Subaru of New England Donates $100,000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Peggy Rose/617.477.9802

Wednesday, September 21, 2011 peggy@peggyrose-pr.com

ERNIE BOCH JR, PRESIDENT & CEO OF SUBARU OF NEW ENGLAND, DONATES $100,000.00 DOLLARS TO THE VERMONT DISASTER RELIEF FUND ON BEHALF OF

SUBARU OF NEW ENGLAND

GOVERNOR SHUMLIN THANKS ‘CORPORATE ANGELS’ FOR THEIR

IRENE RECOVERY DONATIONS

(NORWOOD, MA) “Subaru of New England has proudly been doing business in Vermont for over forty years. It breaks my heart that this is happening to the State I love, that due to the devastation of Tropical Storm Irene so many homeowners, businesses, and the infrastructure of Vermont’s beautiful roads have been destroyed. Today I have joined forces with Governor Shumlin and become one of his ‘Corporate Angels’ in the Irene recovery efforts. On behalf of the entire Subaru of New England family, I am donating a check for $100,000.00 dollars to the Vermont Disaster Relief Fund, stated Ernie Boch Jr,” President & CEO of Subaru of New England.

Donations received from ‘Corporate Angels’ around the country provide housing, food assistance and case management, along with a full-range of resources for people who were impacted by Tropical Storm Irene. “These donors have stepped forward to provide well over one million dollars towards Vermont’s recovery,” said Governor Shumlin. “This assistance will provide both short and long term recovery opportunities to Vermonters who need help getting back on their feet.”

People who are still interested in donating to assist in Tropical Storm Irene recovery efforts can call 1-800-VERMONT to donate to either the Vermont Disaster Relief Fund or the Vermont – New Hampshire Red Cross Chapter.

July at Burlington Subaru

Hope everyone had 4th of July filled with family, friends, fun, barbeques and fireworks! Burlington Subaru has a lot of great events and promotions coming up for the month of July, we're excited about them and hope you will be too!

We started the month off earlier today by announcing the winner of our ‘Your Pet & Your Subaru’ photo contest. Our fans submitted great photos, there was above average turnout at the voting polls and $75 dollars was raised for the Humane Society of Chittenden County! Congrats to the winner, Lilac the Chicken, and all who participated, keep your camera handy we’ll be doing this again in the fall.

Speaking of animals – we’re working with the Humane Society to host an event at our dealership; we’ll keep you posted once we have more of the details worked out.

Where would you go with $100 of free gas? Wherever it is, get there for free by ‘liking’ Burlington Subaru on Facebook. One lucky fan this month will win a $100 gas card just for ‘liking’ us. We’ll also be doing a contest towards the middle of July to win some sweet Subaru gear. With the New England Forest Rally going on the 15th and 16th we thought this would be the time to hook some fans up with gear.

Pet Photo Contest - Now taking votes!

June’s ‘Subaru & Your Pet’ photo contest is quickly coming to an end. $75 was raised for the Humane Society of Chittenden County and one lucky pet owner is waiting to see if their photo was good enough to win them $50 to the Pet Food Warehouse.

‘Fans’ of Burlington Subaru were asked to post pictures of their pets with their Subaru, each photo posted would earn $5 to HSCC and would give owners the chance to win $50 to the Pet Food Warehouse.

There were so many good photos that we couldn’t pick a single winner! The result, we’re putting it up to a vote on our Facebook page. So if you haven’t already done so cast your vote for the best ‘Subaru & Your Pet’ photo!

We’ve got some great promotions coming up for the month of July, stay tuned and we’ll give you all of the details when we return from the long weekend……… looking for some ideas for the 4th of July BBQ? Check out this great ‘foodies’ website and this weekends meal planner…..I know we’ve got some good ideas that our family and friends are sure to enjoy!

Weekend Links

All things SUBARU - links to interesting, news, articles and videos from the past week.

The Subaru 2011 STI Coupe will arrive sooner than expected......

Sno*Drift Kicks Off 2011 Rally America National Championship

David Higgins' First SRT USA Test Session

Dog tested. Dog approved. Subaru of America asks you to do something good for you and your dog this Super Bowl Sunday.

The Outback, travels though the 'Outback'. An interesting look at the Australian Outback and the Subaru Outback.

Burlington Subaru launches it's own e-parts store. Shop for parts from the convenience of your home

Which model Subaru was the most reviewed car of the week?

Subaru vs. Vermont Winter

by Cara Gorman

Have you ever played count the Subaru? After working in the auto industry for a few years you start to notice every make and model of vehicle on the road. This one’s a Hyundai, that one a Toyota, the one over there a VW. When I look around Subarus are everywhere! Try it sometime (be safe not while you’re driving though please).

Start noticing at the different makes of vehicles as you’re walking through the Shaw’s parking lot in South Burlington, strolling through the Williston shopping complexes or finding your car in the downtown Burlington parking garage. How many Subarus did you see? A lot right? Well that’s because Subaru is simply the best vehicle for the Vermont drivers.

Burlington Subaru has filmed several short videos to illustrate that Subaru makes the best vehicle to handle the snowy winter conditions that inhabit Vermont roads for what seems like nine month of the year.

Last year in 2010 Chris Cassidy drove a Subaru Forester in a video that has been viewed almost 34,000 times as of 1/14/11. I caught up with Chris Cassidy and asked him a few questions about that first video and some of his more recent ones.

CG: Almost 34,000 people have watched your first video, are you surprised?

CC: I am very surprised. I sent the link to my friends and family after we shot that last year, figuring maybe a couple hundred people would check it out. Then it hit 1,000, 2,000 and just took off after that. It is a testament to the broad scope of youtube, the power of the internet age, and a catchy title by our internet manager. I guess a lot of people googled "Subaru", "Forester", and "Winter". It has caused me to revise my goals for the video. I want 100,000 hits by the end of 2011.

CG: In that video some viewers expressed concern that driving through so much snow did damage to the vehicle, is it cause for concern?

CC: After reading those comments, it got me thinking about possible damage to our cars. We do let them warm up before driving them out of the snow. The snow has nothing hard like a rock in it that could damage the body of the car. I guess it could cause microscopic wear on the tires while they are spinning, but nothing damaging by any means. Every car dealership has to move all their cars after a snowstorm. I bet some of our competitors without all-wheel drive are doing a lot more spinning than we are at Subaru. I'm glad I've given people something to talk about in their chats.

CG: After Ken and Travis left Vermont Sportscar did you consider trying out for a spot on the team?

CC: Ken Block and Travis Pastrana are unbelievable drivers and brought a lot of much-deserved recognition to Rally Car Racing and the Subaru brand. Last year we had one of Travis' modified rally cars in our showroom for a few months, courtesy of Vermont Sportscar. It was amazing to me the attention it drew. People would be taking pictures with their phones, calling their friends to get down here to see it, sitting in it with a big smile on their face. It was cool to see and those guys made a big impact. They don't have to worry about me entering any races anytime soon. I'm just humbled that when you type in "Subaru Vermont" on Youtube, the three first names that pop up are Travis Pastrana, Ken Block, and.... Chris Cassidy?

CG: One of your newest videos shows how the Toyota Camry and Subaru Impreza perform in the same snowy conditions, can you tell us why the Subaru did so much better and is that typical of Subaru performance?"

CC: It's really quite simple. Subaru's symmetrical all-wheel drive system is the best in the business. They have built all their vehicles to be all-wheel drive from the ground up since 1997. There is no part-time AWD. There are no right angles in the axles. It is a smooth, even flow of power. It is balanced between all 4 wheels, not just 2. It works the same at all speeds, which many of the competitors who offer AWD cannot say. And it isn't just about the snow. It performs better in the rain, on hills, winding roads, washboards, mud, sand, you name it. All four wheels touching the surface that you're driving on, doing the work in symmetry is just better than two….and safer.

Nicely said Chris and that what makes Subaru a Subaru, and why Subaru is the unofficial state car of Vermont!

To view all of Burlington Subaru’s video clips checkout our YouTube channel or head down to 351 Shelburne Road to get behind the wheel and take a test drive today!

On a personal note: I have been a SUV driver since 2003. This is now my second winter driving a 2009 Subaru Impreza (with snow tires) and I feel safer and feel like I move through the snow better than any of the previous non-subaru SUVs I've owned and the improved gas mileage is a huge plus!