[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by AnalogMan

I hope Subaru's new overlords at Toyota don't homogenize all the character out of Subaru's cars.

No car is perfect, and every make has its fans and detractors. But I think Subaru makes some of the more interesting, character-filled cars on the market today. In many ways, they've successfully incorporated some of the traits of Saabs into their cars, and appeal to similar buyers. I find Subaru's more interesting and fun to drive (WRX, BRZ, Crosstrek – how many CUV’s can be had with a stick?) than the bland appliances made by Toyota.

When sclerotic a big company (= Toyota in this case) buys a spunky small one (= Subaru), it's often with the goal of hoping to infuse the moribund giant with some of the feistiness of the small one. Unfortunately, what usually happens is the opposite, and the bureaucracy of the giant smothers all the soul out of the upstart (like GM did to Saab). I hope that doesn't happen here.

If Toyota has their way (and they might, being the big money), I wouldn't be surprised if the next generation BRZ/86 came only with an automatic transmission.

Toyota isn’t buying or taking over Subaru. They are working with them. That is a massive difference. Did you miss the part where Subaru was getting Toyota shares as well as Toyota getting theirs? We have been seeing an increase in this type of sharing for decades now and the consumer is the winner.