Subaru’s best month of 2026 comes down to one SUV
Subaru of America reported its June sales earlier this week, and on the surface it was a strong month: 54,909 vehicles sold, an 18.1 percent jump over the same month last year. One model explains most of the good news. The Forester is on a tear, and it’s increasingly the reason Subaru’s numbers hold strong in this volatile market.
Forester Surges in June 2026
In June, Subaru sold 16,288 Foresters, a 43.6 percent year-over-year increase that made it the brand’s volume leader for the sixth consecutive month. Here is how the top sellers stacked up for the month:
- Subaru Forester: 16,288
- Subaru Crosstrek: 16,050
- Subaru Outback: 14,074
- Subaru Ascent: 3,678
- Subaru Impreza: 1,449
The Crosstrek was right on the Forester’s bumper and logged its best June ever, while the redesigned Outback rebounded 32.7 percent as its new generation reached dealers. Even the WRX got in on the act, spiking 252.3 percent to 1,233 units off a soft comparison a year ago.
But the Forester is the one that matters most for the full-year story. Over six months, Subaru has sold 107,854 of them, up 12.4 percent, making it essentially the only major nameplate in the lineup to be growing. Almost everything else is down: the Outback is off 14.1 percent for the year despite its strong June, the Ascent has slipped 8.7 percent, and the aging Impreza and Legacy sedans have fallen 44 percent and 80.5 percent, respectively.
Why The Forester Is Performing So Well
Subaru kicked off the sixth-generation Forester for the 2025 model year, and buyers have clearly responded. The formula is familiar but sharpened: standard Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive, 8.7 inches of ground clearance, the latest EyeSight driver-assist suite, and that upright, glassy body that has always made the Forester easy to see out of. The carryover 2.5-liter flat-four makes 180 horsepower and returns up to 33 mpg on the highway, or about 29 mpg combined in the popular Premium trim, which is competitive for an SUV that comes with all-wheel drive as standard.
Pricing helps, too. The gas Forester starts at around $31,445 with destination, undercutting many of the compact SUVs while still delivering Subaru’s outdoorsy image and strong resale value. It was named a 2026 Consumer Reports Top Pick and ranks first for projected resale value in its class, the kind of credibility that keeps loyal owners coming back.
The bigger change this generation is choice. Subaru now offers a Forester Hybrid, which pairs the boxer engine with an electric motor for 194 combined horsepower and an EPA-rated 35 mpg combined, plus a rugged Wilderness variant with 9.3 inches of clearance for the off-road crowd. That spread lets a single nameplate chase efficiency shoppers, adventure buyers, and value hunters all at once, and it shows up in the numbers.
Subaru
What It Means
The Forester’s run tells you a lot about where Subaru is right now. Hybrid and electric models accounted for more than 20 percent of the brand’s June sales, so the electrified Forester is arriving at exactly the right moment.
At the same time, the lineup is in transition. The Outback is still finding its footing on a fresh generation, the sedans are fading, the Solterra EV is down sharply, and brand-new nameplates like the Trailseeker and Uncharted are only beginning to ramp up. In that environment, having one proven, broad-appeal SUV doing record volume is the difference between a soft year and a genuinely bad one. If Subaru wants its year-to-date deficit to close before December, the Forester is the model most likely to get it there.
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