Subaru will prioritise the launch of new hybrid models over electric ones

Subaru has decided to adjust its strategy for the future, boosting the launch of new hybrid vehicles over pure electric ones. Although the Japanese manufacturer will keep the electric SUVs developed together with Toyota in its line-up, this new strategy means that the launch of new electric models of its own development will be put on hold, at least temporarily.

The budget allocated by Subaru to the energy transition, set at 1.5 trillion yen until 2030 -roughly 8.4 billion euros at the current exchange rate-, will not be reduced, but it will be redistributed. According to some Japanese media reports, a larger share of these funds will now be directed towards hybrid systems, while investment in exclusively electric vehicles will be limited.

The president of Subaru, Atsushi Osaki, justified this decision during the presentation of the company’s financial results, arguing that given the growing interest in hybrids and the revival of combustion engines, the sensible course is to delay mass production of electric models.

Cuts arrive for Subaru’s electric mobility projects

Of the 1.5 trillion yen announced in 2023, around 300 billion yen -roughly 1.67 billion euros at the current exchange rate- has already been spent. The remaining 1.2 trillion are under review, but most of them are expected to be channelled into the development of hybrid and petrol-engined models. The company has also stopped updating its sales targets for electric models. In 2023 Subaru aimed to put 600,000 units a year on the market from 2030, which would represent half of its global sales. This ambitious plan even exceeded the forecast made in 2020, which estimated that electrified models, including hybrids, would account for 40 per cent of total sales by that date.

In any case, as we have already mentioned, the alliance between Subaru and Toyota for the development of new electric models is moving ahead. Both companies plan to offer a total of four electric SUVs jointly before the end of 2026, and this will not change. However, the four additional fully electric models that Subaru planned to develop on its own, originally scheduled for 2028, will be postponed indefinitely.

Four electric models in Subaru’s line-up

Subaru’s first electric car, the Solterra launched in 2022, a close relative of Toyota’s bZ4X, has for a long time been its only representative in this segment. This year, however, the Trailseeker EV and the Uncharted SUV, also the result of the alliance with Toyota, joined it, and an update to the Solterra has been confirmed. A new launch will be added to these three electric models before the end of 2026, completing the four joint electric models mentioned in the previous paragraph.

Subaru’s change of course mainly responds to developments in the US market, the most important for the Japanese company. Two years ago, the brand expected to sell 400,000 electric models a year in the United States from 2028. Something that now no longer seems realistic. Although the Japanese manufacturer has not clarified whether it still plans to manufacture electric vehicles in that country from 2027, current demand for hybrids has ultimately tipped the balance. Subaru is thus choosing to slow the transition to electric mobility, adapting to its customers’ actual preferences and the current level of demand for this type of vehicle.