Subaru Australia has won Roy Morgan’s Major Car Manufacturer of the Year award for the second year running, giving the brand a useful customer satisfaction win backed by a large national survey rather than a showroom ribbon. It the local importers have any sense of urgency, Inchcape needs this win.
Before we move on, let’s take a walk down memory lane:
Subaru experienced a rather alarming downturn in Australian sales for March 2026, with monthly results falling by 15.9% compared to the same period in 2025. The brand flogged 2,691 scoobs during the month, for to a year-to-date (YTD) total of 7,683 vehicles. This sub-par performance reflects a continued slide from the glory of its top-ten sales position that it yielded to newcomers over the recent years. Subaru, Honda, and VW have all seen the same telling trends. Broader downward trend for 2026 should be wheeling out the klaxons over at OZ HQ as YTD volumes dropped by 20.3% compared to 2025. So, Subaru’s total market share for the month is 2.6%, down from 2.9% in March 2025 and if this figure drops further, will heads roll?
Looking back even further, Subaru’s largest ever annual market share in Australia was 4.4%, in 2017.
The brand didn’t know it, but that would be their high point. The peak followed a record-breaker of 52,511 cars and SUVs, marking its 18th annual sales record in a 20-year period. During that year, the brand’s growth of 11.7% outpaced the overall market’s very ordinary 0.9% increase. It all seemed so promising.
2017 might be the high-water mark, but Subaru has had other notable performances:
- Monthly Peak: In July 2017, the brand briefly hit a 5% market share.
- Global Standing: In early 2023, Subaru Australia’s 3.8% share was the highest for the brand in any market globally.
- Recent Performance: In June 2023, Subaru secured a 3.9% share for the month, driven by a strong SUV lineup.
Since then, the boutique brand’s decline is evident across Subaru’s key passenger models, particularly in the small car segments where it was always strongest. Sales for the Subaru Impreza fell sharply by 52.9% for the month, with only 72 delivered compared to 153 in March 2025. The Subaru WRX also saw a reduction in volume, dropping 10.7% monthly to 100 units and showing a 29.9% decline YTD. These figures mirrored a wider contraction in the Australian new car market, which saw total sales decrease by 3.3% for the month. We shouldn’t take that as all brands suffering the same drops, they aren’t. Other brands have had nice little bumps, so something else is at play.
That is why the 2025 Roy Morgan Annual Customer Satisfaction Awards are a shot in the arm. The Roy Morgan Single Source survey asks more than 60,000 Australians raties companies across 40 categories every year. The annual winner is the brand with the most monthly satisfaction wins, so this is owner approval rather than one bright month of sales whoopie.
Subaru won eight of the 12 monthly awards in 2025 and averaged 93.7% customer satisfaction, ahead of Kia with four monthly wins. Roy Morgan says Subaru has now won 30 monthly satisfaction awards between 2021 and 2025, more than twice the next best car brand.
That does not make every Subaru perfect, oh no. It doesn’t answer questions about price pressure, nor does it respond to waiting times or the fight from newer Chinese brands. It does say Subaru owners continue to rate their ownership experience as top-notch, which is useful in a market where reliability, dealer support and after-sales confidence still carry weight.
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ABOVE: Subaru models from the GCB library, used for Subaru Australia customer satisfaction coverage.
Subaru Australia General Manager Scott Lawrence said the result made the company proud and humbled, especially in a market where customers have more choice than ever. He pointed to engineering quality and the retailer network, something other brands can’t match. Subaru is not only selling the usual promise of all-wheel drive and sensible engineering, it is the lure of the dealer network being woven in as part of the product pitch.
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine said Subaru’s 2025 result followed wins in 2021 and 2024, giving the Japanese-headquartered brand three overall victories in the category. She also noted Subaru sold close to 40,000 vehicles locally in 2025.
Subaru has been rebuilding attention around Forester, Outback, WRX and its growing-but-glacial EV plans. They’re talking up back-to-back Canstar Blue Most Satisfied Customers SUV titles, but satisfaction awards do not replace fresh product. Still, awards give the brand something many rivals would happily claim: owners who come back saying the experience worked.
The award is not a comparison test that tells buyers which Subaru is best. Instead, it is a useful insight into existing customers who have stayed happy across several years. In the shouty world of prolific PR releases and manic marketing “activations”, the only reviews that really count are the ones from existing owners. Anything else can come from a brochure.
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Alan Zurvas is the founder and editor of Gay Car Boys, Australia's leading LGBTQI+ automotive publication. Before launching GCB in 2008, Alan's automotive writing was published in SameSame.com.au and the Star Observer. With over 16 years of hands-on car reviewing experience, Alan brings an honest, irreverent voice to every review — championing value and innovation over brand loyalty.
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