Subaru is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries , the twenty-second biggest automaker by production worldwide in 2012. The flat/boxer engine and all-wheel-drive became standard equipment for mid-size and smaller cars in most international markets by 1996, and is now standard in most North American market Subaru vehicles. Subaru is the Japanese name for the Pleiades star cluster M45, or "The Seven Sisters" , which in turn inspires the logo and alludes to the companies that merged to create FHI.