EXPANDING HORIZONS; `TO OUTBACK' NOW AUTOMAKERS' FAVORITE NEW VERB.

Byline: Justin Hyde Associated Press 

An automaker knows it's had a good idea when competitors start using its model names as verbs.

One of the latest additions to the auto industry lexicon has been the term ``to Outback,'' meaning to copy the moves the Subaru division of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. made that brought a rush of customers to its four-wheel-drive sedans and wagons.

But with a growing number of automakers ready to Outback, Subaru needed something else. That came Friday, when Fuji signed a $1.4 billion deal with General Motors Corp. for GM to buy a 20 percent stake.

The move was hailed as a good step for all involved. GM, the world's largest automaker, gains further inroads into the Asian market where it has struggled so far, while Subaru gets a cash infusion and access to GM's distribution networks around the world, notably in Europe.

``The extremely competitive nature of the auto industry required a global outlook,'' GM's president and chief operating officer, G. Richard Wagoner, said Friday in Tokyo. The alliance ``will allow us to strengthen our market presence in Japan and the entire Asian region.''

GM will become Fuji's largest shareholder, but Fuji will keep its own management.

``We had some investment needs and we found a partner who could fund them, one who valued our technology highly,'' said Fuji Heavy's president and chief executive, Takeshi Tanaka. ``We are not asking for a bailout from GM, so independence is key.''

The Outback sedans and wagons are one of the main reasons Subaru has been able to triple its U.S. sales since 1994. That's when the company decided to sell only all-wheel-drive cars, giving up on the front-drive versions that had accounted for more than half of its U.S. sales.

The company wanted to capture buyers looking for a sport utility vehicle, but it didn't have a truck platform to build a new model. So it took its Legacy station wagon, added bigger tires and a beefier suspension to give it a tougher look, raised the roof and ground clearance, called it the Outback and sold it as ``the world's first sport utility wagon.''

The Outback became a hot seller, and automakers slowly realized that many customers who bought SUVs really wanted the space and traction of a truck with the ride and handling of a car. While there are a few similar ``hybrid'' models on the road now, many more are on the way from several automakers, including GM.

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Photo: (color) Takeshi Tanaka and G. Richard Wagoner Jr. shake hands after signing an agreement for GM to purchase a 20 percent share of Fuji.

Katsumi Kasahara/Associated Press