Subaru sales in the United States

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July 20th, 2022 at 7:11:36 AM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Quote: AZDuffman
The issue does not seem to be "design." It seems to be more of no matter how you design it the concept just does not really work well. The materials do not hold up.


Mazda takes a shot at CVTs in this video by talking about "communication with the wheels via messenger pigeon".


Quote: AZDuffman
They could also go back to the 80s and put in axle gears that limit top speed but give higher mileage. We are seeing way powerful engines these days. To an extent unimaginable back in the 80s. Back then, 200hp was just the best sports cars and packages. Now it is getting common. When do the automakers say "enough" of the hp wars and start squeezing out more mpg?


I am not sure if there is a solid answer to your question. We might see the day that gasoline vehicles are all relatively low power (under 200 hp) vehicles, and EVs are all the high power vehicles. People have limits, however. The Nissan Versa is a very poor selling vehicle, but the Nissan Sentra is fairly popular.
2022 Nissan Versa/Horsepower 122 hp starting at $15,580 | 5,626 US sales first half of 2022
2022 Nissan Sentra/Horsepower 149 hp starting at $19,950 | 44,375 US sales first half of 2022

I am age 65, but personally I doubt that I will live to see California ban gasoline vehicles entirely. I do expect to see Marin County, north of the Golden Gate bridge, ban gasoline vehicles within a decade. I am pretty sure Santa Clara county (silicon valley) has the most EVs per capita, but it is still fairly urban with a lot of renters, so I can't imagine they will be the first county to ban gasoline vehicles.

Subaru/ Nissan / Hyundai / "US automotive industry" got lowest mpg in 2004 during the administration of GW Bush
Mazda got lowest mpg in 2001
Toyota got lowest mpg in 2002
Kia got lowest mpg in 2005
Honda got lowest mpg in 2006

It just goes to show you that left unrestrained the automotive industry will pursue maximum horsepower and put fuel economy on the back burner. They are just following the market. At a ceremony on Jul 29, 2011 in Washington, D.C., President Obama announced that the new CAFE standards for vehicle fleets will be 54.5 mpg by 2025.

AFAIK CAFE measurements are done as a lab test, and the actual mpg of a working vehicle will not be anywhere near 54.5 mpg.

Fatalities from automobile accidents peaked in 1972, but starting in 2012 they began to climb again with an increase of 10,000 per year over a ten year period. Under President Trump they wisely did not attribute all those deaths to the engineering changes brought about by the new CAFE requirements, but they did attribute at least 1000 per year to the 2011 CAFE requirements. He renamed his proposal SAFE requirements, and they basically froze the requirements at the 2020 level for another five years to be re-evaluated at that time.

A Prius drive is a very low power internal combusion engine (95 hp) coupled with an electric motor to yield a combined horsepower of 121 hp. But all the true budget vehicles are around 120 hp except for the Mitsubushi Mirage which is basically an 80s style 3 cylinder naturally aspirated 1.2 liter engine that produces 78 hp, But the truly popular compacts like the Toyota Corolla are up to 169 hp (the Corolla was 139 hp in 2021). But a Toyota Camry produces 202 hp and a top trim Camry V6 produces 301 hp.

For 2021 the average hp for vehicles sold in the US is 252 hp
358.8 hp Tesla
305.2 hp Ford
300.6 hp BMW
300.0 hp Stellantis
299.9 hp Mercedes
289.0 hp GM
259.8 hp VW
252.2 hp Average ----------------------------------
228.4 hp Toyota
205.1 hp Honda
194.9 hp Mazda
194.8 hp Hyundai
193.0 hp Subaru
192.2 hp Kia
192.1 hp Nissan

Mazda's new SUV for Europe is a plug in hybrid that produces 323 hp. Mazda is making a bid to move upscale in Europe and possibly will try to do the same in the US.

I suspect that if a Republican wins the presidency in 2024 he will slow down the increasing CAFE requirements.
July 28th, 2022 at 6:26:57 AM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Quote: AZDuffman
I do not get why that is. Why could they not do the same with an inline of V-4?

Well obviously you can build AWD with an inline V-4, but only the boxer engine allows you to build a completely symmetrical drive train on either the left or right side of the vehicle.

Subaru Symmetrical AWD
July 28th, 2022 at 11:33:01 AM permalink
missedhervee
Member since: Apr 23, 2021
Threads: 96
Posts: 3092
VW and Porsche both used a boxer engine for many decades, in fact Porsche still uses it and it is a wonderful piece of engineering.
July 29th, 2022 at 12:08:01 AM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Quote: missedhervee
VW and Porsche both used a boxer engine for many decades, in fact Porsche still uses it and it is a wonderful piece of engineering.


The way I understand it there are pros and cons of a boxer engine and an in-line engine. At this point after decades of experience and with the importances of ICE diminishing, nobody is going to switch.

But I don't think any automaker is going to sell an AWD for less money than the Subaru Impreza

MSRP is shown without $1020 destination and delivery fee.

2023 Impreza Sedan
5MT $19,795 Base
CVT $21,095 Base
CVT $23,195 Premium
CVT $24,595 Sport

2023 Impreza 5-door ($500 higher than sedan)
5MT $20,295 Base
CVT $21,595 Base
CVT $23,695 Premium
5MT $23,995 Sport
CVT $25,095 Sport

These are the closest non-Subaru AWD in price to the Impreza
2022 Mazda Mazda3
2022 Toyota Camry
2022 Nissan Altima
2022 Toyota Prius
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