Subaru of America reported 62,028 vehicles sold in August, marginally up from 61,220 a year earlier, according to the company’s official sales release. Year-to-date, deliveries still sit at 423,822 units, down 3 percent from 2025’s pace — meaning August’s gain is a bright spot in a year that’s mostly been flat to negative for the brand overall.
The Numbers Behind The Headline
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Four nameplates posted their best month of the year in August: Ascent, Crosstrek, Outback, and WRX. Crosstrek held the top-seller spot with 19,541 units, followed by Forester at 16,760 (up 17.8 percent year-over-year) and Outback at 15,233. But the story belongs entirely to WRX, which sold 1,778 units against 611 a year ago — good for that 191 percent jump, and part of a 37.7 percent year-to-date gain that’s brought WRX sales to 10,324 units through August.
WRX’s Growth Is Real — It’s Just Not The Volume Driver
It’s worth being precise about what the WRX sales figure actually means here. In raw units, Forester remains Subaru’s actual volume engine, holding its lead as the top-selling nameplate year-to-date at 140,487 units — more than 13 times WRX’s total. WRX’s eye-catching percentage gains are happening on a much smaller base, the direct result of Subaru bringing back a sub-$33,000 base trim and cutting prices across the lineup after a disastrous 2025 in which the automaker had axed the entry-level model entirely. So the WRX leads the growth story in percentage terms and enthusiast attention — but the Forester is still doing the heavy lifting that keeps Subaru’s overall numbers from looking much worse.
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The EV Side Is Still A Mess
Away from the gas-powered lineup, Subaru’s electric side remains its clearest weak spot. Subaru’s Solterra sales cratered 86.6 percent in August, falling to just 197 units from 1,466 a year earlier, and are down 42.6 percent year-to-date. The company’s newer EVs, Trailseeker and Uncharted, added enough volume to push total EV sales up 21.3 percent for the month — but that’s a low bar cleared mostly by expanding the lineup, not by any one model actually gaining traction. Impreza (-41.2 percent in August) and Legacy, which Subaru has effectively wound down, round out the weakest parts of the portfolio.
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