Subaru's Having Trouble Selling WRXs
Subaru released the VB-generation WRX for the 2022 model year, immediately stirring controversy with the car’s funky styling, high price, and lack of an available STI model. Buyers are voting against the car with their wallets, as it saw declining sales last quarter, while Subaru overall increased sales by 4.5 percent..
Subaru sold 10,664 WRXs through July of last year, but it only managed 6,888 through the same period in 2025, a more than 35 percent decline. The car has an interesting trim lineup, with the GT trim offering the best features and tech but lacking a manual transmission option. The Premium, Limited, and tS trims are available with a manual, but they don’t have features like a sunroof, which some buyers prefer.
The price is likely the bigger issue here. Subaru charges $37,750 for the base Premium trim before destination charges, which increases to almost $48,000 for the GT and tS models. Those prices are in line with the WRX’s competitors, including the Honda Civic Type R and Toyota GR Corolla. The WRX is cheaper than others, but these are still serious prices for a Subaru sedan.
The high prices we see today are a notable increase over the 2024 model’s pricing, which started at about $1,000 less. Subaru also boosted pricing for the 2025 model after the initial announcement, raising the MSRP earlier this summer.
[Images: Subaru]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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Idk.. got my premium in 2023 for an out the door price of $33,600. So I think I got a pretty soild platform for the price, your not gonna win many drag races, it is quick tho, and it's a grip monster on a windy road with summer tire package. Super fun
Perhaps if they did not have fake shifting and engine noise and instead at least used a traditional transmission like the BRZ…