Subaru Forester and Outback sales have been excellent for over 20 years....as has also been those of the recent Impreza based Crosstrek. (For those of you who remember it, I myself owned an Outback for some six years, when I needed a winter-ready vehicle).

Not so the ill-fated Tribeca, however....and, IMO, one single test-drive showed why. Getting behind the wheel of a Tribeca was like driving a downsized school bus. It was arguably the most boring, ho-hum, appliance-like, modern vehicle on the road that I've sampled.....even an El Strippo 12K Mitsubishi Mirage, with old-fashioned wind-up windows and manual door locks, had more personality and character. Subaru phased the Tribeca out of the American market from lack of sales.

In the Tribeca's wake, however, comes the promise of a far greater success...the Ascent. Like the Tribeca, it will have a third-row, and will introduce an all-new 2.4L turbo four....basically a successor to the old 2.5L turbos used in XT and WRX models. I won't go into the specs much here, since we already have a thread Hoovey posted several months ago with that data.

But what is significant about the Ascent is that, while new Tribecas couldn't be given away, one Subaru shop is already getting more orders than they can handle (and are being allowed), even though production itself has not yet started.....we probably won't see the first delivered models until summer. While one shop, of course, does not necessarily make a nationwide trend, I think this vehicle, especially in today's SUV-friendly climate, is indeed going be a winner. No, I haven't test-driven it yet.....but it couldn't possibly be more boring to drive than a Tribeca school bus LOL.


This article explains it in more detail:

https://www.torquenews.com/1084/2019...e-mind-blowing

By Denis Flierl G+ Feb 25 2018 - 8:42am

2019 Subaru Ascent Pre-Orders Are Mind-Blowing

The all-new Subaru Ascent is already a big hit with consumers. See how one dealer has pre-sold their entire allotment.
Ascent front

Ascent rear

Ascent cabin

Ascent SUVThe new 2019 Subaru Ascent 3-Row family hauler doesn’t arrive at U.S. dealer showrooms until this summer, but they can be pre-ordered now. We have heard one Subaru dealer, has already pre-sold their entire allotment of new Ascent vehicles.

According to a tip Torque News received from a source who works at the dealership, the new Ascent is a hot item already for the brand. She told us they were allocated 31 new Ascent family haulers and 4 days after they could be pre-ordered, all 31 have been sold. Families who want one will have to either put their names on a list or wait until more arrive sometime this summer.

The all-new Subaru Ascent is being built at the revamped Subaru plant in Lafayette, Indiana, Subaru of Indiana Automotive (SIA). The plant has already undergone a major expansion nearly doubling production capacity. This year, they are set to produce 342,000 Subaru vehicles, which in addition to the Ascent, the production includes the Subaru Outback wagon, new Impreza compact sedan and 5-Door hatch and the Legacy sedan.

Based on current trends, Subaru may not be able to build enough of the new Ascent 3-Row crossovers to satisfy the demand for the new flagship model in the U.S. and Canada. Subaru expected the new Ascent to be a big hit with North American families and they could sell more than 60,000 of the new family-sized SUVs in the first year.

Ascent pre-orders are mind-blowing

Subaru figures to cash in on the crossover craze that is driving their sales to new records every year. Subaru could sell more Ascents than their new Impreza compact and Legacy sedan that are built in Indiana. The Subaru source told us “If you want one, you will either have to order one and get it in July or wait till we can get one on the ground that is not already sold! This is mind-blowing!”

We asked who is buying the new Ascent, and she told us most of the buyers are new to the Subaru brand, but there are also some current customers trading out of Outbacks. This Subaru dealer is seeing mostly the upper Limited ($38,995) and Touring ($44,695) trims being pre-ordered by customers.

Subaru expected the new all-wheel-drive family vehicle to be a big hit with current customers looking to move up from an Outback or Forester, and families looking for a 3-Row crossover who have never purchased a Subaru vehicle before. Subaru could have a problem right out the gate and may not be able to build the Ascent 3-Row crossovers fast enough to satisfy the demand for the new flagship model.

The all-new 2019 Subaru Ascent won’t arrive in showrooms until this summer, and some dealers have already sold their pre-order allotment. It looks like Subaru has hit a home run with the new Ascent.

 

 

They sold that in four days. That's almost eight each day....not including the regular Forester/Outback/Impreza/Crosstrek sales.

Like I said, one dealership doesn't necessarily make a widespread-pattern, but I think we're going to see more of this. The Ascent is probably going to succeed where the Tribeca clearly failed.

 

 

Seattle suburbanites' new favorite vehicle.

I knew from the moment this was unveiled it would be a massive hit.

 

Atlas and now Ascent, yawn with their 10 year old designs. On the positive, boxiness = space.

 

No.....it's larger than the Equinox. The Equinox is too short for a third-row.

 

The Ascent, though, unlike the Atlas, doesn't have VW's terrible publicity to deal with. Now, it turns out that not only did they cheat on the diesel-smog-progranning, but even tested it on monkeys....and there was some talk of using humans.

And, its road-manners couldn't be any worse than that of the Tribeca, which was a classic snooze-fest if there ever was one.

Boxiness certainly worked for the Forester and Outback. It should also work for the Ascent, which, of course, adds the convenience of a third-row...though the new RX-L proves that simply adding a thread-row of seats doesn't guarantee that it will be done correctly.

 

 

Not completely so, but I can't say that I disagree.....you do have a point. It more or less straddles the line between a traditional minivan and crossover SUV.

 

people like their boring designs it seems... they cater to their market.

 

they could have named it the Portlandia

funny how target customers will overlook complete absence of electrification in subaru vehicles.

 

 

IMO, it is actually more the the government that is forcing (or trying to force) the electrification of the auto industry, not customers. Tax credits, HOV-priviledges, CAFE/emissions standards, subsidies for purchases, electric-vehicle-quotas, etc..... all that action comes from governments, not consumers. Buick tried making a hew hybrid powertrain standard in the Lacrosse this year (one reason why, wanting the gas V6, I had to re-order my car three times LOL)...there few, if any takers, for the hybrid. Same with Subaru itself. They tried a hybrid Crosstrek, and had to pull it from a lack of sales.

https://www.torquenews.com/1084/3-re...ts-coming-2018

Perhaps the one exception remains the Toyota Prius. It always was the King of the hybrids...arguably (?) the only one what a truly cult-like customer base.

 

Subaru plug-in hybrid to use Prius Prime parts, coming in 2019

https://www.greencarreports.com/news...coming-in-2019