Still, the possibility is worth exploring if you look at BRAT demand in the USA. The name is still worth something, with nice examples selling for roughly $20,000 and pristine low-mileage models demanding approximately $30,000. It’s a good car, and unlike its rivals at the time, it was equipped with all-wheel-drive.
Subaru also found a novel way around the infamous chicken tax. It put two (easily removable) jump seats in the load bin, which technically made it a passenger car. That reduced the tax to 2.5% instead of the 25% import duty, which is still responsible for keeping some highly sought-after machines from getting the go-ahead in the USA.
Thanks to platform sharing, building a BRAT in the USA would be relatively easy. Subaru’s plant in Lafayette, Indiana, builds the Legacy, Outback, and Ascent. These models are built on the Subaru Global Platform, which would form the basis of any upcoming ICE products.