Another car bites the dust?

[RaceR]

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/defa...?storyId=26839

RIP SUBARU IMPREZA
It's true, in the UK at least - due to falling sales, Subaru is pulling the plug to focus on its SUVs


Nostalgic tears will be shed this weekend on news that Subaru UK has imported its final Impreza WRX STI, and its last Impreza full-stop.
The firm told PistonHeads the reason was plain and simple: people weren’t buying them anymore. “It’s uncompetitive in terms of CO2, and it’s got a diminishing fan base. It’s become a very tough sell,” a spokesman said.


The Impreza became a legend in the '90s...In a further blow he said Subaru would now be concentrating on SUVs in the UK, including the Forester, leaving the BRZ the only car for performance fans.
He’s right about the car being uncompetitive. 300hp and a 0-60mph time of 5.2 seconds for both the hatchback and the saloon versions of the WRX S sound good on paper. But the car doesn’t stack up well next to the latest generation of bruiser hatchbacks, in particular the faster, more powerful BMW M 135i, which costs three grand less at £29,995.

It’s still a bitter pill however. Subaru first gained the attention of enthusiasts when Colin McRae drove a Prodrive developed Legacy WRC car in 1992. When the WRC Impreza arrived in 1993, its gravel success ensured a warm welcome for the similarly all-wheel-drive Impreza Turbo, which came to showrooms here in 1994. With 208bhp and exhilarating sure-footedness it launched a craze that continued undimmed even when the bug-eye Impreza WRX was launched in 2000.


...and its success continued through the '00sThe fire was fed by a steady supply of barmy special editions out of Japan, and flamed further by competition with Mitsubishi’s Evo, first launched in 1992.
That was first to be killed with the last models sold out of showrooms earlier this year. Subaru says there are still WRX STIs (this version had actually dropped the Impreza name) available to buy and should be enough stock for a few months yet. The cooking Impreza is all sold out.

All fashions have their day but this one was particularly enduring and gave many of us our first taste of what serious performance felt like, and (mostly) kept us on the road while experiencing it.

As the spokesman told us: “There are hardcore fans our there, but we have to react to how market’s changing and we have to competitive. It’s an end of an era.”

[Exhaust]

This was hard to read.

[Beyer Subaru]

I'm calling shennanigans. I wouldn't be surprised a bit if we see the next WRX/STi variants released in the UK when they drop next year or the year after.

[RaceR]

Originally Posted by Beyer Subaru

I'm calling shennanigans. I wouldn't be surprised a bit if we see the next WRX/STi variants released in the UK when they drop next year or the year after.

You may be right.. Im not into the UK market, but I have a hard time to see why a future model would sell that badly. Or not even get a chance to be sold in the UK.

Im Norway on the other hand. WRX STI have basically been dead for a decade...
But when more "important" countries like the UK says something like that, it might be a bad sign for the model in general.
Hope Subaru gets their heads out of their asses and makes a nice efficient electric-turbocharged engine that will blow everybody minds away... Seems like they need to do something to get back on the map..

I hate the trend, SUVs seem to be taking the market shares for the more sporty cars..

[RaceR]

Okay... maybe even the new car would be doomed...

Ill assume the numbers are correct. Found it on the piston head forums...
2003 WRX SALES =5200
2012 WRX SALES=86

[Beyer Subaru]

Wow! crazy. I guess we'll have to stay tuned to see what Suby has in mind.

[Supermassive]

It's all because Subaru stopped making the Subaru to be a world beater rally car that barely passed as a commuter car to making it cater to the average American who wants to sip a latte while driving their super cool WRX in stop and go traffic. I'm sorry but the WRX hasn't been a real WRX since well the early 2000's.

[getbent]

I would imagine it has quite a bit to do with CO2 emissions. In the UK vehicle taxes are based on emissions and the WRX/STi do suck down their fair share of gasoline. We will have to see if a new WRX with the FA20 DIT (presumed?) will improve emisisons and mpg?

[Captain Insano]

I assume it will be a pretty good engine, we'll see.

I agree with earlier comment that the present WRX (and STi) aren't nearly as badass as the early and mid-2000 MY cars. It's a bit frustrating to the folks that have grown to love the subaru "performance" vehicles (I've owned USDM MY02 WRX, MY04 STi, MY07 STi cars).

It will be interesting to see if/when they release a BRZ STi how hard core they are with the things added to base model BRZ to make a BRZ STi.

[RaceR]

I posted this in the "BMW talk" thread. And added the twins for this thread too.

Compare Subaru Impreza in the UK vs BMW sales
BMW 3 Series 34,340
BMW 1 Series 25,128
Toyota GT86 979
Subaru Impreza 173
Subaru BRZ 70

I know the numbers of GT86/BRZ are limited. Sales started much later in EU, and delivery is slow too.
If Subaru does not import the new Impreza model, could that be a sign that the model are going downhill quite badly?
Is it too late to fix even with efficient engines?

I checked the latest world top 170. And the Impreza/XV is on it with ok numbers.
111th place with 129,893 sales.
BUT, how many of those are XVs? That sales number does not tell much..
In Norway, Impreza are not being sold anymore.. Probably due to efficiency.. XVs are Subarus best selling car i believe.

[Grateful Dave]

I thought they were going to put a FA20 motor with a turbo in the WRX. Maybe with a new lighter chassis and body