Toyota GR86 Sales Shoot Through the Roof, Subaru BRZ Falls to the Basement

You probably know by now that the Toyota GR86 and Subaru BRZ share almost everything besides a badge. It's a curious case, then, that the Toyota is selling better than ever while the Subaru seriously struggled in May. There's more to this story, but off the bat, the numbers are striking: Toyota sold 1,981 examples of the GR86 last month, strongly contrasting with Subaru which delivered just 227 two-door sports cars wearing the BRZ nameplate.

The juxtaposition between the Subaru and Toyota twins' sales is strong, no doubt, but the latter has just about always outsold the former by a wide margin. The latest tumble in BRZ sales is nonetheless alarming for Toyobaru fans in the U.S., where the BRZ's sales decline could threaten the blue-badged model's future.

For reference, Subaru sold 638 BRZs in May 2023, showing a 64.4% decline compared to last year. Taking a look that's further zoomed out, year-to-date numbers through May 2024 show 1,171 sold compared to 2,130 models through the first five months of 2023. That's a 45% decline in YTD sales for the Subaru coupe.

Meanwhile, the Toyota GR86 just had its best sales month ever in the U.S., seeing a massive increase of 104.4% in May 2024 compared to the year prior. Last month alone, Toyota sold more GR86s than Subaru has BRZs all year up to this point.

Stats between the two cars are extremely similar, from performance to pricing. The 2024 Toyota GR86 starts at $30,395 including destination fees, while the 2024 Subaru BRZ costs a bit more at $31,315. It's doubtful that a sub-$1,000 gap is making the difference in sales, though it's hard to explain what could be the cause.

It makes sense that the Toyota version would outsell the Subaru, at least by a little. Surely some of the deficit can be explained by the sheer stature of Toyota, which carries with it a larger dealer network as well. But here's hoping things pick up so the two manufacturers can keep splitting development and production costs. The Toyobaru twins are great cars, but without either of the automakers, its future is murky at best.

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