Yeah, I get why Subaru went full-bland because that’s what sells in this segment, but thanks to the Toyota/Honda juggernaut of Highlander/Pilot it’s a hard segment to break into.
Makers that try “interesting” are relegated to low sales volumes.
Subaru has had more and more success with the more mainstream they’ve become, so it makes sense for the Ascent to be as mainstream as possible.
One difference is history. The Forester was one of the original CUVs and taking it more mainstream wasn’t as hard as a new car in a new-to-Subaru segment. They failed horribly with the Tribeca despite it being a pretty decent product.
I think the Ascent will sell enough for Subaru to keep it, but I’m. It sure if it will become a large volume player. Time will tell.