Subaru Adds Outback Diesel Automatic For MY13

Subaru will bring its first ever diesel automatic model to Australia in March, in the form of the Outback 2.0D auto.

Pricing and specification changes for the rest of the MY13 Outback range were announced last week, however the CVT auto-equipped diesel would seem to be a last-minute addition.

Pricing has yet to be announced, but expect a premium of around $2000 to be added to the pricetags of the Outback 2.0D manual ($39,990) and the Outback 2.0D Premium manual ($42,990).

Equipment levels will mirror those of the already-announced diesel manual variants, with the base 2.0D packing sat-nav as standard and the 2.0D Premium adding leather upholstery, an electric sunroof, power adjustable seats and Subaru's EyeSight collision detection system.

“Diesel manual Outback now represents around 20 percent of the model’s sales, so we’re anticipating significant demand for the auto," said Subaru Australia Managing Director, Nick Senior.

“Our best advice is for customers to see their dealer as soon as possible, because if our experience with the manual is anything to go by, we’ll end up with a very strong order bank for this car."

He's likely to be right. The trend away from autos by Australian buyers began years ago - once upon a time a manual-only model could survive, not anymore.