(Bloomberg) -- Walk around any convention-style car show, and the Subaru section is likely to stand out. Leaning into its popularity among outdoorsy types, the carmaker displays its latest models not on sterile stages but in oases of synthetic trees and puppies. So crunchy is the brand’s vibe that it’s surprising an EV wasn’t among those models until early 2023, when Subaru launched the Solterra in the US.
However, Subaru’s slow burn seems to be paying off. The carmaker sold 4,200 Solterras in the US in the second quarter, according to Cox Automotive — nearly triple the model’s sales in the same period last year. Another breakout hit, the bZ4X from Toyota, notched 7,600 sales in the second quarter, up almost four-fold from the year-earlier period. (It hit the US market at the end of 2022.)
Indeed, for all the talk of an EV slowdown in the US, Subaru and Toyota’s second-quarter sales growth suggests they are among the carmakers tapping into a swath of drivers who were simply waiting for their preferred brand to turn out an electric model.
To be sure, Tesla is still the reigning champion when it comes to electric car sales. The company delivered 444,000 vehicles globally in the second quarter, 4.8% lower than the second quarter of 2023 but still miles ahead of the competition. In the US, Tesla’s share of the EV market dipped below 50% for the first time in the second quarter, but it still sold 164,000 cars and trucks, according to Cox.
Tom McKinnon, a 67-year-old retired chemical engineering professor in Colorado, bought a bZ4X in June after his 23-year-old gas-powered Subaru died. McKinnon says he chose the Toyota model — which he has affectionately dubbed the “Busy Forks” — because he’s concerned about climate change.
Two months post-purchase, McKinnon’s EV still has fewer than 100 miles (160 kilometers) on it. But he’s already grown fond of the car’s parking sensors and its powerful regenerative braking. McKinnon also liked the price tag: The bZ4X starts at $42,000.
“I can count the number of cars I’ve owned on one hand,” he says. “Usually I overthink my big purchases, but not this one.”
There’s some evidence of a larger group of drivers like McKinnon, who’ve wanted to go electric but held off on making the switch until their preferred carmaker stamped out an EV. Both Subaru and Toyota have some of the most loyal followings in the car business, and regularly appear at or near the top of rankings on owner satisfaction, reliability and resale value.
When the Solterra dropped, McKinnon was one of the first in line. He only decided on the bZ4X — which was developed in concert with Subaru — after seeing a great price at his local dealership.
Jeff Buchanan, Toyota’s vice president of marketing and communications, says two-thirds of bZ4X drivers are new to EVs, and roughly half already own a Toyota. The carmaker is still trading on the “environmental equity” it built with its Prius hybrid back in 1997, Buchanan says, and when it comes to new technology, buyers “want to be comfortable with the brand they’re choosing.”
The Solterra and the bZ4X are part of a parade of EVs now on offer in the US, a product blitz that has helped the market pick up speed even as drivers shift away from Tesla.
Although BloombergNEF recently reduced its EV sales projections on cooling demand, Americans bought 331,500 fully electric vehicles in the second quarter, an 11% increase over the year-earlier quarter. The results were buoyed by relatively new entrants like the Cadillac Lyriq and Chevrolet Blazer, while Ford’s Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning stayed among the top sellers.
“There’s this narrative that there’s not EV demand,” says Stephanie Valdez-Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox. “Well, this is a proof point … It was definitely a surprisingly successful EV story.”
Valdez-Streaty says more models and greater availability of existing models are helping fuel sales. She estimates EVs will soon account for 10% of new car sales in the US, compared with 8% now.
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