SUBARU CONSIDERS CNG CONVERSION IN SWEDEN

Few automakers are better positioned to offer vehicles to buyers in frigid climates than Subaru, so the Japanese brand says it plans to capitalize on the strong Nordic market by upfitting its vehicles with compressed natural gas at a plant in Sweden. The automaker says it has signed a deal with Italy’s BRC Gas Equipment to convert brand new Subaru Legacy and Subaru Outback models to environmentally-friendly CNG and it is in talks with Saab about using a vacant facility owned by the Swedish automaker. Saab would not be involved in the project beyond renting out one of its holdings to Subaru. Hit read more for details.

The project is the brainchild of Subaru’s Nordic region, which thinks it has enough demand for CNG-fueled vehicles to create its own cottage industry within the automaker’s broader operations. Vehicles would be assembled in Ota, Japan, and then shipped to Sweden for the conversion.

“The thing is, the project is a Swedish project, it’s not Subaru Japan or [parent company] Fuji Heavy Industries. It’s a Nordic area project with BRC. From Subaru Japan, we only have technical support. They are not involved in this project in any other way,” said Subaru Nordic PR chief Thomas Possling.

Once built, most of the vehicles would remain in Sweden, but Subaru says it would look at exporting CNG-equipped vehicles to Finland and Germany, where it perceives strong demand.

Subaru says that so-equipped Outbacks and Legacys would be the world’s first all-wheel-drive CNG-powered vehicles, as well as the first boxer engine-powered CNG vehicles.

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