Subaru's Six-Star Badge

Press Release

A short history

Fifty-three years ago, five Japanese companies merged to form Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (FHI). Adopting a cluster of six stars as the official logo, one arm of this newly formed company was dedicated to the manufacture of motor vehicles - this company was called Subaru.

The history of the Subaru name and six-star badge is well known among enthusiast groups and employees, with its background entrenched in both Japanese and Greek tradition.

The term Subaru comes from the Japanese language meaning "unite". It is also a term identifying a cluster of six stars, which the Greeks called the Pleiades - part of the Taurus constellation. According to Greek mythology, Atlas' daughters turned into this group of stars.

The six-stars cluster featured in the Subaru badge design is known in Japan as mutsuraboshi (six stars), and FHI was the first vehicle manufacturer to use a Japanese word for a brand of automobile.

The first vehicle to wear the Subaru name was the Subaru 1500 - a car designed to comfortably seat four adults. Lessons learned in the development of the Subaru 1500 led to the debut of the Subaru 360 - a milestone that established Subaru as a builder of small, affordable, yet technologically advanced cars.

Today, Fuji Heavy Industries is a global engineering and transportation conglomerate.

The Subaru Timeline

1953 - Five corporations merge to form Fuji Heavy Industries, adopting the name Subaru taken from a cluster of stars. FHI rolls out the P-1 as the Subaru 1500 with the first Japanese manufactured monocoque body.

1958 - Launch of the Subaru 360 minicar

1971 - Subaru Leone Coupe introduced

1972 - Subaru Rex introduced

1973 - Launch of the Subaru brand in Australia

1989 - Subaru Legacy introduced into overseas markets

1997 - New Subaru Forester introduced

2003 - Subaru celebrates 50 years in Australia