As if we needed more evidence that enthusiasts make up a small minority, Subaru’s fun cars haven’t been performing well in sales this year. The company may brag about achieving 26 consecutive months of yearly month-over-month growth, but as you can imagine, it’s the crossovers and SUVs doing all the heavy lifting. The BRZ and WRX are both way down through the third quarter of 2024.
With 2,323 units delivered through September, the BRZ has plummeted by 30.9% compared to the first nine months of 2023. The fact demand was up by 7.8% to 291 units last month didn’t exactly move the needle. Its sister model, the Toyota GR86, is doing much better so far this year. Shipments have jumped by 10.4% to 9,643 through the third quarter. That means the GR86 is outselling the BRZ by a ratio of 4 to 1.
The WRX is having a terrible year as well. Subaru’s sports sedan has fallen by 34.2% to 13,545 cars. Last month, sales were down by 18.5% to only 1,329 units. What’s going on? Back in June, a company spokesperson put the blame on “higher interest rates and a late model year changeover.”
What can Subaru do to rejuvenate sales? Maybe get rid of the plastic body cladding to lose the crossover vibe. While they’re at it, bring the WRX Sportwagon with a stick to the United States. That’s just wishful thinking on our part but it looks as though the sharper WRX TR hasn’t turned things around. That version is now gone, replaced by the new WRX tS, which goes on sale early next year.
The BRZ and WRX are not the only Subie models down this year. Demand for the Ascent has dropped by 9.1% through September while the Impreza fell by 15.1%. The soon-to-be-dead Legacy sedan suffered a 25.4% decline. Even so, Subaru is still up by 5.6% in the first nine months of the year, at 493,612 vehicles. That’s thanks to the Forester (+22.3%), Crosstrek (+15%), and Outback (+2.8%). The all-electric Solterra jumped by 58.6%.