SUBARU: June sales down on chip shortage; Q2 sales still jump 18%

The ongoing global chip shortage led to a 20 percent decrease in Subaru of America deliveries in June to 42,877 vehicles.

Despite this, Subaru's second-quarter U.S. sales gained 18 percent to 160,824.

Subaru, like most major automakers, has been grappling with low inventories caused by production cuts linked to microchip shortages. U.S. dealerships are coping.

"Given our inventory at this time, we were pleased with the June sales results our nimble retailers worked hard to deliver, and we thank them for their efforts," Subaru of America CEO Tom Doll said in a statement.

The Outback was June's top seller, with 16,394 deliveries, increasing 60 percent over June 2020. It accounted for 38 percent of the automaker's sales for the month. For the quarter, Outback sales surged 55 percent to 46,116 vehicles.

Notable nameplates: Outback, up 60%; Forester, down 55%; Crosstrek, down 37%; Ascent, down 15%

Incentives: $1,203 per vehicle, down 31% from a year earlier, according to TrueCar.

Average transaction price: $31,876, up 5.5% from a year earlier, TrueCar says.

Quote: "While the global microchip shortage affecting the automotive industry continues to pose challenges, our retailer network went above and beyond to deliver the very best for our customers in June," Jeff Walters, senior vice president of sales, said in a statement.

Did you know? Even with a 55 percent plunge in June, the Forester compact crossover still managed to be Subaru's top-selling vehicle in the second quarter and the first half of the year. Deliveries rose 3.2 percent to 48,271 in the quarter and gained 12 percent to 95,965 in the first half.