The End of an Era: Subaru Discontinues the Legacy Sedan

The sluggish sales performance is deemed a key factor in Subaru's decision to discontinue the Legacy and make way for an electric future.

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The Subaru Legacy will cease production next year. Image source: Subaru.

According to Motor1, it has been confirmed that the Subaru Legacy will discontinue production by the end of 2025. Earlier this week, the Japanese automaker announced that it would halt the assembly of this sedan model to focus on the electrification of its product lineup.

In the US market, the Subaru Legacy will still be priced at $26,015 (including a $1,120 delivery fee), with EyeSight technology as standard equipment across all trims.

It is understood that Legacy sales have stagnated since 2020, when the seventh generation of this midsize sedan was introduced. Motor1 reports that the annual sales volume of the Subaru Legacy during 2020-2022 was around 25,000 units. The disappointing sales even led to the removal of the Legacy from Subaru’s lineup in Australia and its home market of Japan.

In 2023, the Subaru Legacy unexpectedly recorded a 12.9% growth in sales to reach 25,510 units. However, in the first quarter of 2024, sales of the Japanese sedan decreased by 13.1%.

The best annual sales performance for the Subaru Legacy was in 2016, when the Japanese automaker confirmed the delivery of 65,306 Legacy vehicles to global customers.

The Subaru Legacy will conclude its over 35-year lifespan, making way for electric vehicles. Image source: Subaru.

Legacy was introduced by Subaru in 1989, making it the first model to be manufactured by the Japanese automaker in the US. Since then, all Subaru Legacy vehicles in the US market have been produced at the Lafayette plant (Indiana, USA), with total sales of over 1.3 million units in 35 years.

According to Car and Driver, Subaru believes that the departure of the Legacy reflects the market shift from low-slung cars to high-riding SUVs and crossovers. At the same time, the discontinuation of the Subaru Legacy is also a move to pave the way for the electrification process that the Japanese automaker is undertaking.

Previously, Subaru announced that it would introduce a total of eight electric models in its lineup by 2028. Therefore, Motor1 speculates that the gap left by the Legacy will soon be filled by an equivalent model but with an electric powertrain.

According to Subaru’s report, the company’s total global sales in 2023 were 912,452 units. The US was Subaru’s leading market, with sales of 632,086 units, followed by its home market, where a total of 106,002 vehicles were sold to Japanese customers in 2023.

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