2025 Subaru Legacy to mark end of brand's midsize sedan

Subaru said it will end production of its oldest U.S.-built model, the Legacy sedan, after the 2025 model year, citing a shift in consumer preferences away from cars to crossovers and SUVs.

The Japanese automaker also said Tuesday that it plans to produce eight electric vehicles globally by 2028. Ending Legacy output at a plant in Lafayette, Ind., would presumably free up capacity for Subaru to produce at least one of those EVs in the U.S., helping it to potentially qualify for EV consumer tax credits.

Subaru joins Ford, Volkswagen, Mazda, Buick, Mitsubishi, Chrysler and Dodge in dropping midsize sedans, once one of the industry's biggest segments and long dominated by the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.

Nissan, Chevrolet, Kia and Hyundai also still market midsize sedans in the U.S.

Midsize sedan sales rose 3.6 percent to 884,949 last year as the market recovered from a chip shortage, down from a recent high of 2.469 million in 2014, but deliveries slipped 3.3 percent to 213,483 in the first quarter.

The Legacy midsize sedan debuted in 1989 with total U.S. sales of 1.3 million across six generations, Subaru said. In 2023, U.S. sales of the sedan grew 13 percent over 2022 to 25,510 as production and supply constraints eased. First-quarter deliveries declined over the first quarter of 2022 by 13 percent to 4,398.

The Legacy wagon was the genesis for the Outback, one of Subaru's most popular models now and in recent decades.

Subaru said it will extend the 2024 Legacy's starting price of $26,015 including delivery, for the 2025 model.,