Subaru Forecasts Stable Sales in 2009; Plans to Cut Production

NEW YORK – Although Subaru of America Inc.'s sales were ahead 2% through the year’s first quarter, the auto maker now forecasts a stable year at best.

Subaru sold slightly more than 187,000 units in 2008, but “we may not be able to keep up that 2% increase over the next six months,” says President and Chief Operating Officer Tom Doll. “That's why I'm forecasting an essentially flat year in sales.”

Doll doesn't want to push too many units into the slow marketplace, and ...