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Symmetrical all-wheel drive enables access to fire zones, mountain snow, and coastal cold fronts as Subaru’s only-in-SA standard feature hits the field.
Vox Weather, South Africa’s largest digital weather platform with more than 600,000 followers, has partnered with Subaru Southern Africa to integrate the Subaru Crosstrek into the team’s field operations.
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The vehicle will be used by the Vox Weather field team for storm chasing, outside broadcasts, and the platform’s Beyond the Forecast series. Its symmetrical all-wheel drive technology is uniquely capable of keeping pace with the real-world weather conditions the team reports on.
Subaru’s Unique Standard Feature
Subaru is the only manufacturer in South Africa offering a permanent symmetrical all-wheel drive system as standard across its full range.
For Nteo Nkoli, National Marketing Manager at Subaru Southern Africa, this made collaboration with Vox Weather a natural fit to demonstrate the engineering in real-world use.
Access to Previously Inaccessible Terrain
The Crosstrek provides the team with access to locations and conditions that were previously impractical or inaccessible.
These include gravel roads into active fire zones in the Western Cape, mountain terrain for snow chasing in the Drakensberg, and coastal routes during Cape cold fronts.
The Crosstrek’s X-Mode terrain management system handles the demands placed on it by the Vox Weather team. X-Mode is switchable between light snow and gravel, as well as mud and extreme snow settings.
The EyeSight driver assist system, which monitors blind spots and detects vehicles and pedestrians, has also changed how the team plans and executes field work.
Beyond the Forecast Series Expands
The Beyond the Forecast series by Vox Weather is also benefiting from the partnership. The series has already taken the team skydiving, hot air ballooning, and paragliding.
With the Crosstrek now part of the operation, the series can follow the team as they spend time with fire pilots navigating fire season — terrain that requires a capable vehicle for safe access.
Future episodes are being planned around mountain snow chases and other demanding environments that the Crosstrek now opens up to exploration.
Brand Integration Across Content
Subaru branding will be present throughout all these productions, as well as in Annette Botha’s daily weather segments.
Botha, a meteorologist and Vox Weather presenter, already features the vehicle organically as part of how she presents from the field.
A Practical, Real-World Demonstration
Nkoli describes the partnership as a live demonstration of the Subaru Crosstrek’s abilities. The goal is to show the symmetrical all-wheel drive system performing under the same conditions that South African drivers encounter daily.
“This collaboration allows us to demonstrate how Subaru gives drivers the confidence to keep moving. It is a practical, real-world, living example of what the brand stands for. No other manufacturer has what we have, and this partnership puts that capability exactly where it belongs,” said Nkoli.
Vox Weather provides reach into an audience already engaged with weather and the outdoors, while the team benefits significantly from the all-terrain access the vehicle provides.
“Our horizon has expanded. We can now go further, into more extreme environments, and do it safely. The Crosstrek takes us to places we previously had to think twice about. That changes what ‘Beyond the Forecast’ can actually be,” added Annette Botha, meteorologist and presenter at Vox Weather.
