Subaru Outback elected Motor Trend's 2010 Sport Utility Vehicle of the Year

Motor Trend magazine elected the Subaru Outback as the ‘Motor Trend’ Sport-utility vehicle of the Year for 2010. This nomination makes for Subaru’s second victory in a row, after the Forester model won the same category’s 2009 title. Subaru subsequently became the first car manufacturer to win this award for the second time in a row.

Regarding the two consecutive Subaru wins, the vice president and chief operating officer of Subaru America, Thomas J. Doll, declared his proud and honour in accepting the award by stating that “the Subaru Outback is an icon of performance and capability and was the original SUV alternative”.

This year’s judging criteria for the election consisted of the following six categories: design improvement, engineering quality, intended function (weather it is matched), efficiency, safety and value in terms of competitiveness and equipment. Angus MacKenzie, editor-in-chief at Motor Trend magazine, had some words to say about the Outback model: “The 2010 Subaru Outback offers a unique combination of comfort, efficiency, versatility and value”. MacKenzie went on to add that this Subaru model balances elegance with drivability and economic efficiency, thus being a “thoughtfully engineered, cleverly detailed and competitively priced" car.

Produced at Subaru’s North-American factory of Lafayette, Indiana, the Outback model was also recently awarded by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) with the Top Safety Pick title. This comes as no surprise for the car is fully equipped with all the latest features in terms of safety technology. With a longer wheelbase than the previous 2009 model, the new Subaru Outback can be acquired with either a 2.5-liter, 4-cylinder boxer engine with 170 hp or a 3.6-liter, 6-cylinder version that generates up to 256 hp.