car that I will almost never see another one on the road. If you want to drive a popular car by an accord, or a camry.

I agree with you - in the short term. However, down the road when you sell the car the lack of publicity could hurt the car's resale value because people looking for the features that make the Legacy desirable to us might not even think of it. It will be interesting to see how the resale values look in a few years. However, I don't particularly care because I typically keep my cars around 9 years and put around 150k on them so any loss in resale value due to lack of pub will be minimal.

[lilycat]

Snubbed again: WSJ Friday Weekend Edition story: "Manwagons" includes a SAAB, Infinity, Volvo, Porsche Cayene, MB, etc. Although the LGT wagon is faster than almost all (stock), with the exceptions of the Volvo, perhaps, and Porsche Cayenne with the soon to be available 520 HP engine, it's not mentioned.

I read that this morning and they are talking about it elsewhere on here. I didn't want to offer it b/c it my own little conspiracy theory. The ironic thing is that one of the main auto writers for the WSJ drives a Subaru. If you search for Subaru on the WSJ, you'll most likely pull up an article where he mentions his car in some anectdote...not actual reviews or anything. :icon_bigg

[wheatleya]

Money makes the world go around.

[lilycat]

They've ended the streak...I will be quiet now. This was published this morning:

Q: My wife needs an all-wheel-drive car, but would prefer to avoid a gas guzzling SUV. She has been reasonably happy with an Outback, but is open to other options. Which cars in that category do you recommend?
-- David S. Machlowitz
Franklin Lakes, N.J.
A: If the Subaru Outback has performed to you liking you may be best off sticking with it. Subaru has been developing all-wheel drive cars for decades and has come up with a drive system that is robust and, in my experience, makes quick, easy work of driving in snow and other slippery conditions. There are many family cars on the market now that offer all-wheel drive, from the Ford Five Hundred and Chrysler 300 to models from Audi, BMW and Volkswagen and Volvo. But these models are either new and largely untested, or more expensive than the Outback by several thousand dollars. For the price it is difficult to beat the Subaru.