Red Subaru, Cars

Red Subaru, Blue Subaru

No one who writes about cars can resist stereotyping the owners of various brands. C’mon, give it a try: Lamborghini = South Beach nouveau riche; Corvette is the baby boomer flaunting both chest hair and a full-on midlife crisis.

But it was interesting to hear Sarah Palin insinuate that if you drive a Subaru, you must be an Obama-loving Democrat. Last week, in tiny Searchlight, Nev., Palin said the following during a Tea Party rally: "That bumper sticker that maybe you'll see on the next Subaru driving by -- an Obama bumper sticker -- you should stop the driver and say, 'So how is that hopey-changey thing working out for ya?'”

Sure, the "hopey-changey" line is a stock Palin talking point, but the brand-specific message spread quickly to Subaru forums, where owners expressed dismay or anger at being pigeonholed thusly by the former Alaska governor. The truth, of course, is that there’s no such thing as a Democratic car or a Republican car -- as much as most of us like to tweak Saabs as being first in the hearts of liberal college professors. And Palin’s instantaneous backpedal, in which she assured the audience that she has nothing against Subarus, made it clear that Palin realized the minefield she had stepped into: No savvy politician goes out of her way to alienate members of any group, just for the sake of an easy punch line. Can you imagine any high-profile partisan calling out Pepsi drinkers and suggesting that they must belong to the other team?

But as with certain stereotypes, there is a kernel of truth here: As John Voelcker noted in a 2005 survey by Scarborough Research found that Subaru owners had the second-highest percentage of owners identifying themselves as Democrats, trailing only Volvo, whose owners clocked in at 44 percent Democratic and 32 percent Republican, with the rest either calling themselves independents or declining to answer.

Checking up on that survey, I found that Porsches and Hummers were the favored chariots of the GOP. (Big surprise, right?) Twice as many Porsche owners -- 59 percent to 27 percent -- identified themselves as Republican, with Hummer also going red-state in a landslide, at 52 percent Republican versus 23 percent Democratic.

If Subarus are indeed associated with Democrats, Vermonters and, well, lesbian Vermonters, its brand values have certainly evolved. Not that long ago, the word “Subaru” conjured vivid images of boxy, charmingly utilitarian station wagons, perhaps hauling granola to the local food co-op. Subaru is still known for its rugged all-wheel-drive cars, but it has also become more style-conscious. The Subaru WRX and the brand’s association with rally racing have lent it a boy-racer demographic as well. And considering the way Subaru has shot up the sales polls, it’s clear that its appeal cuts across all party lines: Subaru was one of only three brands to see its sales rise in an otherwise miserable 2009. And through March, its 2010 sales are up a remarkable 40 percent over last year.

At the recent New York Auto Show, a Subaru spokesman quietly told me that some owners contacted the company in the wake of Palin’s remarks, however tongue-in-cheek they may have been. Some owners expressed apprehension that they might be singled out for verbal attacks, or their cars for vandalism. The company has tried to assure them that there’s nothing to worry about. Certainly, Hummer owners aren't about to start running Subarus off the road, unless perhaps that hippie in the Subaru flips off the commando-wannabe in his Hummer. (See what I mean about stereotypes?)