Subaru may well be one of Japan’s most important car manufacturers, but when it comes to its sales, overseas consumption is paramount. After all, the US is by far Subaru’s most important market, accounting for seven in 10 of the company’s sales.
It’s little wonder, then, that Subaru chose its US manufacturing facility to build one of its top stateside models. And this popular model is not only a good seller but also turns out to be one of America’s most reliable vehicles, generating a win-win result for all concerned.
Subaru Brought Crosstrek Production To America
2025 Subaru Crosstrek – front 3/4 angle in gray while drivingSubaru
When Subaru moved Crosstrek production to Indiana in May 2023, it was making a bet – that an American-built version of its top seller could match the dependability reputation its Japanese factories had spent decades building.
Subaru builds every non-hybrid Crosstrek trim at its sprawling factory, Subaru of Indiana Automotive or SIA for short. It began its Crosstrek production in May 2023 at this Lafayette facility, having removed its Impreza from that Lafayette production line. This would be the first time that Subaru had built the Crosstrek in the US, and it initially focused on the 2.5-liter Crosstrek Sport, Limited, and Wilderness models. In 2025, Subaru sold 191,724 Crosstreks in the US, an increase of 5.5% over the previous year and a record for the nameplate. It also turned out to be Subaru of America’s highest-volume model, ahead of both the Outback and the Forester.
Initially, Subaru decided to keep building the lower-output 2.0-liter Base and Premium models in Japan while focusing on higher-demand 2.5-liter versions for the Crosstrek’s largest customer base. But in 2026, Subaru decided to discontinue the 2.0-liter engine for US consumers altogether, and made the naturally aspirated 2.5-liter flat-four standard across the gas range.
For American buyers in 2026, Subaru sells the Base, Premium, Sport, Limited, and Wilderness gas models, all of which it assembles in its Indiana plant. It does import one specific kind of Crosstrek, in Sport Hybrid and Limited Hybrid form, as it continues to build these vehicles in Japan for subsequent export.
Dependability Became A Crosstrek Calling Card
2023 Subaru Crosstrek Limited. Motion. Front, three-quartersSubaru USA
In its 2026 US Vehicle Dependability Study, JD Power named the Crosstrek the highest-rated small/subcompact SUV. This study examined input from more than 33,000 original owners of 2023 model-year vehicles and quizzed them on their ownership experience after around three years of ownership. The study covered more than 180 problem areas across a variety of categories, such as powertrain, driver systems, equipment, infotainment, and driving experience. And when JD Power tallied all the results, Crosstrek owners had reported fewer problems than their opposite numbers with other eligible models in this segment.
The Crosstrek may score particularly well because it can avoid some of the mechanical complexity issues that may plague turbocharged or electrified rivals. That relative simplicity starts with a 2.5-liter horizontally opposed flat-four engine that, in its naturally aspirated form, produces 180 horsepower. It pairs with Subaru’s Lineartronic continuously variable transmission and standard Symmetrical AWD. However, the engine still uses modern electronic controls, so it’s not mechanically primitive in any way, while the CVT has electronic management and there’s a broad collection of driver assistance and infotainment technology options, too.
Subaru is proud to claim that 96% of its Crosstrek vehicles sold during the previous decade are still on the road. It used vehicle registration data from Experian to cover model years 2015 through 2024 to back up its marketing and point to the Crosstrek’s reliability. Still, those statistics don’t mean that older Crosstreks never need repairs. They simply show that these vehicles still retain registration papers rather than representing some kind of failure rate study.But raw retention data only tells part of the story – the harder question is whether the award-winning reliability transfers to the Indiana line.
American Assembly Was Never A Downgrade
Subaru Indiana assembly plant milestone vehiclesSubaru
Vehicles built by Japanese manufacturers tend to have strong reliability ratings across the board. But some people automatically assume that anything other than a domestically built Japanese car is a downgrade, even though such an assumption overlooks how modern vehicle production works. Manufacturers like Subaru are perfectly capable of setting up corporate quality systems, assembly procedures, supply chains, and other systems across national borders. And when it comes to Subaru’s US plans, its ambitions are clear to see.
After all, the Indiana operation is not a third-party factory but a fully owned, top-class facility that happens to be the company’s only automotive manufacturing facility outside its home country. This Indiana vehicle production facility employs 6,500 people and covers a wide range of operations, from stamping and body assembly all the way through to final assembly.
The SIA facility also operates under ISO 9001 quality management certification, with a consistent monitoring process throughout the operation, applying quality requirements to incoming components and suppliers as well. ISO 9001 is a significant certification and is straightforward evidence of a documented quality management system. And when it comes to the Crosstrek itself, the American-built and Japanese-built versions are broadly similar in any case. Subaru technicians in Indiana use the same core platform, safety systems, boxer engine concept, and all-wheel drive philosophy as their counterparts in Japan.
Still, when it comes to dependability, there is an important caveat, and it remains to be seen whether the 2026 Crosstreks emerging from the Indiana facility can achieve JD Power Reliability Rankings in their own right. After all, the 2026 study evaluated the 2023 model-year vehicles that originated in Japan, so the first Indiana-built examples will only enter the appropriate age window when it comes to dependability studies in 2027.
But there’s nevertheless some evidence that Subaru’s US operations are hitting the mark. Consumer Reports selected the 2026 Crosstrek as its best subcompact SUV for a third consecutive year. In doing so, analysts praised its versatility, ride, handling, and added ground clearance, which clearly gives plenty of recognition to the current Indiana product.
Why The Crosstrek’s Value Case Extends Well Beyond Reliability Rankings
2026 Subaru Crosstrek front row interiorSubaru
Looking beyond dependability metrics, the Crosstrek still has a lot to offer in other areas. Perhaps most importantly, it features equipment that consumers would normally associate with more expensive crossovers in an accessible, everyday, and compact machine. Every 2026 Crosstrek has all-wheel drive as standard, and this often comes as an option in other manufacturers’ showrooms or is reserved for higher trims. The standard Crosstreks have 8.7 inches of ground clearance, which increases to 9.3 inches in the Wilderness model; and the Wilderness also features shorter gearing, a 3,500 lb towing capacity, and all-terrain tires.
Subaru includes EyeSight driver assistance technology as standard. As far as fuel economy is concerned, the regular gas models return EPA estimates of up to 27 MPG city and 33 MPG highway. This slips a little with the more aggressively equipped Wilderness, which returns 24 MPG city and 29 MPG highway. And while those figures may not be class-leading, they’re still competitive when you consider that this crossover has standard all-wheel-drive at the entry level.
The base Crosstrek stickers for $26,995 before destination charges and goes up to $33,795 for the Wilderness. The Premium comes in at $27,995, the Sport at $30,625, and the Limited at $32,995. And that aggressive pricing policy may have helped Subaru to win a separate award. TheCrosstreks were on top in the small SUV category in the 2026 JD Power US ALG Residual Value Awards, the third consecutive time the Crosstrek had won that category. This suggests that depreciation is relatively kind to the Crosstreks, which, of course, directly factors into the total financial cost of owning and later replacing the vehicle.
To round out its packaging, Subaru backs up the Crosstrek with a conventional warranty program. This covers three years or 36,000 miles of basic coverage, and five years or 60,000 miles for the powertrain.
The Indiana-Built Crosstrek Still Has Something To Prove
2024 Subaru Crosstrek Sport front 3/4 angle in green while driving through mudSubaru
Subaru has every reason to be pleased with its Crosstrek performance in the US and its plans to build every gas-powered version in Indiana clearly appear to be paying off. But while Subaru can champion the JD Power Dependability award, that recognition still belongs to 2023 model-year vehicles, which originated in Japan, before Crosstrek manufacturing landed in Indiana. That’s also the year Subaru started building cars in Indiana.
Time will tell how that particular analysis pans out, but even so, the Crosstrek is still one of America’s most highly regarded small crossovers. It also seems highly unlikely that Subaru will drop the ball from a quality-control point of view going forward, especially as the Crosstrek is one of its most important models and the US is clearly its North Star.
We can already see the results, with the 2024 and 2025 US-built Crosstreks receiving 83 and 85 out of 100 for quality and reliability from JD Power. That latter score ties it with the Chevrolet Trailblazer at the top of the class.
Sources: Subaru, Consumer Reports, JD Power.
