Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of SUVs, but Subaru is making me second guess that opinion. Subaru showed off the new Ascent at the New York Auto Show in April and it is a beauty! Subaru hasn’t had a strong competitor in the 3rd row market, disbanding the Tribeca in 2014. Subaru is giving us the Ascent so that its customers will have a bigger car to grow in to. With that being said, Subaru has the highest retention rate of all manufacturers in the U.S.[1] In 2009, Subaru sold 216,652 vehicles and in 2016 Subaru sold 615,132[2]. That is incredible! The Ascent is dearly needed to keep the tradition of retention alive. With a reputation of being one of the safest vehicles on the road, and actually being fun to drive, the addition of the Ascent will surely bridge that gap.
The Ascent will be produced on the Subaru global platform that was introduced with the 2017 Impreza. This basically means that every car Subaru produces will use the same chassis as the rest of the Subaru vehicles available. The larger 7-seater SUV will most likely come with a turbo 4-cylinder engine, as the 4-cylinder produces more torque than the 6-cylinder[3]. As with other Subarus, the Ascent will be built in Indiana and should hit showroom floors by next year[4].
The appearance of the car is phenomenal! The exterior styling is distinctively Subaru and the lines make it feel powerful and trustworthy. The interior boasts 3 rows of seats with second row captain’s chairs. The technology and finishes inside this concept vehicle make it feel luxurious and modern. The concept features touch adaptive window controls and appears to allow you to control how high or low you want the window with just a scroll on the interface. The gauge cluster is completely digital and the center console is mostly touch enabled with a screen that stretches from the top of the console to the bottom. There are a few shortcut buttons as well such as temperature control and audio volume and tuning. The Ascent concept also shows off a new automatic shifter unit that hasn’t been seen in any Subaru to date.
All in all, the Subaru Ascent should be a hit in the 3rd row SUV market. The Ascent also gives loyal Subaru owners the opportunity to grow into a larger vehicle as their families grow (in size and number!). Keep an eye out on Subaru news closer to the end of the year, which is when most experts believe Subaru will show off the production model of the Ascent. Let’s just hope that the technology in the concept model will be offered as an upgrade package on the production model.
*fingers crossed*
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Check out the Consumer Reports video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLw1vwlBg4M
Check out the Car and Driver blog here: http://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-2018-subaru-ascent-is-a-car-worth-waiting-for-feature
Check out the Detroit News article here (with pictures): http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/foreign/2017/04/12/subaru-rolls-ascent-full-size-suv/100369942/
[1] http://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-2018-subaru-ascent-is-a-car-worth-waiting-for-feature
[2] http://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-2018-subaru-ascent-is-a-car-worth-waiting-for-feature
[3] http://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-2018-subaru-ascent-is-a-car-worth-waiting-for-feature
[4] http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/foreign/2017/04/12/subaru-rolls-ascent-full-size-suv/100369942/
