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Subaru Legacy Earns Top Rating in High Speed Crash Tests

12 April 2000

Subaru Legacy Earns Top Rating in Latest Insurance Institute for Highway Safety High Speed Crash Tests

    CHERRY HILL, N.J., April 12 Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA),
a pioneer of crossover all-wheel drive vehicles designed for the active
lifestyle, announced today that the 2000 Subaru Legacy has earned the highest
rating among seven midsize four-door cars subjected to 40 mph frontal offset
crash tests.  The tests were conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety.  The Legacy received the highest possible rating - "good" overall
evaluation for crashworthiness -- as well as a "best pick" designation from
the Institute.
    The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crashworthiness ratings --
good, acceptable, marginal, or poor -- are based primarily on performance in
the 40 mph frontal offset crash test into a deformable barrier.  Designed to
measure the amount of intrusion in a driver-to-driver front-end collision, the
frontal offset test is especially demanding of the vehicle structure.  The
test enables the driver's side of the front-end of vehicle to hit a barrier,
forcing a relatively small area of the front-end structure to manage the crash
energy.  Therefore, there is a greater likelihood of intrusion into the
occupant compartment than in a full width test.
    "Good structural design is the key to good performance in the offset
test," says Institute president Brian O'Neil.  "The occupant compartment, or
safety cage, of the Legacy held together extremely well, and most injury
measures recorded on the crash test dummy were low.  Lower intrusion
measurements indicate a vehicle's safety cage and crumple zones are doing
their jobs."
    An innovative new Ring-Shaped Reinforcement body structure provides the
2000 Subaru Legacy models with outstanding protection in a wide variety of
collisions, including frontal offset, side and rear.  Additionally, Subaru has
engineered Legacy models with a high level of side impact protection,
equipping each door with two safety beams, reinforcing the shoulder area of
the front doors and incorporating one beam in rear doors plus a stronger wheel
arch.
    "Safety, performance, confidence and control are characteristics
associated with every Subaru we build including Outback, which is based on the
Legacy platform," says Subaru of America, Inc. President and Chief Operating
Officer, George T. Muller.  "The offset test is an important factor in the
development of all Subaru vehicles, and the Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety test results reinforce our commitment to providing occupants with a
great level of protection in the advent of a collision."
    The 2000 Subaru Legacy earned the highest rating among other cars tested
including the Pontiac GrandAm/Oldsmobile Alero, Nissan Altima, Mazda 626,
Saturn LS, Chevrolet Malibu and Daewoo Leganza.  Full results of the tests are
available on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Web site at
http://www.highwaysafety.org.
    The 2000 Subaru Legacy sedan lineup includes the well-equipped L, with a
base suggested retail price of $19,125; the responsive GT for $22,795 and the
luxurious GT Limited at $24,295.  The stylish and practical Legacy wagon line
includes the value-driven Brighton, the enhanced-equipment L and the GT.

    About the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
    For over 30 years the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has been a
leader in finding out what works and doesn't work to prevent motor vehicle
crashes in the first place and reduce injuries in the crashes that still
occur. The Institute's research focuses on countermeasures aimed at all
three factors in motor vehicle crashes (human, vehicular and environmental)
and on interventions that can occur before, during and after crashes to reduce
losses.  In 1992 the Vehicle Research Center (VRC) was opened. This center,
which includes a state-of-the-art crash test facility, is the focus of most of
the Institute's vehicle-related research. The Institute's affiliate
organization, the Highway Loss Data Institute, gathers, processes and
publishes data on the ways in which insurance vehicles.

    About Subaru of America, Inc.
    Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy
Industries Ltd. of Japan.  Headquartered near Philadelphia, the company
markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts, and accessories through a
network of nearly 590 franchised dealers across the United States.  All Legacy
and Outback models sold in the U.S. are produced at the company's American
manufacturing plant, Subaru-Isuzu Automotive, Inc., near Lafayette, Ind.
    Over the past six years, the company has nearly tripled its revenues and
seen its sales increase by nearly 50 percent thanks to its popular line of
car-based sport utility vehicles.  The company is among the fastest growing
brands in the automobile industry and was recently named "Most Improved Car
Company in the World" by the London-based Financial Times Automotive World
Magazine.

    CONTACT:  Richard Marshall of Subaru of America, Inc., 856-488-3327,
rmarshall@subaru.com; or Rob Moran of Ruder-Finn, Inc., 212-593-6444,
moranr@ruderfinn.com, for . Subaru of America, Inc.