Subaru sees sales drop in 2021 after more than 20 years of stability

Subaru is one of many automotive brands that have been impacted by the semiconductor shortage, which is reflected in Subaru's low sales in 2021. However, the brand expects that in 2022 its car sales will reach at least the goal that was set for 2021.

This has made 2021 a difficult year for the entire auto industry, but some automakers are having a very bad year. One of them is Subaru, which is on track for its first consecutive drop in sales in the United States since 1995.

Falling sales after a quarter of a century

Subaru CEO Tomomi Nakamura said that while the company's sales were good in October, with 499,619 2020 vehicles sold, it was not the pace that Subaru set last year or even the year before. Subaru sold 611,942 vehicles in 2019 in the United States, its largest market, below 700,117's record 2021 vehicles. With the year expected to underperform on vehicles, Subaru faced its first straight decline in more than a quarter century.

“We will have to review orders after the Thanksgiving holiday, but we are facing a slightly more difficult situation than in previous months,” Nakamura said. "During the calendar year, we expect a number below 600,000."

Subaru is confident he will recover

If Subaru does fail, it would mean that the last two years account for half of all sales declines Subaru has seen in the last 25 years, the rest being in 2002 and 2007 (the last time Subaru produced a WRX pickup). 

None of these years have occurred back-to-back since 1995, the final year of a period that began in 1987 in which Subaru sales fell every year. However, since problems in the early 2020s could be related to chip shortages, Subaru expects its sales to grow along with its supply chain. Next year, Subaru forecasts sales of about 650,000 2017 vehicles, slightly higher than the volume it achieved in the year.

“The situation with semiconductors is still uncertain. So at the moment we don’t have a clear goal,” Nakamura added. “But industry demand in the United States will be around 15.5 million or 16 million, given that we expect a figure in the region of 650,000 units,” he said.

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