Subaru : Subaru is the Japanese automobile company and division of Fuji Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (FHI). Subaru has been a highly profitable company for many years.

“Subaru” is the Japanese word for “unite” and for the star cluster Pleiades that is depicted in the company logo. The Pleiades (also known as the Seven Sisters) has only six stars easily visible to the naked eye. The Subaru logo’s six stars represent the five companies that came together after World War II to form one large company.

It is currently an affiliate of Toyota Motor Corporation, with them owning 8.7% of FHI. They acquired that stake from General Motors, who bought 20% of FHI in 1999 to have an extended presence in international markets.

In the 1990s the company moved away from small commercial vehicles and concentrated on the development of rally car models including the controversially styled six-cylinder SVX (1991), and the Impreza (1992). With the rise of rally racing, and the Import scene in the US, the introduction of the highly anticipated Subaru Impreza WRX in 2001 was successful in bringing high performance, AWD compact cars into the sports car mainstream.

Subaru’s best-known vehicles are high performance turbocharged versions of its Impreza, and Legacy (known as Liberty in Australia—it was renamed out of respect for the Legacy Australia.