If one thing has been strong in consumer spending in 2015, it would be the new car market. Consumers are getting to enjoy lower gasoline prices at the pump, and the fleet of US cars has become ancient on a systemwide basis. Well, Subaru sure seems to be winning. What matters here is that its overall market share for all U.S. sales remains tiny.
Subaru of America reported on Monday that the car company has now broken its previous yearly sales record. What matters is that there was still a month of the year remaining. The previous annual sales record was 513,693 vehicles set in 2014. This also marks Subaru’s eighth year of sales growth, and the seventh successive sales record.
This is a car company without massive numbers of models. The company went on to show that sales in 2015 were driven by the Forester, Outback and Crosstrek lines. The three crossover vehicles now retail over 350,000 units per year. Subaru sedans — Legacy, Impreza and WRX/STI — were also showing what was said to be significant year-to-date increases.
Total sales of all U.S. vehicles sold were roughly 16.5 million in 2014. While that was up almost 1 million from 2013, it was still shy of the record 16.94 million in car sales in 2006. That barely gives Subaru 3% market share, if you use the 2014 sales.
Thomas J. Doll, Subaru of America president and chief operating officer, said:
We are delighted to be celebrating yet another record. Our continued growth is built on strong products and outstanding retailers providing a great customer experience. We thank all of our retailers for their continued commitment in making these record-breaking sales possible. Given consumer demand for our products, we expect a strong close of 2015.
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