Subaru of America sold 62,028 vehicles in August 2026, up 1.3 percent from August 2025’s 61,220 units. That modest headline number covers a lineup with meaningful divergence between its winners and its stragglers.
Forester is the story year-to-date. The compact crossover sold 16,760 units in August, up 17.8 percent over the same month last year, and has now moved 140,487 units through the first eight months of 2026, up 15.1 percent year-over-year. That volume keeps it firmly at the top of the brand’s nameplate rankings for the year.
Crosstrek led in August specifically with 19,541 units sold, its best monthly total of 2026. But the subcompact crossover’s year-to-date picture is less clean: 122,953 units through August represents a 4.3 percent decline from the same period in 2025. Ascent and Outback also recorded their best months of the year in August, with the three-row SUV posting 5,155 units, up 37.2 percent over August 2025, and Outback contributing 15,233 units.
WRX is the sharpest single-month swing in the data. The sport sedan sold 1,778 units in August 2026 against 611 units in August 2025, a 191 percent jump. Year-to-date, WRX is at 10,324 units, up 37.7 percent over the 7,499 sold through August 2025. Subaru frames it as an affordable manual option for enthusiast drivers, and the sales trajectory suggests that positioning is finding its audience. Whether an enthusiast-focused nameplate can sustain that rate of growth into the quieter fall months is a different question, but the 2026 arc has been consistent.
Two models pulling in the opposite direction: Impreza and Solterra. Impreza sold 1,556 units in August, down 41.2 percent from August 2025, and sits at 11,396 units year-to-date, off 43 percent. Solterra, the brand’s battery-electric offering, sold just 197 units in August, down 86.6 percent from 1,466 the prior August. Year-to-date Solterra volume stands at 5,472 units, down 42.6 percent. Legacy, effectively at end-of-life in the U.S. lineup, contributed five units for the month.
Two newer nameplates, Trailseeker and Uncharted, added 1,248 and 320 units respectively in August, with no year-ago comparable since both entered the market after August 2025. Their combined year-to-date total sits at 7,931 units across both nameplates.
The overall year-to-date picture remains slightly negative. Subaru has sold 423,822 vehicles through August 2026, down 3 percent from 437,030 over the same period in 2025. August 2025 itself was a decline from August 2024, which means the 2026 monthly result represents a recovery to modest growth after back-to-back softness. How much of that recovery holds depends on whether Forester’s year-to-date lead can offset continued pressure on Outback (down 11.4 percent year-to-date despite a strong August), Impreza, and Solterra.
Solterra’s trajectory is the number most worth watching heading into the fourth quarter. A model down 42.6 percent year-to-date in a segment that is adding competitors regularly is a harder problem than a monthly sales swing can fix.
Source: Subaru. Images courtesy of Subaru.
