Subaru WRX smashes Australian sales record

The landmark sales result easily surpasses the WRX’s previous 469-unit record that has stood since popularity of the original first-generation model peaked in 1999.

April’s record result included 550 regular WRXs and 141 WRX STIs – the latter only on sale since the middle of the month.

Subaru Australia managing director Nick Senior said demand for the continuously variable transmission (CVT) had been higher than anticipated, with more than 50 per cent of customers opting for the automatic over the manual.

Senior said high demand meant some WRX would be forced to wait until August to take delivery of their cars.

The WRX’s unprecedented sales result pushed total Subaru sales to 2903 in April, up 13.7 per cent compared with the same month last year. It was the brand’s second-highest-selling model, narrowly trailing the Forester (728) and eclipsing the XV (610), Impreza (349) and the Outback (276).

According to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries’ official VFACTS sales data the Subaru WRX claimed a 4.0 per cent share of the small car segment. If it were positioned in the arguably more appropriate sub-$80K sports car segment alongside the likes of the Hyundai Veloster (228 sales), Renault Megane RS265 (48) and Toyota 86 (312), however, it would have claimed 40 per cent of that segment.

The Subaru WRX is priced from $38,990, while the WRX STI costs from $49,990.

Read CarAdvice's Subaru WRX and Subaru WRX STI reviews.