Down Under on top: Subaru Australia starts 2023 strong and makes Oz the highest market share for Subaru globally

Subaru has been busy in Australia over the last couple of years, with new models and variants on tap. And the brand is reaping what it has sowed.

Sales for Subaru have been on the up since the slight disruption experienced by almost everyone in 2020, but Subaru's sales figures in 2023 so far are up by 31 per cent compared to the same period (the start of January to the end of May) last year.

In fact, its 3.8 per cent marketshare in Australia puts the brand's local arm at the top of the global ladder in terms of share.

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Leading the charge is the Subaru Forester, which is often the brand's top-seller. But in 2023 so far, it's carrying an already strong field, selling 6885 units so far compared to 4866 January to May in 2022. That's 41.5 per cent up, impressive for a relatively high-unit model.

Its biggest competition within the brand's stable, however, is the also-popular Outback.

"Both the Outback and Forester have their unique strengths, and appeal to different customer preferences," a Subaru spokesperson told CarsGuide.

Also expected to continue strongly is the Subaru Crosstrek, which is the successor to the XV.

"Subaru Forester has consistently been a popular choice among Australian consumers and has been a top-selling Subaru in Australia for over 25 years."

The Forester plays in the immensely popular mid-size SUV category, and even though it ranks fifth behind Toyota's RAV4, the Mitsubishi Outlander, Mazda CX-5 and Hyundai Tucson, it's one of the top sellers in the segment.

"Forester was impacted by production shortages in 2022, but with supply now restored we look forward to continued competition between these two model lines in the range," the spokesperson said.

Even lower volume models like the WRX and BRZ have showed up strong in sales for 2023.

The reason we could start to see the Outback catch up, though an overtake is unlikely, is the introduction of the turbocharged Outback XT, which uses a less powerful version of the 2.4-liter flat-four engine from the WRX.

"Outback continues to resonate with Australian customers and the addition of the new turbocharged variants has offered customers another excellent choice and helped with its recent sales growth," the spokesperson said.

Also expected to continue strongly is the Subaru Crosstrek, which is the successor to the XV and showed a strong May with 1134 units shifted - almost half its shared total with the XV (which was in runout) for 2023 so far - 3218 sales.

Leading the charge is the Subaru Forester, which is often the brand’s top-seller.

"Pleasingly, the all-new Subaru Crosstrek has been well-received by Australian consumers and May sales certainly indicate positive momentum and consumer interest in this model," Subaru's spokesperson said, indicating that it's trending to continue selling well through the year.

"While it is challenging to predict sales for the remainder of the year, we are thrilled that Crosstrek continues to resonate with Australian customers."

In 2022, the XV was the brand's third-highest selling model, with 9090 sold for the whole year, behind 9739 Outbacks and 10,637 Foresters.

The current-gen WRX went on sale about 12 months ago - and therefore didn’t sell in huge numbers beforehand in 2022.

Even lower volume models like the WRX and BRZ have showed up strong in sales for 2023, with 1164 units of the rally-bred sedan and 701 units of the Toyota two-door twin finding new homes so far.

While the current-gen WRX went on sale about 12 months ago - and therefore didn't sell in huge numbers beforehand in 2022 - the BRZ's figures being up by 71.4 per cent compared to its 409 sales during early 2022 might be a surprise.

Subaru's spokesperson said the early allocation of the sports car were "snapped up" very quickly, but the brand is now working to increase availability to satisfy demand.

Its biggest competition within the brand’s stable, however, is the also-popular Outback.

While there are a couple of new contenders in the sales race - MG and Tesla both just outsell Subaru to hold seventh and eighth place on the brand sales chart in 2023 so far - Subaru could be on track for a huge year of near 50,000 sales if its fortunes continue.

Even if it holds steady, Subaru is looking at least 42,000 sales for the year, which bests last year by 10,000 units. Not a bad feat in a supply-constrained, cost-of-living-crisis-ridden Australian market in 2023.