√2023 Subaru Solterra electric SUV due mid-year, price yet to be announced

The first electric vehicle from Subaru – the Forester-sized Solterra, co-developed with Toyota – is due in Australia from the middle of the year, but pricing is yet to be announced.

The 2023 Subaru Solterra electric vehicle is due in Australia in July this year – pending any further delays – however price is yet to be announced and the company has warned stock will initially be limited.

The Solterra – the company’s first electric vehicle available outside Japan – is the Subaru twin to the Toyota BZ4X.

Both vehicles are built in the same Toyota factory, differing only in badges and bumpers.

However, the Subaru will arrive in Australian showrooms first, due from July onwards – ahead of the Toyota BZ4X which is due in the final months of this year.

Prices for the Subaru Solterra – and its Toyota BZ4X twin – are yet to be confirmed, however the managing director of Subaru Australia, Blair Read, told Drive the Solterra would be priced similarly to rivals.

Mr Read did not specify any vehicles in particular, but he is likely referring to other mid-size electric SUVs such as the Tesla Model Y, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6.

Most versions of these vehicles – excluding high-performance models – are priced from $70,000 to $85,000 plus on-road costs.

If this price range is matched by the Solterra, it would make the new electric car the most expensive four-door Subaru ever sold in Australia – but not the most expensive of all time, which remains the circa-$80,000 Subaru SVX coupe of the 1990s.

“I can’t give you an exact [price yet]. What I would say [is] … look at where that car will sit versus competitors,” Subaru Australia boss Blair Read told Drive in a media briefing last week.

“What we’ve said from day one is if you look at that market … there’s a sort of a common ground of where most [similar electric vehicles from other brands] are hitting the market, and that’s where we’re aiming to be. We’re aiming to be competitive in the market.”

Orders for the Subaru Solterra are not due to open in Australia until pricing is announced, however Subaru has previously said it attracted 5000 expressions of interest in the first three weeks after the vehicle was confirmed for Australia.

While expressions of interest do not directly translate to orders, Mr Read said the company expects the high demand to mean the allocation of Solterra vehicles for Australia will be “limited”.

“We have an allocation locked in for the second half of this year, and I think given the interest we are seeing [from existing Subaru owners, and through dealers], that allocation will be limited,” he said.

“That’s probably the best way of putting it. We expect to see a lot of Subaru owners expressing interest and we’ll keep working to try and get more [cars],” the executive said.

While the Subaru Solterra is due in Australian showrooms before its Toyota twin, it is unclear if Subaru Australia will benefit from the same updated model that Toyota Australia has delayed the BZ4X in order to receive.

“Timings have firmed up a little bit since we spoke about mid-2023. They’ve moved back maybe four to six weeks, just now that we’ve seen production for the second half of the year, so [it’s] early second-half [of 2023] for when we will see Solterra here,” Mr Read said.

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