For more than 30 years, the Subaru Outback has been largely categorized as a wagon, specifically at first and broadly as of late. Even as the Legacy wagon disappeared, it was still the go-to machine for Americans who wanted something more practical than a sedan but not as bulky as an SUV-aping crossover. That just changed.
At the New York Auto Show on Wednesday, Subaru unveiled the new 2026 Outback, and it looks like it’s gone full crossover. Gone are any car-like cues, with the new model instead looking like a supersized Forester. It’s a dramatic departure from a norm that’s existed since the mid-1990s, and I can’t help but wonder if the push for further mass appeal might alienate the Outback faithful.
Let’s start with what’s going on under the skin, because it’ll immediately be familiar. Buyers can choose from a 2.5-liter naturally aspirated flat-four making 180 horsepower or a 260-horsepower turbocharged 2.4-liter flat-four, with the exclusive transmission choice being a CVT, and all models driving all four wheels. That’s all carryover stuff, and so is the Subaru Global Platform underneath the new crossover skin.
Moving inside the new Outback, the interior feels like a step forward. Rotary knobs for temperature control return, the HVAC system gains a litany of actual buttons and a separate display, and a new infotainment system now features a rather square 12.1-inch touchscreen. Add in a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and swaths of stitched textiles, and the cabin of the new Outback looks like a nicer, more intuitive place than the inside of the outgoing model.
However, we really need to talk about the styling because it’s a seismic change from what we’re used to. Instead of a rounded, low-body-up-high look, the new Outback is all about blocky off-road posturing. From the flat hood to the split headlight treatment to the sheer amount of metal seen in profile, it’s not a handsome vehicle. What’s more, it’s clear that the new Outback is going after the Honda Passport, and that might be a huge mistake.
See, Subaru already makes two crossovers that look like crossovers. There’s the two-row Forester and the three-row Ascent, both covering important bases in the market. In contrast, two-row midsize crossovers with more traditional, chunky forms have generally lived in the sales shadows of their siblings. The Honda Passport has been a relatively slow seller compared to the three-row Pilot and more affordable CR-V. Through Q1, the two-row midsized combustion-powered Chevrolet Blazer sold roughly half as many units as the three-row Traverse and a drop in the bucket compared to ICE Equinox sales.
At the same time, the Outback developed a strong identity not just for what it was, but what it wasn’t. It wasn’t a macho’d up mall crawler for families to drive down to Denny’s in, it was a wagon with some extra ground clearance for getting to the chalet in deep snow, or reaching somewhat remote trailheads. The people who buy Outbacks could buy a Forester or an Ascent, but they don’t. They know what they like, and something tells me this isn’t it.
While change is inevitable, abandoning the utter dominance of a niche in search of a slice of a small pie just doesn’t seem like a wise move. Subaru can’t afford to get the Outback wrong, yet as someone who’s loved Outbacks, I’m afraid they might have done just that with the seventh-generation model. Subaru itself calling the new Outback an SUV in the press release feels like a failure to read the room. While the Trailseeker will likely pick up some lost sales, buyers who just want a midsize wagon soon won’t have any affordable options in America. Time to pour one out.
Top graphic image: Matt Hardigree
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I don’t get all the hate. It is certainly different than the prior car, but it just looks like a blocky crossover wagon thing. They will probably sell in record numbers, maybe I am just smitten with that lovely blue color.
Didn’t the Aztek conclusively demonstrate that split headlights are awful? Do we need to revisit this?
A very perceptive story. This captures it:
> The people who buy Outbacks could buy a Forester or an Ascent, but they don’t. They know what they like, and something tells me this isn’t it.
Are they just doing this so people think the WRX is less ugly?
Every time Subaru releases something new, I don’t think they can disappoint me any more, but here we are.
If the Nissan Kicks was inspired by a shoe, this is the box it came in.
100% ugly and no hybrid? How does this even make sense? And then the Trailseeker is using gen 6 Outback body panels just to make us feel worse? No love, Subaru. No love.
The Outback hasn’t been a wagon for many years.
The United States government disagrees with you.
I believe they classify all vehicles as trucks now because why bother, but the Outback was officially a station wagon.
Do they? Here is a 2010 Outback officially classified as a 4WD SUV on an official .gov website next to a 2023 EV6 AWD classified as a station wagon.
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=28816&id=46004
No, not all vehicles are classified as light truck – there are actual rules for that involving things like ground clearance, break over angle, etc.
Why the squared off wheel wells? Looked stupid on an 04 avalanche, looks stupid now. And I own an 04 avalanche. Somehow it escaped the wheel well treatment, don’t ask me how
TBF Subaru might be reading the zeitgeist* here. With the recent idiotic attacks on the rights of, and persecution of LGBTQ+ people, some of them might feel attracted
to the idea of armouring up in a butch vehicle as a sense of perceived comfort. I wonder what’s in it for the dogs though. I’m guessing the climb in height has increased too.
*I’m just using the opportunity to use the word zeitgeist on the only website that won’t ban me for that.
Did they focus group test this???? Yikes
Gaussian blur group is the new thing.
Subaru’s styling department really should be up there with BMW in terms of “Did you hire a blind designer or what?” Egads.
Funny thing. My mom has always had impeccable taste yet thinks her Crosstrek looks awesome and has commented on how she thinks recent BMWs look really nice. We are nudging her into senility assessment…
Well, I think few Subarus built in the last couple of decades have sold based on their looks, so maybe Subie buyers won’t care about the needless butchening. I don’t care for it personally, but pretty much almost all Subies are out of contention for me due to their CVT, which is mediocre at best (better than Nissan’s, but not quite as good as Honda’s).
I do like that Geyser Blue color though.
The Wilderness trim turns this kind of ugly car into something unforgivably hideous, which is really a shame since it’s the most capable.
No complaints about it getting a little taller, though. I don’t think I’ve ever said “this car would be great except for all the head room and space for my stuff.”
It looks like a 10-15 yr old GM SUV.
It’ll probably be a massive success because I hate it.
The Outback (aka Forester L) appears as if designed on a Minecraft creative server, but since there’s no longer sedan underpinnings to temper Subaru’s worst design impulses, they went full Lego with extra cladding.
Can’t blame Subaru, for they know their buyers prioritize practicality over design and performance, and the YouTube reveal comments bear this out with the focus being on celebrating the return of interior buttons and knobs.
Well at least I know I won’t be tempted to buy a new Subaru in this age of tariffs.
If the styling wasn’t enough to outright reject this, the “we’re still at 180hp” is a absolute nope. I had a 2010 outback with 170HP with the 6spd manual, and that thing needed more than 10 additional HP to make it respectable. I can only assume this one is much heavier now, and through a CVT, it has to be an absolute slug.
The only reason I haven’t owned a string of outbacks for the past 20 years is those pathetic engines. They’re so loud and wheezy.
I wouldn’t call it ugly when every single thing Toyota builds is sitting RIGHT THERE scaring the hell out of small children. Boxy sells very well and this lacks risky styling decisions (a-hum, Hyundai) that are not to everyone’s taste and usually don’t age well. I think this new Outback will do just fine but it WILL have trouble differentiating itself from the new Forester.
if it weren’t for the Toyota-zed front end, it’s a pretty good throwback to the first outback.
Might be a huge mistake or it might not be. We’ll check back in a years time.
I hate breaking this to you and judging by the amount of comments I’m not the first, but I do not think more than probably like 10% of all outbacks sold last generation were to people who wanted a wagon. I think people mostly got it because it was decent and they could larp as a hippy in it. Like a less annoying version of people moving south from up north and immediately blowing 60-70 grand on a new jeep or truck to “look the part”
I’m struggling to find a positive…um…the bumpers! All that black plastic might actually protect the car from minor bumps and scrapes!
Yeah, other than that I got nothing. Subarus have never been good looking to me, but that thing is hideous.
The discontinuance of the Legacy sedan meant Subaru could make the new Outback a full-blown SUV. Clearly they were so enamored by what they CAN do, they didn’t think enough about whether they SHOULD.
Something named “Outback” should have to be thoroughly tested in the actual Australian Outback to be sure that it deserves to use the name.
The same goes for the LeMans and the Monte Carlo. Additionally, the Parisienne should have to be driven and parked in Paris. The New Yorker gets a pass because it looks like a taxi. Can the Kia Rio actually survive a year in Rio? (It means “river”… can it swim or float?) Can the Alfa Romeo Montreal dependably start and get around in a subzero Quebec winter?
> Can the Alfa Romeo Montreal dependably start and get around?
Fix that for you.
The Alfa Montreal should’ve come standard with a CHOM Radio advertising plate in the front license plate bracket and a Parc Safari sticker on the back bumper.
That is one ugly Pathfinder.
Excuse me, sir, the Trailseeker is *over there.*
I have to assume that the design brief said “Make it look like the Ascent,” but the printer jammed and mangled the “c” so it looked like an “s” and cut off the rest. If that’s what they were going for, then yeah.
I guess this leaves room for a revived Outback Sport with an Envista-like roofline for a dollop of coupé style and even more sporty claddin’.
And these are built in Indiana, right? The tariffs won’t keep me away.
It’s as if Subaru said “we sell too many vehicles,” and set out to fix that.
That is one of, if not the, ugliest car things I’ve ever seen. Not a single line is right. Seeing a Cybertruck after this would be a relief on one’s eyes.
Let’s not get hyperbolic here. That would only be true if the Cybertruck’s sharp corner or loose trim poked out one’s eyes.