Subaru WRX Sales Tank By 39.5% As Forester Flies Off The Shelves

[AVANTI R5]

Subaru WRX Sales Tank By 39.5% As Forester Flies Off The Shelves

Subaru's performance vehicles saw big sales decreases while the SUVs keep the overall figures stable

Subaru Forester sales are up by 51 percent compared with H1 2023.

The Forester is selling well enough to negate the WRX’s cratering.

Subaru has an interesting lineup with several unique vehicles. Some of them are selling well, others aren’t and we’re here to break it down. The Outback, Crosstrek, and surprisingly, the Forester, are largely carrying the brand. On the other hand, the brand’s performance models are struggling. That might be putting it lightly.

First, let’s focus on the positives. The Outback continues to be one of the best-selling Subarus with 81,703 sales so far this year. That’s up 0.4 percent YOY and in June the automaker moved 16,853 of them. The only car that sold nearly as well was the Crosstrek with 15,132 sales in June, and 79,500 this year so far, up 4.4 percent over the first six months of 2023.

What seems shocking given the initial reaction to it is that the Forester is selling like hotcakes. Subaru has shifted 92,849 of them this year. That’s right, it’s leading the entire brand, being up by 51.4 percent compared to the H1 2023.
Sadly for Subaru, the only other model in the lineup that saw its sales increase is the Solterra with 5,385 examples sold over 2,972 in the first six months of 2023.

Now for the downsides and oh boy are there a few. The Ascent is the best of the worst and is down 15.7 percent. The three-row SUV market isn’t exactly cold right now so something needs improvement. On top of that, the BRZ and WRX have fallen off of a proverbial cliff. The former is down 43.7 percent. Only 1,414 have sold this year, by far the worst figure in Subaru’s lineup.

The WRX is down 39.5 percent YOY. The current generation came out in 2022. It shouldn’t be quickly fading away but unfortunately, here we are.

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[chanomatik]

Our only hope is for a Forester XT with SPT. Forester tS would be great.

[dgoodhue]

The WRX sales have been like this all year long. I would just assume they are going to sell ~18k annual units from now on.


Sent from my iPhone using NASIOC

[20WRX20]

WRX is stale at this point and needs a refresh badly.

[SoDealer]

Once again, WRX and BRZ will continue to dry up until they are axed. SBR won't spend any appreciable money on them and will continue to cut production regardless of demand.

[Russ_G93]

Subaru is honestly.. weird. Its like the Legacy. They Abandon the sleek Euro styling of the 4th Gen Legacy, Adopt a Box, and act surprised when other brands continue to outsell their vehicle. At this point its safe to say the people that wanted a New WRX, already have one. And the ones that were on the fence undoubtedly went to a different car all together. Styling. For some reason, Styling does not compute with the bean counters. Adhere to the Subaru Crowd, Sure, we know what we are getting. But when it comes to people switching brands, it becomes clear that people obviously care about what they look like when they're driving around. Its the same thing with the BRZ. The GR86 sales have increased, yet the BRZ continues to fall. Obviously people like the front end better in the GR86. Maybe its the marketing. Either way, Subaru has no Halo Car. Youre not going to find a Outback or Ascent Poster on some kids wall. No Halo Car, No Exciting Image, Continuous Re-marketing of the Same Car and look from 2022, and its a mystery as to why the WRX is getting stale? Nah, its no mystery.

Maybe with the Ending of "Chevron" in the supreme court, Auto Manufacturers will be able to actually sell what they want to sell.

[chanomatik]

I don't think Subaru really struggles with selling as much as they struggle with adapting their relatively limited resources to produce whatever is in higher demand at the moment.

It's like seeing articles about the GR86 selling more than the BRZ, when that was the plan all along. The WRX was never meant to be a high volume seller and I don't think Subaru has been worried about making "enough".

[JustyWRC]

Originally Posted by Russ_G93

Subaru is honestly.. weird. Its like the Legacy. They Abandon the sleek Euro styling of the 4th Gen Legacy, Adopt a Box, and act surprised when other brands continue to outsell their vehicle. At this point its safe to say the people that wanted a New WRX, already have one. And the ones that were on the fence undoubtedly went to a different car all together. Styling. For some reason, Styling does not compute with the bean counters. Adhere to the Subaru Crowd, Sure, we know what we are getting. But when it comes to people switching brands, it becomes clear that people obviously care about what they look like when they're driving around. Its the same thing with the BRZ. The GR86 sales have increased, yet the BRZ continues to fall. Obviously people like the front end better in the GR86. Maybe its the marketing. Either way, Subaru has no Halo Car. Youre not going to find a Outback or Ascent Poster on some kids wall. No Halo Car, No Exciting Image, Continuous Re-marketing of the Same Car and look from 2022, and its a mystery as to why the WRX is getting stale? Nah, its no mystery.

Maybe with the Ending of "Chevron" in the supreme court, Auto Manufacturers will be able to actually sell what they want to sell.

Legacy sales started getting better with the "box" because they finally DID follow the competition and made it bigger. Look how long the others(Camry/Accord....) where far more roomy. And had considerable better MPG at that. The only thing the Legacy really had for it, at the time, was AWD. I don't think I've EVER heard them be "surprised" they weren't selling better than the best selling sedans in the country. Like, ever.

BRZ v. GR86.....besides the planned sales difference, is likely due to it being cheaper to begin with(not really that much) and TMF's less stringent acceptance. I've seen it a few times where someone wanted to buy a Subaru and was turned down by SMF and then went and got a more expensive Toyota.

Liking the front end better? I'd bet most wouldn't even realize THIS gen even being different.

Originally Posted by chanomatik

I don't think Subaru really struggles with selling as much as they struggle with adapting their relatively limited resources to produce whatever is in higher demand at the moment.

It's like seeing articles about the GR86 selling more than the BRZ, when that was the plan all along. The WRX was never meant to be a high volume seller and I don't think Subaru has been worried about making "enough".

SOA was also forced to sell it. They didn't want a non-AWD vehicle. Has anyone seen a SINGLE advertisement for it in the 12 years it's been here?

[4S-TURBO]

Originally Posted by chanomatik

Our only hope is for a Forester XT with SPT. Forester tS would be great.

Been contemplating a Wilderness Outback again. But I’d spring for that instead. I like the new styling.

[chanomatik]

Originally Posted by JustyWRC

BRZ v. GR86.....besides the planned sales difference, is likely due to it being cheaper to begin with(not really that much) and TMF's less stringent acceptance. I've seen it a few times where someone wanted to buy a Subaru and was turned down by SMF and then went and got a more expensive Toyota.

SOA was also forced to sell it. They didn't want a non-AWD vehicle. Has anyone seen a SINGLE advertisement for it in the 12 years it's been here?

Besides the commercials in Japan and the initial page splash "Only a few thousand will be made," they've never tried to advertise it.

Originally Posted by 4S-TURBO

Been contemplating a Wilderness Outback again. But I’d spring for that instead. I like the new styling.

Hey bro! Long time no see.

OBXT Wilderness would be the only Outback I'd consider. Otherwise, yeah, FXT tS all day!

[mcarb002]

Honestly, that tS is the only one so far that has made me somewhat consider this gen. Because of the throwback interior which to me looks really nice actually with those Recaros, the adaptive dampeners, and the big break kit. But still….I dunno. It’s not something that I’m scrambling to get and I figure most aren’t either. Sorry but Subaru deserves this. Might be by design, they might simply just don’t care anymore like SoDealer is saying they’re just trying to let it die a slow death. Which is sad.

[SoDealer]

Originally Posted by mcarb002

Honestly, that tS is the only one so far that has made me somewhat consider this gen. Because of the throwback interior which to me looks really nice actually with those Recaros, the adaptive dampeners, and the big break kit. But still***8230;.I dunno. It's not something that I'm scrambling to get and I figure most aren't either. Sorry but Subaru deserves this. Might be by design, they might simply just don't care anymore like SoDealer is saying they're just trying to let it die a slow death. Which is sad.

I think SBR viewed the WRX and STI development as money wasted before it ever even went on sale once they realized they were between a rock and a hard place with regulations and the lack of prior investment in HEV and EV. They're also content to give as many units of the twin production to Toyota as Toyota is willing to take.

Back when FHI/SBR didn't have the money they have now, they fixed the WRX face after two years, added a big performance bump after another two years, fixed its performance a year after face planting on the redesign, and fixed its aesthetics 2 years after that while at the same time adding a body style for STI and revamping its suspension. All of those things requiring significant investment.

Subaru has proven in the past that when they misstep on WRX and STI, they would fix them. The WRX has gone from being a nice part of its profit to a drag on profit due to regulations. Subaru isn't going to do anything of any significance outside of what's in the parts bin for the VB.

It's a sad ending for a celebrated model like the WRX to go out in a state of competitive mediocrity. It's also unfortunate for the BRZ which has strong demand that won't be satisfied. Worst of all is the death of the STI. For what I know of the VB STI...it would have been 2004 all over again.

Even with the death of Chevron deference, Subaru has probably gone too far and is probably too wary of something changing to fix/add/support its ICE sports cars.

[JustyWRC]

Originally Posted by SoDealer

I think SBR viewed the WRX and STI development as money wasted before it ever even went on sale once they realized they were between a rock and a hard place with regulations and the lack of prior investment in HEV and EV. They're also content to give as many units of the twin production to Toyota as Toyota is willing to take.

Back when FHI/SBR didn't have the money they have now, they fixed the WRX face after two years, added a big performance bump after another two years, fixed its performance a year after face planting on the redesign, and fixed its aesthetics 2 years after that while at the same time adding a body style for STI and revamping its suspension. All of those things requiring significant investment.

Subaru has proven in the past that when they misstep on WRX and STI, they would fix them. The WRX has gone from being a nice part of its profit to a drag on profit due to regulations. Subaru isn't going to do anything of any significance outside of what's in the parts bin for the VB.

It's a sad ending for a celebrated model like the WRX to go out in a state of competitive mediocrity. It's also unfortunate for the BRZ which has strong demand that won't be satisfied. Worst of all is the death of the STI. For what I know of the VB STI...it would have been 2004 all over again.

Even with the death of Chevron deference, Subaru has probably gone too far and is probably too wary of something changing to fix/add/support its ICE sports cars.

And look at their financials back then. It could have possibly been a significant factor in those financials doing all that and they "learned" their lesson in throwing money at something of lesser volume. Would be interesting to see if the WRX amortized yet or not.





And I would describe the STI as 2004+

[mcarb002]

The STI a 2004/04+ as in back to being a pocket rocket? Because part of me doesn’t believe that, then part of me is like well why were they testing against a Model 3 or Y or whatever it was… but then as a Y owner I’m back to saying to myself, yeah, ain’t no way in fregging hell Subaru was touching the step the Y has with that Ascent engine.

[Straight6]

And the WRX still outsold cars like the GTI and Golf R***8230;

[heavyD]

By all accounts the new WRX isn't actually a bad car to drive but for whatever reason it's like Subaru intentionally sabotaged it with the plastic cladding and horrible rear bumper design almost like they wanted it to fail. It's the kind of half hearted attempt the domestics were putting into their economy cars to support upper management's ideology that they can't compete in that market so why even bother trying. Most of the Subaru loyalists have bought one but there's nothing there to lure enthusiasts that have other options that don't look like a CUV. I don't understand why they at least don't try to make it more appealing by color matching the plastic cladding as that wouldn't be too difficult to do if they actually cared about the plight of the model. Maybe the braintrust that thought the cladding was a great idea is just too stubborn to accept failure? I really expected that by now they would have at least paint matched the plastic.

[dgoodhue]

Originally Posted by heavyD

By all accounts the new WRX isn't actually a bad car to drive but for whatever reason it's like Subaru intentionally sabotaged it with the plastic cladding and horrible rear bumper design almost like they wanted it to fail. It's the kind of half hearted attempt the domestics were putting into their economy cars to support upper management's ideology that they can't compete in that market so why even bother trying. Most of the Subaru loyalists have bought one but there's nothing there to lure enthusiasts that have other options that don't look like a CUV. I don't understand why they at least don't try to make it more appealing by color matching the plastic cladding as that wouldn't be too difficult to do if they actually cared about the plight of the model. Maybe the braintrust that thought the cladding was a great idea is just too stubborn to accept failure? I really expected that by now they would have at least paint matched the plastic.

IMO the painted WRX fender flares look terrible. If they are going to get rid of them, they need to do what they did with the Levorg and integrate the flares. I wouldn’t mind more paint on the rear bumper, but it is why I bought a darker color.




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[MisterCannonball]

If people like them, that's great. I'd prefer to see the WRX line get back to its rally roots. No problem with Subaru chasing some money by doing tweeked out Foresters in the meantime.

[20WRX20]

Originally Posted by heavyD

By all accounts the new WRX isn't actually a bad car to drive but for whatever reason it's like Subaru intentionally sabotaged it with the plastic cladding and horrible rear bumper design almost like they wanted it to fail. It's the kind of half hearted attempt the domestics were putting into their economy cars to support upper management's ideology that they can't compete in that market so why even bother trying. Most of the Subaru loyalists have bought one but there's nothing there to lure enthusiasts that have other options that don't look like a CUV. I don't understand why they at least don't try to make it more appealing by color matching the plastic cladding as that wouldn't be too difficult to do if they actually cared about the plight of the model. Maybe the braintrust that thought the cladding was a great idea is just too stubborn to accept failure? I really expected that by now they would have at least paint matched the plastic.

It shouldn’t have any cladding at all. Somehow paint matched looks worse. Just model it after the BRZ and be done with it. I don’t get why this is such a difficult concept for Subaru.

[Apb_pools]

I actually dig the cladding just wish it was smooth matte finish. But im all function and no form type of a guy anyway; its a tool. And i agree, painted cladding looks bad/tacky.

Shoulda flared the cladding outwards like the mk2 gti had, to give it a wider appearance. But no one asked me before they built it.

[Brahmzy]

Kill the cladding!

[Apharmd]

Originally Posted by Russ_G93

Subaru is honestly.. weird. Its like the Legacy. They Abandon the sleek Euro styling of the 4th Gen Legacy, Adopt a Box, and act surprised when other brands continue to outsell their vehicle. At this point its safe to say the people that wanted a New WRX, already have one. And the ones that were on the fence undoubtedly went to a different car all together. Styling. For some reason, Styling does not compute with the bean counters. Adhere to the Subaru Crowd, Sure, we know what we are getting. But when it comes to people switching brands, it becomes clear that people obviously care about what they look like when they're driving around. Its the same thing with the BRZ. The GR86 sales have increased, yet the BRZ continues to fall. Obviously people like the front end better in the GR86. Maybe its the marketing. Either way, Subaru has no Halo Car. Youre not going to find a Outback or Ascent Poster on some kids wall. No Halo Car, No Exciting Image, Continuous Re-marketing of the Same Car and look from 2022, and its a mystery as to why the WRX is getting stale? Nah, its no mystery.

Maybe with the Ending of "Chevron" in the supreme court, Auto Manufacturers will be able to actually sell what they want to sell.

The brand has become really boring. 2024/2025 should have been a refresh/redesign of this WRX and/or the re-addition of the STI to the lineup. Instead we get another top-end WRX trim that doesn't really fix the issues with the car and is priced between the GR Corolla and Civic Type R/Golf R, which are much better cars. We're getting STI prices without the STI drivetrain or more power.



Sales of the WRX are going to continue to drop off until Subaru injects some kind of excitement into the lineup.

[fredzy]

Interesting level of confidence about STI coming back from someone who should know better than to spread rubbish rumors?

https://www.drive.com.au/news/subaru...evival-coming/

During a recent episode of the Spike's Car Radio podcast, co-host and motoring journalist Jonny Lieberman - Senior Features Editor at US magazine MotorTrend - alluded to a new-generation WRX STI coming from Subaru.

"Subaru is bringing the STI back," Lieberman revealed.

"Subaru is bringing it back. They're going to use the 2.4 litre that's in the WRX and it's going to make a lot of power."

After being asked where he heard the news, Lieberman responded: "From a good source, that I trust."

My brother just leased a base WRX dirt cheap as his winter/DD. I actually can't wait to take it for a spin. Living with the VA for so long it will be interesting to see how it feels.

[20WRX20]

I drove a premium and it felt like a Forester with a stick shift (having driven a Forester that same week.)

Oddly, I prefer the VA chassis’ raw feeling over the VB’s slight improvement in refinement. They both ride rough but the VA just feels more old school and raw, and to me that’s what a WRX is all about (or used to be.)

On long road trips they both will beat you up after a few hours, mainly due to the wheels and tires. When I put 17’s with snows on my car it actually rides nice. Premium or base is the way to go, then mod as you please.

I guess it’s plausible that the STi could return, although I have a sick feeling that it’ll just be a trim level/appearance package rather than a full blown STi. Or even worse - an electric/hybrid CUV.

At this point, the current car is stale and should be refreshed in a year or two (based on how often prior gens were refreshed.) I’d wait for that instead of buying the current model.

[samagon]

Originally Posted by 20WRX20

On long road trips they both will beat you up after a few hours, mainly due to the wheels and tires. When I put 17's with snows on my car it actually rides nice. Premium or base is the way to go, then mod as you please.

my first 'mod' on my 08 sti was to swap the 5 spoke 18" wheels with some 17" 05 bbs.

it rode 10x better, the 18s weighed nearly 28lbs vs the bbs weighing just under 20lbs, they may have been .5" narrower wheel, but for 8lbs per corner, that overcame the contact patch easily.

I honestly believe so many people **** on the 08 sti for being such a horrible handling car, if they had swapped wheels for the 17" bbs they'd have considered it a good performer, if not as good as the previous version.

anyway, it baffles my mind how people are happy about wheels being so big these days, give me the smallest diameter that will fit over the caliper and I'm a happy dude.