Subaru Promises Something New for L.A. Auto Show

Matthew Guy
by Matthew Guy

In typical form for the PR machine of a modern automaker, Subaru has released the briefest of shots showing a rig they promise to introduce at the upcoming L.A. Auto Show – and we have a pretty good idea what it is.


Yeah, we ended a sentence with a preposition. You’ll live. The image heaved this morning by Subaru onto the Internet shows only a left-front wheel, one adorned with the Exploding Galaxy logo and brightwork spokes tempered with textured back features. It’s easy to pick out the Bridgestone brand stamp, suggesting at least the trim at which we are looking isn’t a Wilderness model (those have received Yokohama Geolandar tires in the past). That stepped bodyside cladding on the teaser car’s lower door edge is a Forester design cue.


Another clue this image is of a Forester is the realization of a total dad joke, one which only happens when a person clicks through to Subaru’s official information page for the L.A. Auto Show – it leads to a page featuring a raft of, erm, forest videos. Hey, get yer chuckles where you can these days, kids.


The Forester isn’t Subie’s best-selling model, but it’s close. So far this year, the model has found 121,824 buyers, just a handful behind Crosstrek and top-dog Outback, the latter of which sold 135,277 units through to the end of October. As a percentage, the Forester has accounted for nearly one-quarter of the 520,995 vehicles sold by Subaru during the first ten months of 2023. But taking the month of October by itself, the Forester was indeed the best-seller, marking the fourth consecutive month it achieved this feat according to the company.


Assuming this teaser shot does portend a new Forester, it’ll very likely be a 2025 model since pricing for the 2024 was revealed back in August. The car now starts at $26,895 plus fees and is presently offered in a half-dozen trims ranging from Base to Touring. Buyers tend to like its better-than-most-crossovers ground clearance (8.7 inches or 9.2 for Wilderness) though the single-engine option of a 2.5-liter boxer making 182 horses could use an update; perhaps that’s in the hopper for L.A. as well.


Promised as an “all-new fully redesigned vehicle”, the machine teased here will make its global debut in Los Angeles on November 16.


[Image: Subaru]


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Matthew Guy
Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

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  • Daniel J Daniel J on Nov 03, 2023

    Drop the cvt and put the 2.5T in it then we can talk.

  • Bd2 Bd2 on Nov 14, 2023

    Less ghastly than the outgoing one, but still not a looker.


    The last decent looking Forester was around 2 decades ago.

  • Bd2 Lexus is just a higher trim package Toyota. ^^
  • Tassos ONLY consider CIvics or Corollas, in their segment. NO DAMNED Hyundais, Kias, Nissans or esp Mitsus. Not even a Pretend-BMW Mazda. They may look cute but they SUCK.I always recommend Corollas to friends of mine who are not auto enthusiasts, even tho I never owed one, and owned a Civic Hatch 5 speed 1992 for 25 years. MANY follow my advice and are VERY happy. ALmost all are women.friends who believe they are auto enthusiasts would not listen to me anyway, and would never buy a Toyota. They are damned fools, on both counts.
  • Tassos since Oct 2016 I drive a 2007 E320 Bluetec and since April 2017 also a 2008 E320 Bluetec.Now I am in my summer palace deep in the Eurozone until end October and drive the 2008.Changing the considerable oils (10 quarts synthetic) twice cost me 80 and 70 euros. Same changes in the US on the 2007 cost me $219 at the dealers and $120 at Firestone.Changing the air filter cost 30 Euros, with labor, and there are two such filters (engine and cabin), and changing the fuel filter only 50 euros, while in the US they asked for... $400. You can safely bet I declined and told them what to do with their gold-plated filter. And when I changed it in Europe, I looked at the old one and it was clean as a whistle.A set of Continentals tires, installed etc, 300 EurosI can't remember anything else for the 2008. For the 2007, a brand new set of manual rec'd tires at Discount Tire with free rotations for life used up the $500 allowance the dealer gave me when I bought it (tires only had 5000 miles left on them then)So, as you can see, I spent less than even if I owned a Lexus instead, and probably less than all these poor devils here that brag about their alleged low cost Datsun-Mitsus and Hyundai-Kias.And that's THETRUTHABOUTCARS. My Cars,
  • NJRide These are the Q1 Luxury division salesAudi 44,226Acura 30,373BMW 84,475Genesis 14,777Mercedes 66,000Lexus 78,471Infiniti 13,904Volvo 30,000*Tesla (maybe not luxury but relevant): 125,000?Lincoln 24,894Cadillac 35,451So Cadillac is now stuck as a second-tier player with names like Volvo. Even German 3rd wheel Audi is outselling them. Where to gain sales?Surprisingly a decline of Tesla could boost Cadillac EVs. Tesla sort of is now in the old Buick-Mercury upper middle of the market. If lets say the market stays the same, but another 15-20% leave Tesla I could see some going for a Caddy EV or hybrid, but is the division ready to meet them?In terms of the mainstream luxury brands, Lexus is probably a better benchmark than BMW. Lexus is basically doing a modern interpretation of what Cadillac/upscale Olds/Buick used to completely dominate. But Lexus' only downfall is the lack of emotion, something Cadillac at least used to be good at. The Escalade still has far more styling and brand ID than most of Lexus. So match Lexus' quality but out-do them on comfort and styling. Yes a lot of Lexus buyers may be Toyota or import loyal but there are a lot who are former GM buyers who would "come home" for a better product.In fact, that by and large is the Big 3's problem. In the 80s and 90s they would try to win back "import intenders" and this at least slowed the market share erosion. I feel like around 2000 they gave this up and resorted to a ton of gimmicks before the bankruptcies. So they have dropped from 66% to 37% of the market in a quarter century. Sure they have scaled down their presence and for the last 14 years preserved profit. But in the largest, most prosperous market in the world they are not leading. I mean who would think the Koreans could take almost 10% of the market? But they did because they built and structured products people wanted. (I also think the excess reliance on overseas assembly by the Big 3 hurts them vs more import brands building in US). But the domestics should really be at 60% of their home market and the fact that they are not speaks volumes. Cadillac should not be losing 2-1 to Lexus and BMW.
  • Tassos Not my favorite Eldorados. Too much cowbell (fins), the gauges look poor for such an expensive car, the interior has too many shiny bits but does not scream "flagship luxury", and the white on red leather or whatever is rather loud for this car, while it might work in a Corvette. But do not despair, a couple more years and the exterior designs (at least) will sober up, the cowbells will be more discreet and the long, low and wide 60s designs are not far away. If only the interiors would be fit for the price point, and especially a few acres of real wood that also looked real.
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