A day before its official launch in Namibia, Subaru Windhoek has already announced a landmark deal with Avis to supply the car rental company with 50 Foresters intended for tourists who travel long distances on gravel road. Subaru Windhoek, under the leadership of car dealer icon Willem Hugo, launches this Friday evening, 11 April at its showroom in Hosea Kutako Road in Windhoek. Hugo was for years the BMW dealer principal, then brought Hyundai to Namibia and eventually went independent under the name Select Cars.

On Saturday 12 April, Subaru is hosting an open day at Tony Rust racetrack where the Tribeca, the Impreza, the Legacy, and the legendary Forester, can be put through its paces.
General Manager of Avis in Namibia, Oliver Majewski says 30 are already in operation and a further 20 will be delivered over the next few months.
The demand has come from tourists accustomed to the driveability and safety of the Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive vehicles. In addition, our own assessment shows that we will be able to bring greater cost efficiencies to our operation through the reduction of damage on the one hand and greater durability on the other,” he says.
Majewski says the decision was also influenced by his exposure to Subaru vehicles in Botswana where he attended a Customer Day in the bush. “The vehicles' ability to handle gravel road conditions was impressive. There is a big difference between handling snow and wet conditions in Europe and elsewhere compared to our roads here. Customers are often over-confident and we need to put them in vehicles that provide the maximum safety for them as well as keeping our damage costs minimized.”
Willem Hugo says that the deal will assist in heightening the Subaru profile in the country for the marque, which has recently found a new home in Namibia. “One of the important aspects of concluding the contract was the ability to provide a backup service network as well as our level of servicing – an area in which Subaru has been a leading brand.
“We also now have the advantage that if someone really wants to test a Forester for a couple of days over and above our own offered test drives, they can rent one and go on a trip.”
Subaru Southern Africa is a wholly owned subsidiary of Barloworld Automotive and is represented by 21 Subaruships in Southern Africa. It imports, distributes and markets the Subaru brand consisting of Tribeca, Impreza, Legacy, and Forester and Outback models, products of Fuji Heavy Industries of Japan.
The vehicles are unique for their Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive and boxer engine combination technology, providing the highest level of active and passive safety, on all road surfaces in all weather.