The Subaru Forester is one the Japanese automaker’s best selling vehicles in North America, along with the popular Outback. The Forester has been climbing the sales ranks recently, which is a great sign, considering how competitive the compact crossover segment is. Once regarded as a crossover relegated to outdoorsy types and wallflowers, the Forester has evolved into a very popular and mainstream model that has found homes with all types of drivers. With its boxy and upright style, it might seem conservative compared to some other CUVs, but the benefits of that design are that passengers have a lot of headroom and excellent outward visibility.
Of course, Subaru’s full-time symmetrical all-wheel drive comes standard, making it the only one in the segment that does so. All others come standard with front-wheel drive. Subaru has also made huge strides in terms of interior quality and safety technology with the Forester.
The Subaru Forester also beat out the Honda CR-V and Mazda CX-5, two former AutoGuide.com Utility Vehicles of the Year winners, in a recent comparison. Our editors picked the Forester as the best model because it was a well-rounded, affordable, and efficient crossover with a good blend of driving dynamics and comfort, but its unique safety technology really helped push it over the edge for the win.
The Subaru Forester has been in production since 1997 and is now in its fifth generation. Back in its early days, the Forester used to look more like a wagon, but since then, it has taken on a more traditional crossover/SUV shape. The Forester has become known for its stellar reliability record: Subaru says 97% of the Foresters sold in the last 10 years are still on the road.
The Subaru Forester is manufactured in Japan.
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