Subaru Solterra arrival delayed until December 2023

Subaru New Zealand (SNZ) managing director Wallis Dumper has confirmed that the arrival of the battery electric Solterra SUV has been delayed until the end of 2023.

A left-hand-drive pre-production vehicle was unveiled to media and Subaru dealers back in July 2022, and it was announced that two model variants would be available for general sale in April 2023.

At the Subaru Crosstrek launch on June 8, Dumper says the Solterra arrival was then pushed back to July and now the latest forecast is December. He did not qualify the reasons for the delay but it is likely that demand from larger markets has taken precedence over Australia and New Zealand.

New Zealand receives the same vehicle specification as the Australian market.

Dumper and SNZ national sales manager Wayne McLennan are travelling to Japan in mid-June to confirm production schedules with the factory.

But Dumper says Subaru Corporation is serious about electrification and there will be four battery electric vehicles in the New Zealand market by the end of 2026.

He says Japan will have the capacity to manufacture more than 200,000 battery electric vehicles by the end of 2026 and more than 400,000 units by the end of 2028.