Subaru has tens of thousands of customer vehicles on back order, Doll said, and dealers may have to go back to customers to persuade them to move from a 2022 that they ordered to a 2023 model.
Patrick Wergin, chairman of the Subaru National Retailer Advisory Board, said demand for the brand’s vehicles remains strong and that customers “have been resilient” in waiting for their vehicles.
The same will be true when dealers start delivering the Solterra EV, he predicted.
Wergin said that at points, his inventory had fallen to just one new unit of any model. But every Subaru dealer is practiced in how to sell into the pipeline, he said.
“We know how to communicate with our clients, how to keep them engaged and take them on the journey with us as we wait for the vehicle to arrive,” Wergin said.
