Subaru content with Levorg sales, but range growth is key

On the smaller side of medium, the Levorg sits alongside Subaru's big Liberty sedan as one of the brand's two offerings. With no Liberty wagon in the current line-up - dropped locally in favour of the jacked-up but mostly identical Outback - the Levorg fills the 'conventional wagon' role.

With 493 sales year-to-date, the Levorg is well behind the Liberty's 1193 sales, but with those numbers combined, the duo stacks up well against sedan-and-wagon pairs like the Mazda 6 (1842), Mondeo (1622), Passat (1366) and Octavia (845).

Speaking with CarAdvice, Subaru Australia managing director Colin Christie was upbeat about the numbers, declaring the Levorg is punching above its weight.

"If you look at it from a market point of view, it's actually performing pretty well in that wagon segment. It's actually getting a pretty good share of the segment and we're pretty happy with that," Christie said.

"I think the more people we can get into it [the better], and in fact the conversion is pretty strong. So, of people who get in and drive it, it converts [to sales] really well. The brand name is also really young - it's only 12 months out in market, and it takes a while to build up a new nameplate."

Above: the current pre-update Levorg and the now superseded 2016 Octavia design

The Levorg is currently offered with only a 2.0-litre petrol engine, but with 197kW and 350Nm on hand, the wagon has managed to find enough friends to satisfy the brand - even though it can be had only in CVT automatic form, a transmission design normally spurned by performance-hungry drivers.

The local line-up is expected to grow in the very near future with the addition of the STI Sport variant (below), adding styling and handling goodies but no extra power, and the more entry-level 125kW 1.6-litre turbo petrol model already available overseas.

"We have a 'facelift' coming in, that's got a few things and changes to the range that I think will have some impact there," Christie said.

"We won't talk price at this point in time, but we're still looking at where we're bringing it in and at what price we can bring it in. It'll certainly be an attractive price point for everything it's got."

Available in $43,240 2.0GT and $49,140 2.0GT-S forms, the current Levorg range competes at the higher end of the price range in its segment. The Octavia wagon, for example, tops out at $43,990 but can be had from as low as $24,690 (all prices exclude on-road costs).

Come the local debut of the smaller 1.6-litre engine, Subaru should be able to bring the entry level closer to that point, although a figure still within the $30,000-35,000 space seems likely - particularly if it arrives as well-equipped as promised.

"We'd certainly hope it'd start to build a bit more volume into the range, and it broadens its attraction as well," Christie concluded.

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