New Subaru Outback is “simply unsellable in Europe” for one very simple reason…
Subaru has confirmed that the new seventh-generation Outback will not be coming to the UK, or anywhere in Europe for that matter
The new seventh-generation Subaru Outback is different to all its ancestors, firstly because what was once an off-road-ready estate car has been transformed into an SUV, but also because this is the first iteration that won’t be sold in the UK.
In fact, Auto Express has learned that the new Subaru Outback won’t be sold anywhere in Europe, but why? Especially for a brand that prides itself on extremely high customer retention, and having a loyal customer base that will buy multiple iterations of long-serving models over many years.
Subaru’s general manager for Europe David Dello Stritto informed us that the new Outback would be “simply unsellable in Europe” due to the amount of CO2 it will produce and resulting high taxes, which left the brand with no other choice.
The company hasn’t revealed the emissions figures for new Outback yet, however it’s powered by the same naturally-aspirated 2.5-litre and turbocharged 2.4-litre four-cylinder ‘boxer’ engines found in the previous generation, which both produced around 200g/km of CO2. No form of hybrid assistance has been added to the engines either for the new model.
The latest Subaru Forester does have a mild-hybrid setup, but still emits 183g/km of CO2. For context, a rival Hyundai Tucson Hybrid produces between 130g/km and 148g/km, as does the closely related Kia Sportage Hybrid.
Stritto explained to us that “If you look at the current Forrester, it's selling quite well in your market. But if you go to some countries in Europe, you have to spend double on the car. Because in say France, your Forrester costs about €40,000 just to register it, and in total you’re paying between €70,000 and €80,000. It’s just unsaleable due to taxes, and Outback would be the same.”
Ultimately, as Stritto put it, “Yes, we know that introducing a new Outback would allow us to keep more customers, but in the end, they won't be able to afford it.”
Subaru customers response to EVs
Instead of offering the Mk7 Outback over here, we’re getting the all-new Subaru Trailseeker which follows a similar same formula, and is even a similar boxy shape, but gets around the emissions issue because it's all-electric.
Stritto admitted: “Our customers are telling us we didn't ask for electrification. But they're starting to get up okay with it, and they're starting to get used to the idea. It surprised me, the way e-Boxer was adopted, and it was adopted much quicker than I expected.”
The Trailseeker is due to go on sale in the UK by the middle of 2026, potentially wearing a different name. A similar thing happened with Subaru's other mid-size SUV that in the UK was called the XV, and Crosstrek in other markets.
If for whatever reason Subaru does decide to rename the Trailseeker, one alternative we floated was simply calling it the ‘E-Outback’ or ‘Outback EV’, to make it as familiar as possible to that legion of loyal customers we mentioned earlier. Stritto didn’t object to it, and responded with: “It could be.”
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