How Loyal Are Subaru Fans? Which Hot Car Brands Are They Defecting To Now

Are Subaru Crosstrek, Forester, and Outback customers loyal? A new report from Automotive News (by subscription) reveals the latest S&P Global Mobility 2023 loyalty ranking of mainstream brands shows that they are staying faithful to the Japanese automaker. But some Solterra EV customers are leaving for other car brands.

In the new report, Ford recorded 59.5 percent brand loyalty this year through April. Next is Chevrolet, at 57.1 percent, and Subaru, at 57.1 percent, followed by Nissan, Kia, and Hyundai, to round out the top five car brands. Toyota was down 5.7 points from last year to 52.3 percent.

Photo credit: Tucson Subaru

Subaru stays at number three overall in mainstream (non-luxury) car brand loyalty, but they are gaining few new customers in the EV race. Subaru Crosstrek, Forester, and Outback customers remain loyal, but some customers are leaving. 

The Automotive News report says loyalty remains "down substantially" compared with pre-pandemic measures for most mainstream brands, Tom Libby, an analyst for S&P Global, said during a recent webinar. Mitsubishi, Mazda, Dodge, Hyundai, Buick, and GMC are the only brands to have improved brand loyalty measures from the first four months of 2019.

Photo credit: Tucson Subaru

But it's a different picture for new electric vehicle customers. The report says Subaru has lost 7.7 percent of its new model customers since 2019. Many mainstream car brands have lost customers over the past four years, and Subaru is above the industry average of a 4.3 percent drop. Which car brands are Subaru losing customers to? During the past four years, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Dodge, Hyundai, Buick, and GMC have gained customers. 

Tesla is the big winner in customers leaving Subaru to buy an electric vehicle other than the Solterra. The new report says in April 2022, 2.5 percent of Subaru's customers went to buy an electric Tesla vehicle. In April 2023, the percentage of Subaru customers leaving Subaru to buy a Tesla model is up to 3.8 percent. 

It's a small percentage now, but if the trend continues, it could hurt Subaru of America as more customers buy electric vehicles. Though EV sales remain small for many brands, "there's no doubt that Toyota, Honda, and some other Asian brands (like Subaru) are being impacted tremendously by Tesla," Libby said.

What is Subaru doing to slow the migration to other car brands trend?

Subaru announced they will have three new EVs for U.S. customers by 2025 and 2026. New incoming Subaru President and CEO Atsushi Osaki said they will roll out three new all-electric crossovers by the end of 2026, a jump from the single nameplate, the 2023 Subaru Solterra, in its current portfolio. Under the ramped-up EV plan, Subaru Corporation will add a dedicated EV assembly line at its Oizumi plant in Japan as early as 2027, with a capacity for 200,000 vehicles a year.

Before the new plant is built, Subaru says it will complement an EV assembly line at the nearby Yajima plant, delivering capacity for 200,000 EVs a year from about 2026. Combined, the two new manufacturing lines will enable output of 400,000 EVs a year from 2028, Subaru said. 

Profound changes are coming as Subaru collaborates with Toyota to develop three new all-electric all-wheel-drive vehicles using Toyota's advanced battery technology for release by 2025 to 2026. Subaru Corporation will produce the all-new EVs at its factories, and Toyota's battery technology will move Subaru's all-wheel-drive vehicles to the front in the EV race as they will have 900 miles of range or more. Find out more in the report below.

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Denis Flierl has invested over 30 years in the automotive industry in a consulting role working with every major car brand. He is an accredited member of the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press. Check out Subaru Report, where he covers the Japanese automaker's models. More stories can be found on the Torque News Subaru page. Follow Denis on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

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Photo credit: Subaru