Subaru started production of the Baja in 2002 and the first model got sold the following year. It was the first truck since the Brat model the company had discontinued in the late eighties. The Baja received its name after the infamous off-road race series, in an attempt to capture the spirit of the adventure that came with the prestigious event.
The Baja was a compact unibody truck. Every model came equipped with all-wheel drive and a 2.5-liter B4 engine. It had 16-inch rims and a 17 gallon fuel tank. The models produced in the first year only pushed out 165 horsepower. Subaru decided the truck needed more kick to it and added a turbocharger with a hood scoop. This brought it up to 210 horsepower as well as 235 lbs of torque.
It came standard with a five-speed manual transmission, and a four-speed automatic came as an option. A rather large portion of the design was actually borrowed from the Outback. Subaru designed the Baja based on the body and frame of the Outback and simply added a small truck bed instead of a trunk. The truck bed was about half the size of its competition, being just under 42 inches long.
The interior was also very similar to the Outback, but with different trim options to add some variety. Since the Baja was rather small to be a truck, Subaru gave it a switchback feature — an access door between the bed and the back of the cabin. The door opened to allow the driver to haul items up to seven feet long. It was an effective way to add more cargo room, but the switchback was really only useful for slim items. The opening was large enough for things like wooden boards and small pipes, but not much else was going to fit.
Pros and Cons
There were many ups and downs to consider before purchasing a vehicle as unique as this. In some ways, it was the best of both worlds. It had some of the hauling capabilities that came with owning a truck, but it was more agile and easier to maneuver, as crossovers tend to be.
The Baja had a much better fuel economy than other trucks in those days. It averaged a 21 mpg in the city and 28 mpg on the highway. In 2004, trucks like the Chevy Silverado and the S10 would only get a combined mpg of around 15. It could serve as a great alternative for someone who doesn't quite need the power that comes with larger gas guzzlers.
Other than having better gas mileage, the Baja really couldn't compete with other trucks. It had a towing capacity of only 2,400 lbs while the Chevy S10 could tow 5 200 lbs. The Baja was performing at about half the rate of most other compact trucks. It would be difficult to convert someone who was already a truck owner to swap to this impractical setup.
Why Did Subaru Stop Making the Baja?
Production of the Baja only lasted four short years, ranging from 2002 to 2006. As unique and interesting as the vehicle was, the Baja sold poorly. At the time, there wasn't much demand for these little trucks. Consumers who were in the market for trucks required something bigger and more practical. Consumers who were looking for cars didn't quite need what the Baja had to offer. Unfortunately, for a lot of potential customers, it fell in between their wants and needs without fulfilling them.
It was a marketing and sales disaster and during its production years, the model only sold around thirty thousand units.
Subaru had high hopes that the unique design would be refreshing and exciting to consumers. Even after the company added the turbo to bring some life to the design, the Baja still failed to bring in enough sales to be worth keeping on the assembly line. It failed to set itself apart from the Outback and didn't perform well enough to stand with the other trucks on the market.
Another key factor that lead to the failure of the Baja was the sales strategy. It couldn't perform as well as the competition and was far more expensive. The starting price was set to $25,000 the first year it got released. Even though it was almost identical to the Outback, it was $6,000 higher in price. It was also twice the price of the Ford Ranger, which had a base price of about $12,000 for the same year.
A Return in 2025?
With other car companies beginning to release similar concepts, it may be time for Subaru to bring back the Baja. Hyundai has released the Santa Cruz and Ford has their own compact unibody truck with the Maverick. It appears the market may be creating the demand for a vehicle like the Baja. Websites such as TorqueNews.com, and many others have speculated how and why Subaru should give the Baja another chance. Some have even gone to the lengths of drafting their own concepts and debating which current model it should get based off of. At the moment, Subaru has not commented on creating another Baja, but all the buzz surrounding it may get them to consider it.