2012 Subaru Impreza Rescues April Sales Numbers

In the wake of yesterday’s industry-standard sales number inundation, there is a story that seems to have been overlooked in the hubbub: Subaru‘s 2012 Impreza saving the company’s sales numbers.

Redesigned for 2012, the automaker’s entry-level compact car was traditionally built on the same platform as its more performance-oriented WRX sibling. For this year, Subaru decided to sever that tie in favor of building a more mellow and economically-minded vehicle to better address the segment it was meant to fill.

While it’s easy to speculate about how a car will sell, or the merits of a redesign, the truth doesn’t really surface until its manufacturer releases sales numbers. With first-quarter figures available as of yesterday, it seems the somewhat bland Impreza, which lost horsepower this year thanks to it’s 2.0-liter boxer engine, was actually a hit with consumers.

In fact, if it weren’t for the astounding 158 percent sales increase over a year ago in April, Subaru would have likely posted a loss. Instead the brand issued a release heralding the “best April sales in company history.”

While we weren’t particularly in love with the Impreza’s underwhelming performance, it does its job very well, achieving 27/36 mpg city/highway with all-wheel drive.

The Outback still outsold the Impreza with about 35,600 units since April, 2011, but that represented a marginal increase. The Impreza, on the other hand, sold roughly 27,891 units for a massive 158 percent increase. While the company wouldn’t have posted an overall loss, there wouldn’t have been any rosy “best ever” statements either.