Subaru Solterra electric SUV here by August
Japanese brand’s first EV to beat Toyota’s sister model to market – and will come with Aussie chassis tuningThe 2023 Subaru Solterra will hit Australian dealerships around July or August as the Japanese brand’s first EV – and the all-electric mid-size SUV will get locally-tweaked driving dynamics.
Subaru Australia managing director Blair Read confirmed the imminent arrival of the Solterra as being early in the second half of the year – about a month later than originally planned.
“Timing has firmed up,” Read told carsales. “We’ve been saying mid-year all along… start of second half [of the year] launch will happen.”
That means the Subaru Solterra will beat its twin, the Toyota bZ4X, into local dealerships.
Toyota recently confirmed the bZ4X’s Australian arrival had been delayed until late 2023 as the brand awaits a yet-to-be-revealed updated model.
Read said specification and pricing of the Solterra was yet to be confirmed, but confirmed that Australians would be getting the latest iteration of the Solterra.
“We are getting the [20]24 model year,” he said. “It’ll be the latest [version] for Subaru.”
Australian-delivered Solterras will also get tweaks to their suspension and steering following an extensive local evaluation project.
Subaru drove thousands of kilometres in three pre-production vehicles that have been here since 2022.
“We’re sharing all the data [with Subaru in Japan] from the test cars we’ve had in country,” said Read.
“[The car we launch] will be an Australian-spec car,” he said, adding it would have “different tuning”.
As with the bZ4X, the Solterra is likely to have a premium price tag starting above $70,000.
It could creep even higher given Subaru won’t be offering a more affordable single-motor front-drive version, instead committing only to dual-motor versions in line with its all-wheel drive brand positioning in Australia.
However, Read says there will still likely be queues for the brand’s first EV.
“We’re going to have an allocation, that’s locked in,” said Read. “Given the interest there is, that’s going to be limited. We’re working on more allocation.”
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