If yer looking for a midsize sedan with all-wheel drive, the list of choices is about to get smaller. Subaru has announced production of the Legacy will end early in the 2025 calendar.
It was only a few days ago we brought news that the Exploding Galaxy brand was holding the line in terms of pricing for the Legacy headed into its 2025 model year, starting at an MSRP of $24,895. As one would expect, Subaru said its discontinuation reflects market shifts from passenger cars to high-riding SUVs and crossovers. It goes on to note its efforts of transition to electrified and fully electric vehicles, with plans to produce an octet of EV models by 2028.
Since it appeared, Legacy models sold in America have been assembled at the brand’s facility in Lafayette. That plant, located in Indiana, has made somewhere just on either side of 300,000 vehicles per year for each of the last 10 years. Production waxed and waned up to that point from its opening in 1989, with 116,297 machines being hove out in 1991 but 216,198 assembled in 1998. Subaru claims more than 6,000 associates toil at the place for North American production for the Ascent, Crosstrek, Legacy, and Outback models. It is likely the cancelation of Legacy will make room for more production of the other three models.
Where might some Legacy shoppers end up? In Outbacks or Foresters, if staff on the sales floor are any good at their jobs, of course. Barring that, recall that Camry is available with all-wheel drive, as is the Hyundai Sonata. It’s an odd scenario to think of those brands offering an solution to something not available at a Subaru dealership, since it was precisely the inverse situation which led to Subie’s growth in the 1990s and 2000s.
Through to the end of March 2024, the Legacy has found 4,398 buyers compared to 35,213 takers for the Outback. While that’s quite a gulf, it should be noted the Crosstrek moved 38,405 units and the Forester drove away with 48,546 new owners. It’s clear – and unsurprising – where the brand’s profits lie. Subaru delivered a total of 152,996 vehicles in that timeframe.
Still, we’ll pour one out for the demise of yet another midsize sedan.
[Image: Subaru]
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