Subaru's EV avalanche! 2023 Solterra to be joined by new electric cars in coming years

Things are going well at Subaru, clearly, as upon the announcement by its incoming CEO that the company has tripled profits in the Japanese Fiscal year ending March 31, it was also announced that the brand has three new electric cars imminent.

New CEO Atsushi Osaki, who will take the reins officially in June, said three new EVs, all crossover SUVs, would be part of the line-up by the end of 2026, joining the already existing Subaru Solterra electric car.

According to Automotive News, Osaki also plans for a huge uptick in electric car production, aiming for a total of at least 400,000 fully electric cars each year by 2028.

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Currently, Subaru’s electrified line-up consists of the Solterra EV, which is a sibling to the Toyota bZ4X, and hybrid versions of more traditional models like the Crosstrek and Forester, both sold here in Australia.

The outgoing CEO Tomomi Nakumura also said that despite tax incentives to build cars in the Subaru-loving US, it would aim to make as much of its production as possible happen in its home nation, so as to “try not to rely only on the subsidy program”.

“I wonder if American consumers choose their cars solely based on tax breaks,” Nakamura said. 

“Our US customers are quality customers. We have a higher ratio of customers buying Subarus with cash, and we also have low loan and lease rates. We also keep our incentives at low levels.”

The US is the brand’s largest market, making up around 70 per cent of its sales.

During the pandemic and with the semiconductor shortage, Subaru’s profits dropped significantly, but in the last full fiscal year according to Automotive News, the company’s profit increased to 267.5 billion yen (AU$2.966 billion) from 90.5 billion yen (AU$1.004 billion) the year before.

Subaru will have three new EVs by the end of 2026.

Earlier this year, Osaki told media that Australia would be one of its biggest targets for increasing EV sales. 

"I believe we can still grow our sales in the US... We also receive a lot of customer inquiries from Japan, Asia, Australia and Canada as well," he said. 

Australia is the company's fourth-largest market in the world, behind its home nation of Japan, the US and Canada, having sold 36,036 cars here in 2022.