BRZ on sale date announced

[terrypm]

Subaru's BRZ sport coupe goes on sale April 20, but only about 500 units will be available each month for the U.S. market.
That means that some of Subaru's 620 U.S. dealers won't have a BRZ at launch and most will get only one car a month.
It is unlikely the United States will receive more than about 6,000 of the rear-wheel-drive coupes a year even in a full-year of production, said Michael McHale, Subaru of America's director of corporate communications.
"The only way we get more is if another market doesn't sell its share," he said.
Subaru will produce 100,000 units annually of the BRZ and its two sister cars, the Scion FR-S and Toyota 86, at its Gunma factory in Japan. The worldwide allocation for the three brands has not been disclosed.
McHale said Subaru of America asked for only 6,000 annually. He said the U.S. sales arm made a conservative request because little was known about the car during most of its joint development with Toyota.
Toyota handled the styling, and Subaru was responsible for engineering -- including a new platform and new four-cylinder, 2.0-liter boxer engine with 200 hp that all three brands will use. The only difference between the BRZ and the other two models is the Subaru grille and high-density discharge headlights.
Earlier this year, Scion boss Jack Hollis said his brand expects to sell 10,000 to 15,000 units of the FR-S in 2012.
Subaru has not announced pricing. The BRZ is expected to be about $25,000, with a high-trim version going for about $2,000 more. The Subaru is expected to be priced higher than the Scion because of a higher level of standard equipment, including a navigation system, AM/FM HD radio, USB and Bluetooth connections and an eight-speaker sound system.
Customers will be able to choose between a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission.
Because of the low volume, Subaru of America will market the BRZ primarily on subaru.com and via social media. There will be no TV commercials and little print advertising, McHale said.
The BRZ campaign, "Buttoned up engineering unbuttoned," will tout the car's technical features and handling as well as its use as an everyday driver.


Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/2012...#ixzz1qtU8r6wH

[Dave-ROR]

Well at least one of the "higher level of standard equipment" listed is true.. the nav. The rest are on the FR-S as well, and they missed the HIDs.

Ship dates are supposed to be April 20th according to FHI, not on sale date in the US. We will see though.. doesn't matter to me either way.

Also, the distribution isn't quite that simple. If a dealer is getting say 35 cars for the 7 month cycle, they will get 5 cars a month, including the first. If there's a dealer getting 2 cars for the first cycle, they may not see their first until July.

[tripjammer]

Does not seem right if the factory is making 100,000 total units and Subaru America is only getting 6,000 a year. Something don't add up...but the Scion numbers of 10k to 15k units a year sound right...

[ZmZMWagon]

There will be plenty of BRZ's available after the first month IMO. Mazda made the same statement when the Mazdaspeed 3 first came out....only 5,000 units..... at the end of the first month dealers had 2-4 of them sitting on the lot. Only thing I think would make a difference is Mazda only had them at "Mazdaspeed Approved" dealerships.

[Lytheum]

if they really only use the internet to advertise this thing most of the population will never know it exsists.

[S2kphile]

Originally Posted by Lytheum

if they really only use the internet to advertise this thing most of the population will never know it exsists.

That is fine because they can always change their marketing strategy in future. Hopefully this will lead to people who want a BRz to get their BRZ and might make this model rarer then the Scion counterpart.

[Tainen]

I wonder if that means my car will actually be on the ground on the 20th, or just ship on the 20th.

[terrypm]

Remember the first day U S Subaru dealers could submit sold orders into the order system was March 1. Also on Friday March 16 both Subaru and Toyota put out a big press release stating production officially began that day.

The question how long does it take to ship the cars from Japan to the U S?

[eikond]

Originally Posted by Tainen

I wonder if that means my car will actually be on the ground on the 20th, or just ship on the 20th.

This is the Million $ question! (well.. besides the actual price question).

The last article we had stated shipping to begin to US on April 20th.. which led everyone to believe we'd start seeing cars in early to mid-may. Still even then, nobody really knows how long it takes for the cars to get across the ocean, get through customs, sit in port, have any port installed accessories installed, and then ship by rail or truck to dealerships.. I think the general consensus was at least 3 weeks. So if the shipping begins April 20th, i think we'd see cars at dealers by May 15th.

Now, if they have them on the ground by April 20th.. that would be awesome!!

One thing we don't really know is whether the production start of March 16th included US bound cars? They could have been making them for Japan or other markets for the first few weeks? Maybe RHD only?



I would be very excited if they were on the ground by April 20th! I'm #1 of 9 at my dealer, so in theory I should have one within the first couple weeks.

[Tainen]

yeah... according to that incredibly accurate marketing material(insert laugh here), the car will be on the ground in early may, so the april 20th date is just a wish and a dream, I think

[preetham]

This is great news. Cant be too long to get to Cali from Japan and clear customs. Assuming the dates should look similar for the FR-S too!!! End of May here to TX is looking quite possible.

[86design]

i hope my BRZ comes on the 20th....i have my money ready!!! TAKE IT ALREADY!!

[S2kphile]

Originally Posted by 86design

i hope my BRZ comes on the 20th....i have my money ready!!! TAKE IT ALREADY!!

[Mango22]

Originally Posted by 86design

i hope my BRZ comes on the 20th....i have my money ready!!! TAKE IT ALREADY!!

The cars will be on the lot, customers throwing their money at the sales guy but he won't be able to sell you the car because Subaru will "still" not have released the prices. This is getting rediculous, don't you think?