Cars and Drivers

Subaru Sales So Strong Dealers Run Out of Cars

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: April 30, 2016 9:25 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 10:04 am

Subaru is an unlikely company to have the hottest selling cars in America. It does by far. Perhaps some of it is the extremely positive reviews from car research studies.

Based on a study from Kelley Blue Book, two Subaru models have very short days to turn, which is the time from when a dealer receives a car until it is sold. One of its cars, the Outback, had the shortest days to turn of any vehicle sold in America. In an article “Cars So Hot They’re Out of Stock,” 24/7 Wall St. editors offered an analysis:

Outback
> Make: Subaru
> Avg. days to turn: 16.0
> 2014-2015 sales change: +9.7%
> Starting MSRP: $24,995

Subaru is one of the hottest car brands in the country, breaking its annual U.S. sales record in 2015 for the eighth consecutive year. Sales of the brand’s Outback model, which is second only to the Forrester as the most popular Subaru, increased by 22.7% through the first three months of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015.

24/7 Wall St.
Cars Americans Don’t Want to Buy

Legacy
> Make: Subaru
> Avg. days to turn: 24.0
> 2014-2015 sales change: +15.6%
> Starting MSRP: $21,745

Brand new models and redesigns tend to be appealing to car buyers. While the Legacy brand has been around for more than two decades, Subaru introduced a fully redesigned generation of the mid-sized sedan in 2015. Sales of the Legacy jumped 15.6% compared to 2014, and the average model spent just 24 days on the lot before being sold.

In the recent Consumer Reports study, “Which Car Brands Makes the Best Vehicles,” Subaru ranked second only to Audi out of 30 brands. All of its models were recommended by the research firm.

Methodology: To determine America’s fastest-selling cars, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed days to turn figures provided by Kelley Blue Book’s vehicle research and valuation site. This figure measures the average number of days a particular model spent on dealers’ lots following its arrival until it was sold in 2015. Additionally, Kelley Blue Book provided figures on U.S. sales by model for 2013, 2014 and 2015. We also reviewed monthly sales releases published by auto manufacturers. Manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) figures come from the manufacturers’ websites.