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The 2022 Subaru Outback wagon beat the number one selling 2021 Forester SUV in July, and it may continue. It's not that new Forester sales are cooling off; customers can't find many Forester SUVs on retailers' lots this summer. Demand for the popular Forester has outstripped supply because of a slowdown in production.
Subaru of America could sell more Forester compact SUVs if they could get them from Japan. It's a problem retailers have had starting in June. The Outback had better sales than Forester to finish 2020 but has not beat Forester in 2021 until last month.
Subaru of America delivered 14,058 new Outback midsize SUVs to customers last month compared with 12,158 in July 2020, an increase of 15.6 percent. Even with the inventory shortage, Subaru delivered 12,235 2021 Forester compact SUVs to customers last month compared with 15,313 in July 2020, a drop of 20.1 percent.
The 2022 Subaru Outback has arrived at retailers starting last month, and the SUV-alternative vehicle is made at the Subaru plant in Lafayette, Indiana, and only sold in North America. The Forester is only made at the Yajima plant in Gunma, Japan, and shipped worldwide to Australia, Europe, Asia, and North America.
While the 2022 Outback has already arrived for U.S. customers, retailers are still waiting for the refreshed 2022 Subaru Forester to be announced. There have been production adjustments in Japanese plants due to the shortage of semiconductor supplies and the delays in parts shipments.
When will Subaru inventory improve?
Subaru Corporation announced last week production in Japan increased 69.2 percent in June, the third consecutive month of increase from 2020 when production slowed because of the global coronavirus pandemic.
Sources close to Subaru tell us 2021 Subaru Forester, and Crosstrek inventory won't improve until late August or early September. The entire Subaru carline inventory may not return to normal until early 2022.
The 2022 Subaru Outback inventory is better than Forester in July, resulting in the wagon outselling the top-selling 2021 Subaru Forester. Stay tuned for an announcement for the 2022 Subaru Forester model change soon and reveal of the all-new rugged 2022 Forester Wilderness sub-brand trim.
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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 all of 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
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