The recently launched Subaru Outback XT has proven to be a hit, with the brand’s local director confirming around one in three sales in Australia are turbocharged variants.
“XT Turbo would be 30 to 35 per cent of Outback sales mix. It’s been good, incremental growth,” said Blair Read, managing director for Subaru Australia.
“We’ve been able to deliver for all the customers that asked us to bring that here, and it’s really helped with the brand’s performance”.
Outback Sport XT
Having long been forbidden fruit for our region, Subaru Australia’s campaigning with its global parent finally got the 2.4-litre turbocharged powertrain approved for production in Japan, which Mr Read previously said would “address the loss of the 3.6L engine from the previous generation”.
The local version of the Outback XT, which launched Down Under in February, develops 183kW of power and 350Nm of torque, a little down on the 195kW/376Nm tune of the North American version.
Subaru mixed in the launch of the turbocharged XT with a mid-life refresh of the wider line-up, which saw minor design changes along with the addition of wireless smartphone mirroring.
The Subaru Outback XT is available in mid-spec Sport and top-spec Touring grades, priced from $52,190 to $55,990 before on-road costs – a $5000 premium over the equivalent naturally aspirated 2.5-litre petrol Outback AWD.
Outback Touring XT
Sales of the Subaru Outback are going strong in Australia, with 3831 registrations recorded to the end of April 2023, marking 56.6 per cent growth on the Jan-Apr period in 2022.
The Outback range is currently sitting fourth in the Large SUV segment sales race for the year, behind the Isuzu MU-X (4893 units), Toyota LandCruiser Prado (3982 units) and Kia Sorento (3979 units).
You can read our Australian launch review of the Outback XT here.
