Down Under on top? Subaru's new boss to increase focus on Australia and electric cars as brand grows sales - report

Things are looking strong for Subaru Australia, and not just because sales numbers are rising.

Subaru has a new CEO in Atsushi Osaki, the company's current head of manufacturing, and while electrification and the changing industry is a priority, he says Australia is one of the key areas in the world where there's space for growth.

While speaking at a press conference upon the announcement of Osaki's appointment as CEO, Automotive News reports he spoke specifically about some of the brand's largest markets, including Australia.

"I believe we can still grow our sales in the US... We also receive a lot of customer inquiries from Japan, Asia, Australia and Canada as well," he said. 

Australia is the company's fourth-largest market in the world, behind its home nation of Japan, the US, and Canada, having sold 36,036 cars here in 2022.

While that's only 3.3 per cent of new cars sold in Australia in 2022, the tendency for Australians to buy all-wheel drive, off-road capable cars to suit an outdoor lifestyle makes the country attractive to the brand.

Osaki further added that the situation around supply and the shortage of semiconductors, of which there are still lingering effects, means it's currently a challenge to make any significant gains to meet demand.

"At the moment, we are unable to meet such potential demand due to chip shortages, but we will work to resolve such issues and seek to further increase our sales globally."

This means Subaru Australia could be on track to, if slowly, improve its already growing sales figures.

The brand started off 2023 strong, having already sold 4054 cars over January and February, a typically quiet part of the year, compared to the 3151 sales for the same two months in 2022.

This year so far, it holds 4.5 per cent of the market, and could even further improve that.

While improving supply must be part of the equation, Subaru's pre-pandemic sales were able to reach up to 50,000 per year before 2020.

If Subaru's global executives are putting Australia on the priority list, the strong start to 2023 could make a foundation for continued growth.

Of course, the biggest hurdle is the need to shift to electrification eventually, though Subaru's smaller sales focus on places like Europe where ICE car sales are set to be banned within a decade or so means it might be able to capitalise on sales where it can still sell its petrol-powered models.

"We at Subaru want to survive the age of electrification by being nimble," Osaki said. "We will put various systems in place while focusing on flexibility and expansion."

Subaru's Solterra electric car, which is built with its Toyota bZ4X twin, is still yet to land in Australia, though will beat the late-2023 launch of the Toyota by some months if all goes to plan.