News summary produced by Claude AI
Subaru of America announced a recall affecting more than 541,000 vehicles this week, according to a notice from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The recalled models include certain Crosstrek, Forester, and Ascent SUVs manufactured across multiple model years, including 2026 Crosstrek Hybrid, 2025-2026 Forester and Forester Hybrid variants, and 2019-2026 Ascent vehicles.
The recall stems from inaccurate certification labels on the affected vehicles. Specifically, the labels contain incorrect gross axle weight rating, or GAWR, information. The GAWR indicates the maximum weight each axle of a vehicle is designed to support. According to NHTSA guidance, an inaccurate GAWR label could result in vehicle overloading, which raises the risk of accidents and crashes.
Subaru stated that no crashes or injuries related to this labeling issue have been reported in the United States to date. The company emphasized that no mechanical repairs are necessary to address the problem. Instead, Subaru plans to distribute corrective certification labels to affected owners, which can be affixed over the faulty original labels. Alternatively, owners may visit authorized Subaru dealerships to have technicians apply the replacement labels at no cost.
Owner notifications are scheduled to commence in late August, with additional correspondence to follow once the corrective labels become available. Consumers can determine whether their vehicles are included in the recall by using the NHTSA’s online database or Subaru’s dedicated recall lookup tool. Subaru of America, which operates as a New Jersey-based subsidiary of the larger Japanese automotive manufacturer, declined to provide additional comments beyond the official recall documentation.