Subaru Sales Rise Again — but Five Legacys and 197 Solterras Tell the Real Story
Subaru moved 62,028 vehicles in August, up 1.3 percent — but nearly all of it came from gas crossovers, while the Solterra fell 87 percent and the Legacy sold five cars.
Subaru of America sold 62,028 vehicles in August, a 1.3 percent gain over the same month last year and the best month of 2026 for the Ascent, Crosstrek, Outback, and WRX. Look further down the sales chart, though, and the story splits in two: gas crossovers are carrying the brand, while its sedans and electric models fade.
The Crosstrek led the lineup with 19,541 sales, its strongest month this year even as the total slipped 4.4 percent against August 2025. The Forester followed at 16,760, up 17.8 percent, and remains Subaru's best-selling nameplate for the year with 140,487 deliveries, a 15.1 percent gain. The Outback added 15,233. Together, those three crossovers accounted for roughly 83 percent of everything Subaru sold last month.
The WRX is the outlier in the table. The sports sedan nearly tripled its August 2025 result with 1,778 units, up 191 percent, and its year-to-date total of 10,324 is running 37.7 percent ahead of last year — a run Subaru attributes to the car's position as one of the few affordable manual options left on the market.
Five Legacys and 197 Solterras
At the other end of the chart, the Legacy is down to single digits: five cars in August, 99.8 percent below last year. That is no surprise — the final Legacy rolled off the line at Subaru of Indiana Automotive on September 12, 2025, ending a 36-year US production run, so the handful still registering are leftover stock.
The EV column is harder to explain away. Solterra sales fell 86.6 percent to 197 units, and the two EVs Subaru launched early this year have not filled the gap: the $39,995 Trailseeker found 1,248 buyers in August, the $34,995 Uncharted just 320. Combined, Subaru's three electric models made up less than 3 percent of its monthly volume.
The slump is not unique to Subaru. Since the $7,500 federal tax credit expired on September 30, 2025, US battery-electric sales have fallen year over year every quarter, and EVs dropped to 6 percent of new-vehicle sales in the first half of 2026, down from 7 percent a year earlier. Hybrids, meanwhile, hit a record 16 percent share — a shift that suits Subaru's gas-heavy lineup far better.
Even with the August gain, Subaru is still down 3 percent for the year. The company is leaning on domestic production to close the gap: its Indiana plant took over gas Forester assembly last fall, with the Forester Hybrid following this year — shortening supply lines for the model that now carries the brand.
