Aside from the drama surrounding whether Subaru will ever bring back the STI, the Outback is definitely the most controversial vehicle in the company’s lineup right now. Historically one of the Japanese brand’s best-selling models, it made the switch from a lifted wagon to a far more SUV-looking bodystyle for 2026, drawing the ire of critics online.
Back when the new Outback debuted at the New York Auto Show last year, Thomas predicted Subaru might be making a mistake by pushing the Outback into full crossover territory, rather than keeping the Outback in its own, wagon-esque lane. Contributor Andrew Ganz doubled down on the new Outback’s questionable design when he reviewed the car for us in November (it’s worth noting he did like how it drove, though).
Now, sales for the first quarter of 2026 are out, highlighting the Outback as one of the biggest losers in terms of sales volume in the lineup. Deliveries fell by over 32%, from 39,934 cars in the first three months of 2025 to just 27,074 units in the first three months of 2026.
Surely, then, the Outback’s drastic design switch is causing sales to plummet, right? Well, that might be a cause. But there are a handful of other, more sensible reasons why Outback sales have fallen off a cliff. Let me explain.
Factories Can’t Magically Switch Cars Overnight
Dips in sales can often be seen when cars switch from one design to another, whether for a normal mid-cycle refresh or for a full-on design change, in the case of the Outback. This is because the factory has to retool to incorporate all the new gear to make the new car. Factories can’t just flip a switch and go from making one car to making an entirely different car without some pauses or slowdowns to make changes to the assembly line.
With the new Outback, Subaru had to deal with this switchover on an entirely different scale, since for 2026, it moved production of the Outback from its plant in Indiana to an assembly plant in Japan, to make room for more local Forester and Forester Hybrid production. Doing that kind of stuff takes time, so supply through the first quarter of 2026 was limited.
When I reached out to ask about the dip in sales, a Subaru spokesperson pointed out to me that the Wilderness trim, which has quickly become one of the Outback’s most popular submodels, only just started arriving at dealers sometime in January.
Remember That Thing Called Tariffs?
Another big reason why it appears like Outback sales are deflating is because of how unusually well the Outback sold during the same period last year. Those 39,934 cars represented a 13.4% increase over the year prior, which is a pretty substantial jump for an aging car that was one year away from being phased out of production.
According to Subaru, this increase was due to people swarming dealers to buy cars to get ahead of tariffs, which went into effect later in the year. We covered this phenomenon last year as it was happening—several brands experienced panic-buying in the months leading up to tariffs taking effect. So theoretically, this dip can be at least partially attributed to sales normalizing in a post-tariff environment.
On a more basic level, the slump in sales could also be affected by the Outback’s new price tag. Thanks to tariffs and the new design, the 2026 model starts at $36,445, making it a full $5,030 more expensive than the old car.
My point is, there is pretty much a perfect storm of reasons why Outback sales are down. The model year changeover, the switch in production to a place halfway across the world, the previous year’s one-off success, the bigger price tag, and the questionable looks are all factors that could be contributing, some more than others. How heavily the car’s design is affecting its success will likely become clearer later in the year once all of that other stuff balances out. A model year changeover is an excuse Subaru can only use once.
Personally, I think Subaru’s decision to turn the Outback from a lifted wagon, where it dominated in a segment mostly to itself, to yet another crossover was a weird one. It already had the Forester and the Crosstrek, and people who bought Outbacks purchased them specifically because they weren’t just another crossover (at least, that’s what my dad says to me—he was one of the people who grabbed a 2025 Outback last year before the tariffs hit).
I’d love to know what you think. Once the dust settles, do you think Outback sales will continue to decline based on its new design? Or is leaning into the holy land of crossovers the right call here? Let me know in the comments.
Top graphic image: Subaru
Anecdotal maybe, but the half dozen people I’m close to with an Outback (official car of the area) have already stated that there’s no world where they replace their current Outback with a new one because of the new design. It’s universally hated by those I know. They seem to be piling up at the local dealer and so far I’ve seen all of 3 in the wild.
Traditionally, flipping off your existing customers is a bad strategy.
I’ll add, while I think the new Outback is ugly, I don’t find it’s existence super offensive. It’s the idea that this thing replaced the only sorta-wagon in the entire market that’s pissing traditional Outback owners off. A lot of these people were willing to deal with some classic Subaru negatives to have a wagon. I wouldn’t expect many of them to come back to pay these sorts of prices to own this over a Toyota or a Honda.
Meh. Subaru people are incredibly loyal, give them a few years and they’ll come around to it. If it’s really such a problem, Subaru can do an early mid cycle refresh.
This is hardly the first time Subaru has produced a visually challenging vehicle, and dimensionally speaking, this Outback isn’t any less of a wagon than the previous 3 generations.
I personally morn the loss of another wagon from the American market. : (
The 2025 was a wagon? And the 2026 is not? What’s the difference between them?
I don’t think the Outback has been a wagon since the jacked up 2009 redesign.
100%.
Was the AMC Eagle a wagon?
Not arguing that this Outback is a wagon or an suv, John. I’m arguing that it hasn’t changed from one to the other with this new generation.
Just spent a week in New Zealand with a loaded previous gen model as a rental – absolutely loved the wagoney-ness of it! Longroofs forever!!!
I wish there was more of a market for station wagons in this country, I used a 94 Roadmaster for years as a business car, it went over 250,000 until the tin worm got it. Great snow car too, because it had about even weight distribution, and it would tow up to 3 tons.
Station wagons are cars, and SUVs are trucks according to the EPA, so we all drive SUVs even if we don’t need off road capability. I wonder how much that has to do with the dearth of station wagons.
A combination of a few things: design entropy and regulatory “trucks” getting better at traditional car things like ride and handling. There’s zero reason to make “cars” anymore when being effectively penalized for doing so.
My (83 year old) brother is a huge Subaru fan boy, starting with multiple Justys (Justies?) in the late 80s. Multiple Outbacks and Crosstreks and he loves them because he lives off the grid 25 miles from town and 3 miles past the end of the paved road, but his Outback doesn’t look like an SUV and gets great mileage on road trips, and always gets up the hill through the mud to home. The old beater GMC truck is for hauling big shit as needed. He hates Foresters and is due to replace the Outback soon. Will he stay the course? I’m not sure, but the new Outback is problematic at best…
> do you think Outback sales will continue to decline based on its new design
I hope so, because I don’t want to see that fugly thing.
Would like this to end up causing one of those emergency redesigns 2 model years in.
I will say, I think the core design of the new Outback is good. It’s just that they got lost in the sauce with the trim (largely the cladding, but other details as well). Personally, I hope for a very graceful mid-cycle refresh. You know, the opposite of what they did to the previous generation for its mid-cycle refresh.
Oh, and maybe offer an optional lowering kit. Don’t need to slam it, just enough to make it not look like it’s walking on stilts.
For the outgoing model, you could have bought a bunch of Legacy parts to turn it into a Legacy wagon. I wish they still made those…we’d have gone that route over the Outback, no question.
Agree.
Big Subaru fan here despite not actually owning one. 5 of my friends and family have all bought new Subarus on my recommendation ranging from 3 2015/16 Outbacks, a 2015 Crosstrek manual, and a last gen STI. They all still own and love them.
I’m not sure I’ve ever felt so conflicted on a redesign after seeing it up close. The exterior shape in profile is mostly fine and I love the squared off back, which benefits cargo capacity immensely. However, the front end is absolutely hideous. It might be the ugliest grill of the last 35 years, beating the Pontiac Aztec and the Lexus angry vacuum look.
But, the interior is a masterpiece with fantastically comfy seats and heralding the return of buttons!
Part of me really wants sales to plummet so they pull a 2005 Honda Civic and rush out the face lift. They can’t fix the current look of a teenage Shredder wearing headgear look fast enough.
Watch it sell like corn dogs at a carnival.
2012 Civic. When it was so badly done even Consumer Reports couldn’t recommend it. Family has a 2013. My old Cruze was a far better car.
Now that I’ve seen a few of these new Outbacks in person, I think the controversy is over-stated, and it may even be growing on me somewhat.
The profile and proportions are fine. The vehicle definitely still reads as a long roof wagon- Immediately distinct from the short, upright Forester.
While the styling is certainly an acquired taste, I think it is more successful and cohesive than the previous generations.
From what I understand, the heavily-clad Wilderness models have been quite popular- This new design is a ground up effort that considers the cladding instead of slapping it onto a vanilla 2010s style Subaru Legacy as an afterthought.
Would you please share the ‘medication’ you’re taking for your eyes and wellbeing? Thanking you in advance….
Lmao.
Let me caveat my statement to say, I don’t think Subaru has actually built an attractive Legacy/Outback since the 2003-2009 3rd gen.
Since ~2008 onwards, nearly every Subaru has been some variation of the same Velcro-shoes-for-adults, durability-of-a-car-with-with-the-fuel economy-of-a-truck “Is it an SUV’? crossover theme.
The 4th gen Outback wore that styling the worst, bloating into a sort of egg-shaped, wannabe truck-let.
The next generations slimmed down a bit, but were simultaneously beaten into submission by the ugly cladding stick.
So here we are. The 2026 isn’t my favourite new car on the road, but nothing of value was lost. It actually looks pretty good in the metallic green, at least on the ‘clean’ trim with the painted bumpers and front end. The interior (where one actually spends most of their time looking at a car) is a drastic improvement.
Thanks for the reply. Green definitely is a good color.
I’ll look for images of a painted bumper and front end. The oil spill of black plastic that’s trying hard to be… well, I don’t know what it’s trying to be. Maybe masculine or ‘butch’? The look does not appeal to me. The designs prior to 2026 haven’t necessarily been beautiful, but they’ve been ok in a bland, inconspicuous sort of way.
Another commentator here has said all 2026’s black plastic will help reduce damage from shopping carts, hitting things like bollards, etc. And, it’d not look worse from bush or rock scratches, I suppose.
The new BEVs, which are simply Toyotas with different front ends and rear taillights, are much sleeker to me. The Trailseeker is much more attractive than the 2026 Outback. The Getaway without the third row seats is interesting, too; five seats are enough and would like the extra hauling space. Guess if either of those piques my interest when I need to replace my 2017 Outback, I can compare the Subarus to Toyotas for specs and pricing. Or just look for a clean, used 2025 Outback… with slow infotainment and lack of physical buttons, sigh.
Cheers
No worries, and totally agreed on the sprawling black plastic grills… I find the look particularly egregious on Audis, where they have replaced the chrome elements with piano black. At a distance, it looks like a vandal has pried off the 4 ring badge. Up close, it just looks like a single molded plastic element, like the grill your find on a base model work truck, or ATV. Kind of disappointing on such expensive vehicles.
I feel like we’re seeing automotive design temporarily diverge, with the gaping black maw becoming a signature of the brawniest ICE vehicles.
If I were a betting man, a century of automotive history suggests the next generation of sleek integration will win in the end. I think the trend of butch, “cyber-baroque” design is somewhat reactionary to the soft, tech forward image driven by EVs. It will peak and become passé soon enough, just like it did in the late 1970s.
I wonder if we will see Subaru start to reconcile their brutal styling with the sleeker look of their EVs?
That “reconcile their brutal styling with the sleeker look of their EVs” can’t happen soon enough for me. As I think that a (borrowed Toyota) hybrid version will be a good choice in the next couple of years, when I’m looking for a replacement for my current 2017 Outback. (Some smaller [iX3] BMW and Mercedes look tasty, though my budget may not ultimately include them.)
Thanks again for the comment. I appreciate you, and the other Autopican folks, who add perspective and nuance to the wonderful articles – and other commenter notes.
Cheer again.
I have already started on my second glass of wine…so you’ll need to play catch up when you get to a place where a drink/glass of your choice is both safe and sane….
Cheers to you as well!
It’s a lot of fun to speculate on the ins and outs of our wacky, emotional, manufactured world. I did study a bit of art history and product design, so I love the articles and people who hang around and argue about such details.
We live in interesting times, it is fascinating to see how culture and technology affect the things we interact with.
Have a great evening!
Interesting and fascinating times, indeed. Some designs (well, nearly -all- designs) are subjective, though many can be appreciated for either form or function. Some designs I don’t want to have around me, and not in my garage…
I’m looking forward to another Adrian design article, whenever we’re graced with his next tongue-in-cheek ‘hate’ and sarcastic perspective here.
Hope a great evening for you, too.
CheerS!
We traded our 2022 Outback on a 2025 as soon as I saw the spy photos on the 2026, so I guess we contributed to the prior year sales growth. My wife wants a wagon, I knew we could never buy this one.
Former Subaru guy here, 1999 Legacy GT Wagon, kinda miss it. A 2010 Impreza and 2011 Forester still in the family. Best looking Subaru generations. Subaru design evolution morphed into blocky blobby claddy untouchable things.
Indefensibly ugly.
That’s what my mom calls me.
So we were supposed to be thinking that tariffs were to blame and *NOT* that nasty a$$ design??
Why not both?
That thing is fugly. Subaru buyers will buy it regardless. I am not a Subaru buyer.
I am a Subaru buyer and agree it’s fugly. The redesign also broke my loyalty to Subaru.
Subaru people love their Subarus. I don’t get it, but I’m not a Subaru person. At least one of my friends would be more likely to buy the new model simply because it doesn’t look like a wagon. Silly, I know, but man, he took offense when I called his Forester a wagon. Thereafter I always asked him about how his wagon was.
Friend of mine has a Forrester. I take pains to always call it the Lesbian Love Wagon. I find them completely hateful things.
Sad thing is he had a GREAT deal lined up on a leftover original version BMW X1 in that cool burnt orange they came in (the one based on the e91 wagon platform, not the current MINI based one). His mother gave him crap because she “didn’t like the sorts of people who drive BMWs (needless to say, I was a tad bit offended given we have known each other for going on 50 years), and SHE only buys Subarus. And since his umbilical cord is evidently still attached, he did what Mommy told him and bought the Subaru that he too hates. Which is now getting rusty and having issues too.
Ugh, she sounds a bit rude, but it was probably just thoughtlessness. And I find Subarus to be hateful things. 25ish years ago a friend of mine first clued me in to the lesbian Subaru thing. His sister is a lesbian and he told me she went to a Subaru event put on especiallhy for lesbians. I was confused until he explained that it was a big part of their market.
That’s because Foresters aren’t wagons. The Outback was.
Either way, I just fell asleep…Subarus are SO boring. I have absolutely no interest in Subaru at all. Plus they have too many problems
Man that wilderness version looks abysmal, the normal ones less so but still a big downgrade from the previous gen imo
It’s kind of interesting how they tried so hard to make this look tough and durable, yet it seems so fragile. It’s like one child’s tricycle hit or basket ball away from cracked plastic.
I don’t actually mind that it’s taller. It’s just got such an ugly face.
Don’t get me wrong. I liked it better as more of a wagon, but it’s that face that bums me out.
It’s not only just another crossover, it’s just another crossover in the weakest sub segment of them, bigger 2-rows.
It really doesn’t make sense to make the Forester in the US and the Outback in Japan.
The Forester is the smaller car probably more popular internationally, while the Outback is bigger and more popular in the US..
They should’ve kept Forester production in Japan and Outback production here.
Really? I see 10 Foresters for every Outback here in Ontario.
The Forester is a better seller in the US, but not by a lot. The Crosstrek easily surpasses both.
That I can see. Subaru is the only non-domestic car dealer in our county, so like every other car is a Crosstrek.
Last I checked, Ontario is not in the US (unless you’re referring to Ontario, California).
I did not know that 😮
Outback and Forester sales have been close for years, with each going back and forth as the bigger seller. For the last 2 years, the Forester has been the bigger seller.
With the Forester’s segment more defined in volume, and that segment being every other brand’s best-seller, I get the feeling they’re trying to lock in the Forester as the higher volume.
They also had to make room for the Forester Hybrid, which I suspect they think will be a huge seller too
I don’t have much to add other than I just saw the rear of the car, and boy is it dreadful. Who is designing this crap? High schoolers?
The Japanese moved to adolescent designers years ago. This is just one more thing Subaru learned from Toyota. Something, something, video games are a good training ground.
I now hear they are being recruited by the TSA. I guess my flying days are over.
$5k is a huge jump at that price point.
I think you found the most wagon-esque angle of that Outback. It has struck me as an SUV for a while now.
I doubt I could pick this new one out from an Ascent or Forester in traffic.
I’m not in the target market for an Outback (old or new), but the redesign comes with a lovely set of physical HVAC controls which are a drastic improvement over the rest of the Subaru line-up (having spent time in 2024-2025 models recently in contrast). It would be heartbreaking if poor sales due to any of these other factors causes them to do something silly like blame it on “insufficient touchscreens”.
I’ll be the black sheep. I like the design, it’s muted and it accomplishes something that Subaru buyers seem to be seeking – durable without projection of a tough aggressive feel. It feels like it’ll get hit with shopping carts, bumped onto trash cans, etc and bear the story as a scar and continue on its life unphased. And yeah, it doesn’t feel like a Subaru at first glance… But it doesn’t feel like we’re in reality at first glance so I’ll give it a pass and a hug.
So interesting how different impressions can be on the same design. To me, this is the opposite of “muted”. And I think it’s desperately trying to project a “tough aggressive feel”. It’s basically all cladding.
It’s so much cladding, even the cladding has cladding!
Yo dawg. They heard you like cladding, so they cladded their cladding, so you can clad whole you clad.
Valid criticizm about the amount of cladding, it’s a bit much for my tastes as well, but hear me out- I’m willing to argue this through lol. Muted may not be the greatest choice of descriptors but I struggle to find a better one at this hour. The element that I’m observing is the way that the cladding is implemented is more defensive than offensive. It’s held in tight to the body – picture those vertical and headlamp elements, those are the lines of a heavy brush guard that you’d see on a heavy truck, but pulled in tight and sleek. The wheel arches are heavy in area but are again held in tight to the body – a heavy wear layer. The lower third, bulkier appearing than the others by far… Protecting the vulnerable side, gateway to the passengers. Extra paddies should be there, that’s logical. Aggressive? Threatening? No… They’re rather pillowy. This is the vehicular embodiment of those orange external hdd that had the rubber bumpers. This cladding is not knights armour… It’s not scooped or flared or ribbed or embossed with fake bolts. This cladding is smooth, chamfered, maybe a little stylized, and while it provides no real protection in a crash, it does project a feeling of don’t worry about that door ding. I personally pick up on that and I think those points could be been some of the objectives they were trying to achieve. This is a really great design.
Also I belong to a demographic that’s heavily associated with Subaru in comedic but true way (So… What flavor of Subaru do you drive?). I’ve never owned one and I’m not in the market for any vehicle but this would immediately be at the top of my list if I were. I’ll probably encounter one of these in the future via a friend or extended friend because just like those orange hard drives, you probably didn’t have one…. But you certainly know at least one person that did.
Orange hard disk
Now you have outed yourself as either being a musician or photographer.
When I had a Subaru I wasn’t in that demographic, but to my surprise my wife was.
I wish I was cool enough to be a photographer lol. I do CAD modeling.
Heh, yeah that happens sometimes!