I'm going to buck the trend slightly, but in the same direction;
I, along with a high percentage of my mountain town, drive a Volvo V70, I don't have the model but the XC70 or V70XC variants are very popular. To be honest, depending on the year and model you'll find a great car, with comparable features to the subaru, typically I've seen higher quality parts, but that's weighted about equally to the higher price of them. The weakness I've seen specifically is the electrical system isn't so bulletproof. Then again, my car is now 13 years old. For the safety features it offers I'm extensively happy. As an echoed sentiment from above posters, winter doesn't exist, it really is that great in snow, ice, even black ice.
I think a few things I looked at in my selection were a car, not SUV/Van. I recognized a low Centre of Gravity was a good thing for winter conditions (roll over rate), safety rating and, the bonus of looking at older models of any vehicle, safety and mechanical weakpoints. I know all the major parts that will fail on my model year. Volvo's unique 5 cylinder inline engine is bulletproof, but there are problems, as with every car.
The further back you go for car history, the better information you have for such and typically more favourable insurance rates. Things like those rates, comparable over different models in the same year (V60 vs V70 vs outback, etc.) as well as premium or regular gas, part cost and availability, etc. all can add to the mix. I have a great mechanic that I can leave my car with, who certainly knows how to treat it, which makes all the difference.
Certainly around town there's a high amount of Volvo V60, 70s, Subaru wagons, hatchbacks, Jeeps, Toyota SUVs and pickup trucks of all variants.
Finally, although weight can be bad for millage, it certainly helps in the snow. I used to have a Jetta TDI. The thing was incredible. But the weight of the heavy framed Mk4 Jetta was bearing down on the front driving wheel. I've certainly seen Toyota Echo's perform better than some all wheels; they had 14" tires that concentrated the weight on the driving wheel, providing traction. A rear wheel drive, a wide tire car with a bigger distribution of weight or just generally light weight car may not fare so well. I blame that as a certain favour of my and many other good performing cars.
Finally, consider looking at a vehicle with a turbo. If you live in the mountains, the elevation changes you encounter could be worth the benefits of a turbo. Certainly at sea level it's a non issue, but I change over 1000ft elevation just on my drive home. You can't tune that, you can't prepare an normally aspirated engine for that, but my turbo is flawless, even at 6000 feet, where I regularly spend days off. Certainly makes a big difference to actual gas millage, everyone else is rated at sea level; when their non existent turbo can't add more air to the combustion of the engine, it does the only thing it can, run more rich with more gas. They're certainly more popular these days, on most of the models mentioned.
