The Honda Prelude continues to kick the Subaru BRZ’s butt as the former sold 318 hybrid coupes in May. That outpaced their more traditional rival, which only moved 255 units.

Thankfully, it wasn’t all bad news for sporty Subies as WRX sales soared 147.9% to 1,195 units. The company didn’t bother mentioning the low-volume sedan in their sales release, but the increase is hardly surprising given the fact that they slashed prices and brought back the entry-level variant.

More: WRX Sales Fell Off A Cliff, So Subaru Brings Back The Cheap One

Thanks to the changes, the 2026 WRX begins at $32,495 and that’s $5,255 less than last year’s model. Subaru also lowered the price of the WRX Premium by $3,755, while the WRX Limited was slashed by $3,685. Even the WRX GT and WRX tS got a $2,710 reduction.

Putting the fun stuff aside, overall Subaru sales were up 10.4% last month to 57,748 units. This was largely due to strong demand for the Crosstrek and Forester.

Subaru noted the Crosstrek achieved its best May ever, while hybrid sales hit a new monthly record. The Japanese automaker also posted its best-ever EV monthly sales of 3,094 units.

While the Solterra dropped 39.8%, the decline in sales was more than offset by the new Trailseeker and Uncharted. It’s worth noting the latter EV even outsold the aforementioned WRX.

As for the rest of the lineup, it wasn’t pretty and we’re not talking about the Outback. Sales of the aging Ascent continued their descent, while the Impreza plunged 35.8%. The zombie Legacy found 90 takers, but sales should fade quickly as a quick search suggests less than 100 new units remain in inventory.

Subaru May US Sales

Subaru’s electric future just got a lot less electric. The Japanese brand has confirmed it’s delaying the launch of its next wave of in-house EVs after demand for battery-powered vehicles cooled sharply in the US, its biggest market.

The automaker had planned to roll out up to four independently developed electric vehicles and build them at a new factory in Japan in 2028. Now, the Oizumi plant will start life producing gasoline and hybrid models instead, with EV production pushed further down the road.

More: Subaru Keeps Trademarking ACX STI, And The Coupe Rumors Keep Getting Louder

Subaru hasn’t said exactly when those delayed EVs might finally arrive. According to comments made by Subaru CEO Atsushi Osaki and reported by industry media, the company wants to keep watching market conditions before locking in new launch timing.

“In the US, our key market, the pace of BEV adoption has slowed due in part to the easing of environmental policies,” Osaki admitted in comments published by Automotive News.

“Given this, the timing of our BEV market introduction will be pushed back. We want to begin a comprehensive reevaluation of the entire strategy, including which models to bring to market.”

That’s a major shift for a company that previously aimed for EVs to account for half its global sales by 2030. Subaru’s planned battery factory project with Panasonic could also face delays as the company reassesses how much money it really wants to pour into EV development.

Current EVs Are Selling, But There’s An Asterisk

For now, Subaru’s electric lineup still relies heavily on its tie-up with Toyota. The MY26 Solterra (above) shares its bones with Toyota’s bZ, while newer models like the Uncharted (below) and Trailseeker were also developed through the partnership.

Ironically, Subaru’s EV sales aren’t exactly collapsing in the US, despite America getting the blame for this latest U-turn. Registrations for the Solterra climbed in North America earlier this year. The bigger issue seems to be profitability. Subaru’s been relying on hefty incentives to move EV inventory, something the brand usually avoids.

At the same time, weakening EV demand and changing US policies have many automakers rethinking aggressive electrification plans. Subaru now joins a growing list of brands, including Honda, GM, and Stellantis, that are dialing back ambitious EV schedules in favor of hybrids and combustion-powered models buyers actually want to purchase.

Subaru

The rumor mill around Subaru’s performance division has been working overtime lately. Fans of Subaru Tecnica International have spent months chasing reports of a returning WRX STI hot hatch, but the company may also be working on a new sports coupe with a proper STI variant attached.

The Trademarks

According to CarSales, Subaru has trademarked the ACX and ACX STI nameplates with IP Australia, a callback to the ACX-II concept car from 1985. The Australian outlet leans toward a gasoline-powered application, pointing to separate “Flat Shift” and “Rev Sync” filings as supporting evidence. However, trademarks lodged elsewhere in the world tell a different story.

More: Subaru Can’t Sell You A Proper WRX STI, But It’ll Race One Against Cars With Nearly Double Its Power

The ACX, VPX, and ZPX names have already been trademarked in the US, Canada, and the UK alongside their respective STI variants. Each of those filings carries a specific description: “Automobiles and structural parts therefore electric cars.” That wording leaves little to the imagination.

Illustrations: Theottle

Of the three new names, only VPX has been paired with a Wilderness designation, which points toward something taller and more utilitarian, whether a truck, a crossover, or an SUV. ACX and ZPX arrive without that context, leaving only earlier rumors and reports to go on. One plausible home for either name is the long-rumored successor to the BRZ.

Independent digital artist Theophilus Chin has imagined that successor as a fully electric sports car, pulling design language from the Performance-E STI Concept into a modernized two-door silhouette that still reads as a BRZ.

What About ICE?

Illustrations Theottle

The ACX paperwork tilts heavily toward a zero-emission powertrain, but the ongoing Subaru-Toyota partnership leaves room for a combustion sports car to exist alongside it.

More: Subaru’s BRZ Finally Has A Turbo And AWD, Just Not In A Version You Can Buy

Subaru recently launched a widebody BRZ-based rally car running a turbocharged engine and all-wheel drive, built to compete in the JRC. Toyota, meanwhile, is testing a still-unidentified WRC contender with a two-door coupe profile, widely believed to be the competition version of the upcoming GR Celica.

Subaru Boxer Rally Spec.Z

The two rally cars share nothing mechanically, but there is still a path for Subaru to field a sibling to the production Toyota GR Celica when that car arrives. Whether Toyota commits to a front-engined or mid-engined layout for the road car is still unresolved.

More: Subaru Says STI Is “Not Dead”, But Its Boxer May Be

Toyota has confirmed a next-generation GR 86 is coming, but the Subaru side of that partnership may diverge, with the next BRZ potentially going fully electric and adopting the elevated stance previewed by the Sport Mobility Concept.

Subaru’s take on the all-electric Toyota C-HR, badged the Uncharted, may share a name with a 2022 Hollywood blockbuster starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, but it has a unique appeal that makes it stand out in this ever-competitive segment. It’s now also much cheaper to lease than it was last year.

In California, the Uncharted Premium can be leased for $345 per month with 10,000 miles a year and just $845 due at signing. Roll the drive-off into the payment, and the effective cost lands at $368 per month over 36 months, a $97 monthly savings versus the previous deal.

Read: Subaru’s New $35K SUV Breaks Years Of AWD Tradition

This actually makes the all-new Uncharted cheaper to lease in some areas than a Crosstrek Hybrid. As Cars Direct notes, a Crosstrek Hybrid Sport is available for $339 per month in Los Angeles but requires a $3,829 signing fee, effectively increasing the price to $445 per month. A standard gas-powered Crosstrek can be leased for as little as $345 per month, so it does undercut the Uncharted.

Through these lease cuts, the Uncharted is now $11 cheaper per month than the updated Subaru Solterra Premium.

Nationwide Savings

Lease deals vary across the country, but cuts have also been made in several other states, including New York, where prices are down 12 percent to an effective $410 per month when factoring in the $885 due at signing.

Importantly, these figures apply exclusively to the entry-level model, which is limited to front-wheel drive and comes with a single electric motor. This motor produces 221 hp and draws its juice from a 74.7 kWh battery pack. Although the front-wheel drive model can’t match the 338 hp offered up by the twin-motor AWD Sport and GT models, it does have the highest driving range of any Uncharted model, quoted at up to 308 miles (496 km).