Solterra cost-cut not a reaction to bZ4X pricing, says Subaru

The last-minute pre-launch change to the cost of the Solterra electric SUV was not influenced by pricing for its Toyota bZ4X twin, says Subaru.

Subaru Australia initially priced its first fully electric vehicle from $77,990 in late 2023, having first confirmed the Solterra for this market in mid 2022.

The brand made a surprise dramatic cut to the Solterra’s pricing just a week ahead of its local media launch and first customer deliveries, reducing the starting price to $69,990 and paring the more expensive Touring grade by $6700.

It follows a similar move by Ford, which dropped the price of its rival Mustang Mach-E by up to $7000 – though in this case weeks after the Australian launch.

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Toyota didn’t confirm pricing for the bZ4x until the same day both brands were launching the near-identical vehicles. The bZ4X is more affordable from $66,000, though is offered as a front-wheel-drive model in base form where the Solterra is all-wheel drive only.

The more comparable AWD bZ4X costs $74,990 before on-road costs, undercutting the Solterra AWD Touring by $2000.

Subaru Australia’s managing director, Blair Read, said the company hadn’t seen the bZ4X’s pricing prior to its change and said it was even possible Toyota had instead reacted to the Solterra’s earlier announcement.

“That’s always the risk,” said Read, when asked about the challenge of price positioning when two brands launch a co-developed model. “Then making the [pricing] change last week it was like, ‘Did [Toyota] react to what we've done?’ You don’t know; you’ve just got to roll a dice and put your best foot forward.

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“For us, we'd had some dealer and customer feedback [on the Solterra pricing], and thought, ‘Look, can we do something here?’ We worked with the factory and [figured] if we're going to do it, let's do it before first customer deliveries, so those people get the benefit.

"[We wanted to ensure] those long-term Subaru owners or people who had expressed interest and wanted to put money down 18 months ago when we first [confirmed Solterra] were supported through that process and that we didn't forget about them. So a late [pricing] change, but it was driven by doing the right thing for the customer.”

The Solterra enters one of the most competitive segments of the growing EV space. Besides the bZ4X and Mustang Mach-E, the Subaru also competes against the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, as well as the best-selling EV globally and locally, the Tesla Model Y.

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Many rivals, not just its Toyota twin, offer front-wheel or rear-wheel drive models with single motors that are cheaper. The Solterra is the most affordable AWD in its class.

Read admitted there was a different challenge to face with launching its first electric vehicle and wouldn’t be drawn on potential sales for the Solterra, with Toyota indicating

“I think we've always said that [EVs is] a really dynamic market space. New competitors, including us, and technology is changing quite rapidly, so you have to be quite adaptable.

“I think it’s too early to speculate on volumes and positioning, or to try and lock yourself into a position. We will respond to how customers respond. We've got good support from the factory that if we need to get some more production to manage lead times we can.”

Subaru globally plans to have another four battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in play by 2026, with another four by 2028.

The company believes BEVs will account for 50 per cent of Subaru production by 2030.