Cars bearing the distinctive Pleiades logo (a star cluster in the Taurus constellation and readily visible from earth) have been around since 1958, many of them boasting the unique benefits which come from combining the Boxer engine layout and Symmetrical All Wheel Drive.
The first Boxer engine went into production in 1966, combined with a front-drive layout in the 1,1-litre FF-1. Symmetrical All-Wheel-Drive made its debut in the wagon version of the Leone – the forerunner of the Impreza – in September 1972, making it the first mass-produced four-wheel-drive passenger car. Today, all Subarus combine these technologies.
Subaru is a division of Fuji Heavy Industries, a giant Japanese business entity formed in 1953 with interests ranging from shipbuilding to electronics. With massive research and development capability and a deep-seated engineering heritage, it is no surprise that Subaru remains an innovator in the marketplace.
Subaru pioneered both the crossover segment with the Outback and the compact SUV segment with the Forester and in 2005 the company entered the luxury SUV market with Tribeca, but took a very different approach to what was considered the blueprint at the time. 
Much of this technology was perfected in the World Rally Championship (WRC) which put Subaru on the map as a global motorsport force. The brand won the drivers’ championship in 1995, 2001 and 2003 as well as winning literally hundreds of rally titles around the world thanks to its combination of grip ‘n’ go.