Americans Still Can’t Get Enough Of Subaru

2016 Subaru Forester (Credit: Subaru)

It seems that Americans can’t get enough of Subaru’s funky, symmetrical all-wheel-drive cars. With November sales figures in, the Japanese automaker has already surpassed its record-breaking sales from 2014.

Subaru is so hot, that each of the past seven years it has set a new all-time record for annual sales in the U.S. According to the company, November makes 48 months in a row for year-over-year growth. While the automotive industry in general has been experiencing a nice upswing lately, few can boast of such a sustained positive momentum.

According to Subaru, its big sales drivers for 2015 have been its crossover vehicles, or the Forester, Outback and XV Crosstrek. Those three models accounted for over two-thirds of the company’s 513,693-plus sales through the end of November. In general, car shoppers have lately been gravitating to crossovers and their promise of practical utility, so this isn’t too big of a shock. This shift has been fueled by an improving economy, coupled with dropping gas prices nationwide.

If you happen to see a lot of Foresters or Outbacks on the roads where you live, there’s good reason. Subaru says that November marked 21st month in a row where over 10,000 Outbacks have been sold, and the 28th consecutive month where in excess of 10,000 Foresters have been snatched up. It’s worth noting that the XV Crosstrek is a newer model, but still achieved 90.2 percent increase in sales for November.

The most surprising detail of Subaru’s recently-released sales figures is how much of a sales increase the WRX/STI models have seen this year. Apparently shoppers are much more in the mood for performance, giving the WRX/STI sedans the biggest year-to-date increase out of the entire Subaru lineup at 35.1%.

This means anything that Subaru sells in December will just pump up the annual sales record that much more. The company expects 2016 to be even bigger. Auto industry analysts are also anticipating a peak in sales next year.