Is a Subaru the best car for the mountains?

Earlier this month we were delighted to film some footage of driving in the snow for Subaru UK which was posted on their social media on 17th March to coincide with the UK’s second blast of cold weather this winter.

We spend a lot of time travelling around the Alps and therefore we need a car that can cope with changing conditions and won’t let us down. Many times we have hired a car from Geneva airport in late autumn and been caught out by a snowfall at altitude. Even when we drove our previous 4×4 with winter tyres we got stuck in Switzerland, on a steep incline.

That’s when we decided to buy a Subaru. I had been introduced to them as far back as 1983 by an English neighbour in Switzerland. A pilot and James Bond-type character, he had traded in his Jensen Interceptor for a first generation turbocharged Subaru Leone with 4WD. I was surprised that a pilot with a sports car would make this choice. My surprise lasted for the amount of time that the turbocharge took to kick-in!

From that point I noticed how popular Subaru was in the mountains. Twenty years later I was fortunate to meet the parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries (before their name change to Subaru), at their head office in Japan during my career in Japanese equities. The brand was strong because the quality was unquestionable. Efficient production and management resulted in industry-leading profit margins and share price valuation.

We are proud Subaru owners. They may not be ubiquitous in the UK and that suits us just fine (though I imagine UK dealers would love to be able to get their hands on more to sell). When we see one on the road we know that its owner has bought it for the same reason that we did.

As for Switzerland – they are everywhere. Smart people the Swiss!