2019 Subaru Forester ride and handling tuned specially for Australia
Our market plays a big role in the brand's development process and, as a result, gets some say in how the car drives.
Subaru Australia began its process wish list of Forester changes almost four years ago, and placed a unique ride and handling tune for our market firmly at the top. We're sure not every wish gets granted, but this one was.
Speaking with CarAdvice at the launch of the all-new Forester, Subaru Australia boss, Colin Christie, confirmed Australia is integral for global specification requirements and local testing.
"We've got a very close working relationship with Subaru Corporation. They bring cars out here all the time to test. Towing testing, you know, ride and handling, so we actually get a separate specification for our vehicle to most other markets – we get an individual specification just for Australia," Christie explained.
"We'll start these conversations with Japan three, four years in advance."
Customer feedback is an integral part of Subaru's planning process for new models, with Christie admitting changes to the all-new Forester stem largely from feedback offered by consumers.
"We use a huge amount of customer feedback," he said by way of explanation. "So we continuously capture customer feedback and provide that back to Japan and they obviously take a lot of that into account in the designs.
"Have a look at the new Forester. Things like the air conditioning system, the rear vents, the spacing inside the car, the quality of the interior, the entertainment, the connectivity."
"So I think we have a lot of discussions with them and provide a huge amount of customer feedback," he went on, "and Subaru in Japan are terrific at actually taking on customer feedback."
If you thought your complaints or comments about a vehicle fell on deaf ears, think again.
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