SOME car brands are globally popular, while others remain a niche, but every once in a while amarque’s popularity in a certain country has us scratching our heads.
Take Subaru. In 2024, it sold just 2,419cars in the UK, and data from the SMMT says that so far in 2025 it’s currently holding on to just 0.11 per cent of the new-car market.
But in the United States, the story is very different. In 2024, the Japanese maker held a 4.3 per cent market share, making it the eighth-biggest brand there and ahead of the likes of Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes. In total, Subaru sold a whopping 667,725 cars, but it’s only sold just over 250,000 cars in its entire time on the UK market.
Are we missing a trick?…