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The Subaru Trailseeker will be "unique" and likely to outsell the smaller Solterra EV by attracting Outback buyers, the brand's boss says.
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The Subaru Trailseeker large electric SUV is expected to be more popular than the smaller Solterra, the brand has said, despite significant improvements to the latter for its second generation.
The Subaru Trailseeker, an electric alternative to the Outback wagon known as the e-Outback in Europe, is now confirmed for Australia, and due to arrive between April and June this year.
Speaking with Drive at the launch of the new-generation Outback, Subaru Australia’s General Manager, Scott Lawrence, said the Trailseeker is “going to be quite unique”.
“Trailseeker fits a really deliberate part of the Subaru range. A lot of people have commented on the Outback getting bolder. From a design point of view, we're leaning into our rugged capability,” he told us.
“Trailseeker scratches that for a more sleek [design], and I would say it's perhaps more aligned to the current or outgoing-generation Outback. I think both will do the job for customers.
“But knowing our customer base, and how successful the Outback has been, Trialseeker will definitely pull those customers, and it's also going to be quite unique in that segment.
“Large electric SUVs are not that common.”
The Subaru Trailseeker is due to arrive at the same time as its twin, the Toyota bZ4X Touring, reflecting the connection between the Solterra and the standard bZ4x.
While the Solterra and regular bZ4x are built in a Toyota factory in Japan, this time Subaru has taken responsibility for manufacturing the Trailseeker and bZ4X Touring twins.
Although the car maker hasn’t yet revealed full pricing and specifications for the Trailseeker, it is expected to be slightly more expensive than the Solterra and more powerful, with 280kW on tap.
It has an additional 140 millimetres of length behind the rear axle for more cargo space, is taller, and features larger roof rails.
However, it will use the same 74.7kWh battery as the Solterra, but with a slightly lower driving range rating of around 533km, and match the new model’s 1500kg braked towing capacity.
Lawrence said it was too “early days” to predict what Trailseeker sales might look like, but the brand hopes it performs better than the first-generation Solterra, which was outgunned by the bZ4x in the sales race five-to-one last year.
“For me, Trialseeker versus Solterra, I don't have a particular aim or want to outsell the other. They're both going to target different customers,” he said.
In 2025, 1041 examples of the bZ4x were sold in Australia compared with just 202 Solterras.
Reports on the second-generation Solterra, which went on sale in November, suggest it is much improved over its predecessor.
A bigger CATL 74.7kWh battery – up from 71kWh – increases its driving range rating from 414km to 566km, and all grades have a new 252kW dual-motor all-wheel-drive setup, up from 160kW, making the Solterra the most powerful production Subaru sold in Australia to date.
The new model also features exterior design changes, a larger 14-inch touchscreen, dual wireless phone chargers, and more, but at a lower asking price.
The 2026 Subaru Solterra now starts from $63,990 before on-road costs – down $6000 – while the AWD Touring costs $69,990, down $7000.
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A born-and-bred newshound, Kathryn has worked her way up through the ranks reporting for, and later editing, two renowned UK regional newspapers and websites, before moving on to join the digital newsdesk of one of the world’s most popular newspapers – The Sun. More recently, she’s done a short stint in PR in the not-for-profit sector, and led the news team at Wheels Media.
