Subaru has learned some harsh lessons in recent years.
It has learned to listen to its customers. It has been forced to react to markets that change quickly. It has been taught a humbling lesson in global economics and has seen that clever engineering alone no longer sells cars.
All of these learning points have been incorporated into the latest Outback. Although few will realise quite how new this car is, it won’t take long behind the wheel for the penny to drop.
With improved cabin quality, top-drawer safety systems, a practical body, the same rugged mechanicals and a diesel engine and CVT gearbox combination that’s just right for the British market, this one deserves to do well.
Mechanically, the big news with this version of the Outback is that Subaru has decided that it’s time to stop shooting itself in the foot with petrol-only engine ranges and diesel manual models that few folk sought.
Instead, the brand plans now to deliver what customers want, namely the excellent boxer diesel engine paired with an automatic gearbox. Well, when I say “automatic”, it’s strictly speaking a seven-step Lineartronic constantly variable transmission, but you get the idea. There’s no clutch pedal.
The engine’s good for 148bhp and, if that’s not enough, you can still buy a 2.5-litre petrol with 163bhp. We’ll stick with the diesel if it’s all the same.