Subaru Of America Delivers 500K In Single-Year Sales For The First Time

Cameron Aubernon
by Cameron Aubernon

It’s official: Subaru of America has moved 500,000 units in a single year for the first time.

The 500,000th vehicle sold left the showroom December 29, with the final tally for 2014 likely to come sometime soon; the sales period closed January 2.

The milestone came a year early for the subsidiary, who had forecasted hitting the mark in 2015. It also comes on the heels of its seventh consecutive year of growth, starting in 2008; then, 187,699 models were sold.

The fuel for this particular milestone comes from strong sales of models such as the Impreza, Outback, Forester and XV Crosstrek, all of which were developed “to better suit the needs of the American buyer.” In fact, the only models not to do well in 2014 were the BRZ and Tribeca. Other factors include improved marketing and greatly improved dealerships.

Cameron Aubernon
Cameron Aubernon

Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.

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  • Cabriolet Cabriolet on Jan 05, 2015

    Wait a few years when the head gaskets start leaking and the drive shaft boots start to rip. Been there done that.

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    • Power6 Power6 on Jan 06, 2015

      @gtem The turbo models, though they have their other potential problems, do solve some issues... They don't have head gasket issues, and they have sport seats, our Outback XT has the same sport seats as the Legacy GT models, more bolster and longer bottom cushion. I'm tall and all legs I can never find a long enough bottom cushion, only my SRT-4 really delivered with the Viper seat. My sisters NA Outback seats are a big step down.

  • Suto Suto on Jan 05, 2015

    Anecdotally I see this as a good year for Subaru. I work in a datacenter and 3 guys ages 25 to 28 bought new Imprezas or WRX's this year. They all make over 40k, and all live with their parents. They all get new smartphones every year, and all spend thousands a year keeping their computers at bleeding edge. They don't notice or mind that their cars make 2001 Toyota Corollas look sleek and sporty.

    • See 48 previous
    • Nrd515 Nrd515 on Jan 08, 2015

      @raresleeper I hated the damn laundromat, but not because of anything like using someone else's washer, it was because of the standing around, waiting for the washer to get done, then waiting and waiting for the lukewarm (at best) dryers to dry my stuff. The usual procedure was to put a couple of things in each dryer and that seemed to make the wait tolerable, but expensive having to feed each dryer several times to get the stuff dry. As soon as I could, I bought a dryer and started saving up for a washer, so I could eventually never go back again.

  • Raresleeper Raresleeper on Jan 05, 2015

    Hmmmm. Seems that yuppies have traded in their bottles of booze for kayaks and mountain bikes. And hey, they'll need a Subaru to get there. Guess we'll need to start wearing hemp necklaces and cut out other non-important activities, like showering.

  • Budda-Boom Budda-Boom on Jan 05, 2015

    Two 2.5 Subies, two head gasket repairs. What soured me for good was when our '05 Outback's SECOND set began leaking around 175,000...meaning the replacement set, installed at around 110,000 miles with the prerequisite timing belt (and while you're in there, the water pump) replacement, was already failing. At least my 4.3 Chevy's edible intake gaskets could be replaced with a better quality part which cured the problem. But love is what makes a Subaru a Subaru, so what's $2500 worth of maintenance every 100K miles? If it had been a GM with edible head gaskets, there'd probably have been a "60 Minutes" investigation. My wife traded the Outback on a 2011 Equinox LTZ.

    • Gtem Gtem on Jan 05, 2015

      Was the work done at a dealer? From what I've read, the issue with the OEM gaskets is that they have a rubber outer layer that degrades and this is where the leaks originate from. the FelPro gaskets are all metal and supposedly cure the issue for good. The quality of work is also very important IE how well the head surface was cleaned off before slapping the new gaskets on. The heads on the newer EJ engines on the 05-09 cars are also more prone to warping, so that must be checked when the HG is replaced. We'll see if Subaru has finally slain the HG beast on their new FB series of engines, which also have timing chains now, for better for for worse. I've heard that oil consumption is now a problem on the new engines, at least in part due to the EPA-chasing low viscosity 0w-20 oil everyone is using these days.

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