While we're going off-topic (a bit? maybe not as we're still talking about Foresters!)...
I think that Subaru is finally starting to realize the "softroad" community exists and is a viable market to chase - at least for a while. Until sales fall away and the "softroad" Forester goes the way of the XT...
Remember, of course, what Subaru USED to be - a fairly competent "foul-weather" vehicle for use in the snow belt and PNW - they were solid, reliable and got good mileage and were able to handle just about any driving condition. The off-road/soft-road market has only recently become a "thing" - last 10 years or so. While there were some that made their Subaru AWDs into soft-roaders and this market has really begun to gain traction (pun intended) in the past few years, it's now a market that Subaru is actively courting. One merely needs to see the current advertising and marketing for the Crosstrek and (to a smaller extent) the Outback.
Subaru is seeing that the Forester is a better vehicle for some (many) opposed to the Crosstrek (too small, too underpowered) or the Outback (too long, too "old-Buick-wagon") and the Forester is a better alternative to the Jeep Compass and Cherokee models and (to a lesser extent) the 4Runner... In the leaked sales/marketing plans for SoA over the next few years (was all over the board a month or two ago) there IS a plan for a "Foresty" Forester - some package for the Foreste (and the Outback) that should appeal to the more outdoorsy shoppers. I think it is/was planned for release sometime next year as a 2022 model before the next generation (SL?) would be released in 2023 or 2024. Of course, now with COVID, all those release dates may be off...
Agreed, the orange trim bits on the Forester Sport may not be the most "sporty" but it was something to make the Sport unique beyond the black wheels (which are so common in the SUV markets)... It was something to make it "look" different from a Limited (same wheels, just shiny)... It was something.
As for the colors - not all of us spend all our days off-the-beaten-track and do a fair amount of life on-road... As such, some really DO want those fancier colors... Personally, I love my Marine Blue Pearl (2014 Limited) and don't find that to be a detriment to off-road use. Nor do I find my "platinum" leather interior color to be a bad choice. And for me, it's a much better choice than the black (or charcoal) interior from other colors and the XT - as I live in the desert southwest where a dark interior turns your vehicle to a rolling oven 3 or 4 months of the year.
The "desert khaki" paint from the Crosstrek did not seem to be too popular (iirc) and was gone in a generation. It looked rather bland and had no style - to many at least.
And agreed - image is everything (or at least pretty damn important)... wasn't it Billy Crystal (a la Fernando) that sang "to look good is to feel good" and that looks are "it"...? But we need to recall that for every Forester buyer that is interested in a more off-road capable Forester, there are many more that just DO want that mall-crawler SUV with good economy, stellar safety and an affordable price-point for their daily commute and being around town in Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont or Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
But there is a market for those "tougher" looking Foresters (and Bronco and Bronco Sport) models with more off-road appearance and equipment modifications from the factory. The Bronco is - at least at this point - garnering a lot of interest from the "retro" buying group - the same group that made the PT Cruiser such a hit 20 years ago and continued to sell pretty damn well 10 years later... And also the VW Beetle and Chevy SSH and HHR and the Prowler - a niche market for sure.
Not sure if Subaru is a big enough manufacturer to chase a niche market any longer. Subaru is in a middle place right now - still small enough to keep certain aspects of their past in their present and future - and yet not quite large enough to follow limited market places (like an XT Turbo). They continue to find many buyers - across all the products - and continue to grow in sales and market share, but then need to still keep those core aspects - safety, economical operation and all-weather capability and reliability (overall) while still branching out to find new markets (like the outdoorsy set going camping and soft-roading) without compromising their primary market.
Just like Ford is doing with the Mustang Mach-E - they're compromising their primary market (the sporty car shopper) to add an cross-over like e-vehicle to their product line - to take a successful nameplate and use it to promote a new unproven model... That goes back to the 50s and 60s when you'd have one model name (like Ford Galaxie or Chrysler Newport or Dodge Polara) cover the cheapie economy model to the top line luxo boat. The original New Yorker was an offshoot of the Newport...
now I'm really going to the weeds.
(I-94 in the Detroit area.) I would give the Bronco Sport a year or so and with the "big" Bronco sold out for the full 2021 model year into 2022, I'm betting that prices will be high.
