Subaru rides the diesel wave

Subaru Australia has been so surprised by the demand of its diesel softroaders that it has made an urgent request to its Japanese head office for more models -- starting with a diesel Liberty.

But don't hold your breath, as it will still be at least two years away if the model gets the go ahead. It's the same timeline for a Subaru diesel with automatic transmission.

"We've been genuinely blown away by the response to diesel," the boss of Subaru Australia, Nick Senior, told the Carsales Network this week.

"We had relatively modest expectations at first but it has just gone off beyond our imagination."

Almost one third of all Forester and Outback softroaders are powered by Subaru's 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine -- despite the fact it is available only with a six-speed manual transmission.

"About half the customers who buy a diesel Subaru have never owned a Subaru before, while the other half are loyal Subaru buyers switching to diesel," he said.

"Anyone curious about the popularity of diesel in Australia should not be curious any more. Australians are embracing diesel in a big way."

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries registration figures for the first eight months of this year show that sales of diesel-powered passenger cars grew by 47 per cent (though still accounting for only 7.5 per cent of passenger car sales). Meanwhile in the same period sales of diesel four-wheel-drives and softroaders grew by 56 per cent. Diesels account for about half of all SUV sales.

Senior said: "There is no doubt the addition of automatic transmission with a diesel would add more sales. Would it be double? Probably not, but it would add a significant number of sales."

Subaru currently sells about 400 diesel cars a month, he said, but that was restricted by supply.

"When you start looking at numbers like that, things like a diesel Liberty start to make sense. We are looking at a diesel Liberty, we are very interested in a diesel Liberty, but it is yet to be formally considered. We are in the process of putting a business case forward.

"There is a lot of [media] attention on hybrids, but I've got to tell you, customers are telling us: diesel, diesel, diesel."

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