Subaru Is Wildly Popular In The US

Subaru XV Crosstrek (Credit: Subaru)

While much of the mainstream media makes a big deal of Tesla, the fact is that Subaru has a secret sauce that American consumers just can’t get enough of. The Japanese automaker has been seeing a huge upswing in sales in this market for several years, and it’s showing no signs of cooling off anytime soon.

To its credit, Bloomberg recently ran a story that highlighted the fact that the pace of Subaru sales increase is the envy or every other automaker. For example, with numbers for September 2015 in, the company reports an increase of 28 percent versus the previous September. Some are getting hung up on the fact that the record month involved a mere 53,070 vehicles going into the hands of consumers. It’s a mere fraction of what other brands sell each month, but at the quick clip that Subaru is growing, it should overtake brands like Nissan and Honda in the near future.

The Bloomberg article highlighted something that people in the automotive industry have known for some time. Instead of trying to sell vehicles, Subaru has been concentrating big on selling a culture. It could be said that Subaru owners are different in a lot of ways, even mocked by certain groups. But the fact is that the brand has created a lifestyle with its vehicles in the center, ensuring a growing cult following that won’t even consider looking at cars made by anyone else. For them, driving a Subaru is about making a social statement.

Some commercials that Subaru has put out in the past few years have worked well at emphasizing this point. For example, one focuses exclusively on how Subaru promotes recycling in its manufacturing facilities, rather than sending materials to the dump. Another shows how a couple loves their old Subie as part of the family, even when they upgrade to a new model. In fact, Love is a central theme in a great deal of Subaru’s recent marketing.

Other automakers could learn a thing or two from Subaru about how to market vehicles.