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Subaru of America, Inc. Announces Voluntary Recall of Certain 2001, 2002 and 2003 Model Year Vehicles With Automatic Transmission

CHERRY HILL, N.J., Nov. 7 -- Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) today announced a voluntary recall for a possible defect in the automatic transmission parking rod which engages the parking pawl into the parking gear. This recall involves 163,243 automatic transmission assemblies that were installed in very late production 2001 Legacy vehicles, all 2002 Legacy, Outback, Forester and Impreza vehicles and some early production 2003 Legacy, Outback, Baja, Forester and Impreza vehicles. When the transmission selector lever of affected vehicles is placed in the "Park" position, the mechanism that is intended to hold the vehicle in "Park" may not fully engage, and the vehicle could move without prior warning. Properly applying the parking brake will prevent vehicle movement even if this condition exists.

The campaign was launched as a result of out-of-specification parts found during quality assurance testing. There have been no reported injuries as a result of this condition.

Repair parts should be available in January 2003. Subaru will soon mail a letter to all registered owners of the affected vehicles, advising them to always use their parking brake as directed in the owner's manual. A second letter will be sent to owners when the repair parts are available early next year. Repairs will be made at an authorized Subaru dealer at no charge to owners.

For additional information about Subaru of America, Inc. and Subaru vehicles, visit the company's media web site at www.media.subaru.com.

About Subaru of America, Inc.

Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Subaru pioneered the concept of the passenger car/sport-utility vehicle with the introduction of the Subaru Outback, the "World's First Sport Utility Wagon."® The Subaru Legacy is the best selling All-Wheel Drive car sold in America, based on the Polk Company retail registration statistics as of 12/31/01.