Many car and motorcycle OEMs enjoy technical partnerships with a particular lubrication brand. One such partnership – and perhaps one that you were not aware of unless you were the owner of one of their cars – is Subaru Southern Africa and Liqui Moly. Both are companies renowned for their technical expertise and unstinting pursuit of safety and reliability, and thus are natural partners.
In an attempt to delve deeper into this alliance, and also into the fundamental philosophies behind each brand, we had the opportunity to put questions to both the new CEO of Subaru Southern Africa, Mr Toshimitsu Tanaka, and Melicia Labuschagne, CEO of Liqui Moly South Africa.
Firstly, the technical partnership. What does each brand get out of it?
Toshimitsu Tanaka, CEO of Subaru Southern Africa;
“We anticipate a synergistic effect that will widely promote the quality of both brands to the market. The use of Liqui Moly products has a material effect on the longevity of a Subaru because of the high quality, enabling our vehicles to keep running for longer.”
Melicia Labuschagne;
“Our partnership with Subaru Southern Africa is built on shared values — a passion for quality, performance, and people. Both brands believe in engineering excellence, reliability, and creating experiences that customers truly trust. Subaru drivers are passionate and loyal, just like Liqui Moly fans, which makes the connection feel natural and authentic. Over the years, this partnership has grown into more than just a collaboration — it’s a relationship built on mutual respect and a shared vision of delivering consistent quality and building strong communities around our brands. It’s about two teams who care deeply about what they do and the people they serve.
“We don’t formulate new products based on feedback from Subaru, but we have a complete fleet of Subarus for our sales team and staff and with our testing (fuel and oil), we also have the opportunity to test our products on fuel consumption and injection performance and share our findings with Subaru. Constant testing, improvements, all related to new models and our fleet, are shared and optimised to ensure we can make improvements together to benefit the consumer.
“We never just supply products; it is a partnership, so always a 2-way conversation. We support with failure analysis where needed, oil analysis, training, and support to all the dealerships around SA. We support with equipment and opportunities to grow inside the dealership and marketing together, where possible. With new models and engine changes with new spec oil requirements, we are involved to ensure the best possible application with results and tests to prove it. This is also why our fleet consists of Subarus; we trust the brand, but also it gives us a hands-on approach to optimise all applications and have that 2-way communication from our engineers to theirs.”
Subaru has an unsurpassed safety record in its cars, something that the company trumpets much less than rival manufacturers, but it is something about which Subaru is very proud, and it has significant goals in mind for the future.
TT: “Subaru is steadily working towards the goal of zero fatalities in Subaru vehicles by 2030. Throughout all our vehicles, we concentrate on 4 core principles:
Design:
“It is important to not only look at technology but also at design. Our vehicles are designed to offer great visibility all around the car, reducing blind spots. Another design feature that enhances the overall safety is fatigue-reducing seats, which minimise fatigue and maintain driving focus.
Driving Safety:
“Subaru thoroughly refines fundamental driving performance and control to ensure stable, predictable handling not only in rain, snow, and rough roads, but also during sudden evasive manoeuvres, with features like the Boxer engine and Symmetrical AWD system delivering predictable handling from city streets to rough terrain. The Subaru Global Platform responds to driver inputs even during sudden evasive manoeuvres. On a local front, our vehicles have also proven to be among the least stolen or hijacked.
Preventive Safety:
“Aiming to eliminate automotive accidents, we equip vehicles with diverse advanced safety technologies, including EyeSight Driver Assist Technology that supports avoiding collisions. The system uses cameras and radar to detect pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles, supporting collision avoidance in emergencies.
“Pre-Collision Throttle Management & Reverse Automatic Braking: Prevents unintended sudden acceleration forwards or backwards.
Collision Safety:
“Equipped with collision safety performance designed not only to protect occupants and pedestrians, but also to mitigate damage to cyclists and the colliding vehicle. New ring-shaped force-absorbing body structure and nine SRS airbags protect occupants from various collisions.”
Is the reputation for both advanced passive and active safety innovation justified?
TT: “Yes, and Subaru has the awards to prove it. All models have the highest rating in NCAP, JNCAP, ANCAP and high ratings with the IIHS, with many of our models achieving Safety Pick+ awards from the IIHS. Subaru continues to refine and enhance safety features on each new model to ensure that it continues to receive the highest safety ratings globally.”
Of course, Subaru really came to prominence through its World Rally Championship success, thanks to drivers such as Colin McRae and Richard Burns, driving Impreza STi models. In recent years, the manufacturer seems to have taken a back seat in the sport, while the STi seems to be a thing of the past.
TT: “With the unveiling of the two STi prototypes at the Japan Mobility Show this year, Subaru has shown that it is not turning its back on the performance market. Subaru has not distanced itself from rally either, but rather allowed certain markets to focus more on it while they continue to make a driver’s car. The American market has a rally team that continues to do well in rally.
“With greater concerns for the environment and making vehicles that are ‘greener’, Subaru has chosen to further explore what is possible when it comes to performance. One of the prototypes that was unveiled is a hybrid. Subaru will never truly step back from rally or performance vehicles, as it is part of our heritage. We use technology developed in both fields in every car manufactured.”
The market seems to be in some turmoil at present, with Chinese manufacturers becoming increasingly aggressive and, as a result, increasingly dominant. How does Subaru view this changing of the guard?
TT: “As a brand positioning itself as premium, Subaru believes it stands apart from Chinese brands in terms of price point, sales approach, and customer relationships. In the short term, precisely because of the challenging environment, Subaru sees this as a stage to gradually increase its fan base by carefully providing each vehicle to each valued customer. Long-term, Subaru aspires to be a brand whose circle expands primarily through customer word-of-mouth, rather than through large-scale sales promotions.”
Another area that is gaining traction is the EV (Electric Vehicle) market, in which Subaru is notably absent at the present time. Is this likely to change in the future?
“Subaru is not yet among the frontrunners in large-scale EV line-ups, but it is expected to significantly expand its EV offerings over the next 5-10 years. While the introduction to South Africa and the extent of EV adoption remain uncertain, Subaru aims to preserve and enhance the ‘absolute confidence on snowy and rough roads’ that many brands are beginning to lose, even in its EVs. Furthermore, regarding safety technology—Subaru’s greatest strength—the company consistently refines practical, high-precision technologies like the ‘combination of high-resolution stereo cameras and radar’ to steadily advance toward zero fatalities.”
That’s a tall order, but one has to believe that Subaru is confident it is possible; otherwise, why say it? Those reading this article might wonder how Liqui Moly products can have a measurable effect on this safety quest of Subaru’s, but, in reality, safety at its basic, passive level is inextricably linked to reliability of both individual components and the car overall, to which effective lubrication and protection is a huge contributor.
Make no mistake, Subaru will achieve its goals, and Liqui Moly will be right alongside them throughout the whole journey.
EVs might not be on Subaru’s short-term South African radar, but the brand-new 2025 Forester model very definitely is. Subaru has always had a compact and concise model line-up, and the Forester has been a mainstay of the range for many years, thanks to its beguiling combination of style, space and ability. For 2025, all those elements, alongside further improved safety, have been enhanced, creating the best Forester yet.
Even better, if you test drive a Forester at any Subaru dealer, from now until the end of January, you could stand a chance of winning a Liqui Moly/Subaru hamper.
Simply fill in the form at the bottom of this article and send it in with a photo of yourself standing next to the 2025 Forester for a chance to win.
The winner will be announced in February 2026.
