CNN.com – French police get Subarus for high-speed pursuits – Mar 30, 2006
PARIS (Reuters) – The next time a criminal in a getaway car in France looks in the rear window the chances are that the vehicle in pursuit will be a blue French police Subaru.
The Japanese car brand, part of Fuji Heavy Industries, has sped past French rivals to win a key contract for fast intervention cars for the highway police. "We have a contract to supply 63 cars to the Gendarmerie Nationale for patrols on the roads," Subaru spokesman Gilles Varmoux said on Thursday. "There was a tender for four-door, four-wheel drive cars that could go faster than 240 km per hour (149 miles per hour) and had a reasonable price," he added.
The Subaru Impreza WRX cars will replace Peugeot’s 306 S16 and the Renault Megane Coupe. The police forces are among the most faithful clients of the local car makers, but this time the French offerings were just too slow.
First: heh.
Second: This is pretty astounding, that a French Police Force wouldn’t buy French. It’ll be interesting to see if this order sticks.
The times they are a changin’ in France.