The Chevrolet Forester was one of a kind. Oh our bad, the Subaru Forester.
Well, the brand hardly matters when you have got your hands on something like this. The Forester was different. Not only was it different, it felt different. General Motors India, brought the vehicle to India in 2003.
Back then, General Motors was trying to aggressively capture the Indian car market under it’s two major brand names- Chevrolet and Opel. While Chevrolet was made to cater to the more mainstream products, Opel was made for vehicles in the more premium segments.
The Forester received the Chevrolet badge when it arrived in India, under the Completely-Built Unit route. Forester was made in Japan by Fuji Heavy Industries or Subaru.
However, the Forester didn’t get the response GM supposed it will get here. What went wrong? What the Forster was all about? Let’s dive in and find out.
The Engine | Chevrolet Forester
The Forester came equipped with a 2.5-litre, 4 cylinder engine, generating 164 bhp. All the cars were equipped with a 5-speed manual transmission. This engine generated torque of 177 Nm and a top speed of 177 kmph. The car did well on-road and off-road equally, thanks to its AWD powertrain.
All the variants of the car came equipped with EBD, ABS and traction control. The Forester was pretty good to handle and drive around and took the turns by the horn.
Interiors | Chevrolet Forester
The interiors of the Chevrolet Forester were good enough to do the job. The main thing to note here was the fact that the car looked rather simple even after having everything at place. The front console didn’t look like a cockpit from a spaceship with all the unnecessary buttons. It looked clean.
Quality compromise is not very Subaru-ese and that was visible in the cabin. All the elements were in place and well built. At the back, the seats were positioned to give maximum leg space and headroom to the passengers. Moreover, the 505 Litres boot ensured that the visits to the grocery store didn’t become dreadful.
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Exterior | Chevrolet Forester
The Forester did have an intriguing design, we must say. The design grows on you slowly. In the first look, you see it as any other SUV. It’s when you look closely, it turned out to be a station wagon. A station wagon with higher ride height and some roof rails.
Whatever it may be, the car had an impact. The car catered to all the segments. It was an off-roader in the disguise of a family station wagon. This was the element which made it everyone’s favourite.
Without, getting into the specifications much, the car was designed to make it seem versatile and practical.
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The India Story
The Chevrolet Forester deserved more than it got. Chevrolet launched the car in March 2003, to cater to a more mainstream market. It priced the car at 15.59 lakhs in the Indian markets. Was it too much? Maybe. But was it worth it? Totally.
So, it could’ve done better in India? Let’s look into that.
Forester was the first car to launch under the Chevrolet brand name in India. GM expected the car to get a similar unprecedented response it got in other countries. However, they didn’t. The Indian car market wasn’t ready for such cars yet. The car culture was just getting popular, and hence there were a lot of first-time car buyers.
So, with a pricing north of the Rs 10 lakh mark, Chevrolet already lost a huge chunk of potential customers. Whereas, the other segment was the SUV lovers. This segment of buyers wasn’t willing to shell out the amount. SUVs for most of the people back then meant Scorpio or the Safari. Spending 15 lakhs on a new upcoming brand didn’t seem out to be a great idea.
The spare parts were still as much of an issue as it is now. It was fairly difficult to find an independent mechanic who might’ve worked on a Subaru. Moreover, the spare parts had long waiting periods.
The Indian car buyers are all in for Japanese. This is what General Motors didn’t cash in on. The Chevrolet badge might have not worked very well for the Forester in the country. Hiding the Japanese identity of the car didn’t quite bode well for GM.
Conclusion
The first impression is the last.
This turned out to be quite true for Chevrolet. The company didn’t have a good run in the country since it’s the first launch. Maybe, a single car was more than enough for the Indian consumers to decide if they want to own a Chevrolet or not.
Whatever the reason might be, the Chevrolet Forester deserved better. Some cars come and go without making an impact, but it doesn’t seem much. Its when an amazing car like this dies without a due credit that it aches the heart.
You’ve written that it came with a 2.5l engine. As far as I know, there was only one model launched in India, and it was the 2.0X Forester. It came with a 2 litre boxer engine producing somewhere around 120ps. I think we got the naturally aspirated version in India but I’ve seen a few websites that say it’s turbocharged.