Subaru is the Japanese name for the Pleiades star cluster M45, or the "Seven Sisters" (one of whom tradition says is invisible – hence only six stars in the Subaru logo), which in turn inspires the logo and alludes to the companies that merged to create Fuji Heavy Industries.

Subaru cars are known for their use of a boxer engine layout in most vehicles above 1500 cc. The Symmetrical All Wheel Drive drive-train layout was introduced in 1972. The flat/boxer engine and all-wheel-drive became standard equipment for mid-size and smaller cars in most international markets by 1996, and is now standard in most North American market Subaru vehicles. The lone exception is the BRZ, introduced in 2012 via a partnership with Toyota, which uses the boxer engine but instead uses a rear-wheel-drive structure. Subaru also offers turbocharged versions of their passenger cars, such as the Impreza WRX, Legacy and Outback XT, Ascent, and previously the Legacy GT and Forester XT.