Subaru’s one millionth Forester has rolled off the production line at its Gumna Yajima plant in Japan.

The milestone was reached nine years and three months after the company began production in December 1996. Since then there has been a complete model change in 2002 followed by a facelift for the 2006 model.

Worldwide Forester sales reached 119,743 units last year, a 6.2% increase on 2004.

The latest range starts at £17,595 on-the-road for the Forester 2.0 X which has a new 156bhp four-cam ‘boxer’ engine and features a high equipment count which includes a low-ratio gearbox, hill-holder clutch and self-levelling suspension.