Subaru’s Risky Outback Redesign Is Finally Starting To Pay Off

A Pioneer

It wasn't the first station wagon to wear a set of stilts, but the Subaru Outback made that idea work in terms of wider market acceptance and, more importantly, sales. Introduced in 1994, the formula was simple: take a Legacy wagon, jack up the ride height, add some cladding to make it look more like an SUV, and hey presto, the Outback.

The recipe stayed the same right up until the 2026 model year, when it fully embraced the crossover look. That's mainly because the Legacy, which it was previously based on, was to be axed at the time, forcing Subaru to take the bold and admittedly risky step into crossover-hood.

Subaru

A Slow Start

When sales of the redesigned Outback began, they were initially slow, with the first couple of months particularly brutal. March 2026 was painful for the model, reporting a 42.9% drop compared to March 2025's tally. At the time, the plummeting sales were attributed to the redesign, with some commenters even calling it the wrong move by Subaru.

However, Subaru noted the drop because of a production shift from Indiana to its home base in Gunma, Japan. Quoting the representative Autoblog spoke to back in May, "We shifted Outback assembly from our plant in Indiana to Japan last year. Retooling and bringing a line up to speed generally takes time for any manufacturer. Additionally, the 2026 Outback Wilderness didn't reach retailers until late January, which historically accounts for roughly 15%-20% of overall Outback sales."

Subaru

Bouncing Back

Subaru started turning the tide by April, with sales still down 8.3% month-to-date but not as alarming as the massive 42.9% drop from the month prior. In May, it marked the first time the redesigned Outback saw marginal growth, up by 0.4% month-to-date with a total of 11,258. It's not much, but progress is progress.

So, how did the two-row crossover fare in June? By the looks of it, it's proving to be a hit, with sales surging last month. We're not talking single-digit percentages here, as sales rose to a whopping 32.7%. Had shifted 14,074 Outbacks in June 2026, a leap over June 2025's tally of 10,608 units. It also surpassed May's figure by a fairly significant margin. With seemingly strong demand and well-stocked inventories, this might just be the turning point for the redesigned model.

Still Some Work to Do

Things are looking up for the new-gen Outback, and that's good news for Subaru. After all, it's one of the brand's moneymakers, and the success of this model is extremely crucial. While we're not expecting sales to grow by that much by the end of July, June's rally is a positive sign. If anything, it further reinforces the brand's prior statement that the initial slow pickup was due to the new look.

However, the early sales stumble also means the company still has a fair bit of catching up to do. Year-to-date sales are still lower this year, at 62,958 units versus 73,257 in 2025, representing a 14.1% deficit. The following months need to be consistently strong to at least match last year's total, but at least the gap is getting smaller.

Overall, Subaru had a strong showing in June. All of the key models saw growth last month, with the Forester up by 43.6% and the Ascent up by 18.8%. The Crosstrek saw marginal growth at 0.4%. Even the BRZ saw some improvement at 2.4% up, while the WRX shot up by a massive 252% over the year's June sales. That said, Solterra and Impreza sales plummeted, but the sales increase of most cars in the lineup meant the brand managed to improve by 18.1%, shrinking the year-to-date deficit to 4.5%.