What Do You Think Subaru Will Do?

"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
04/12/2016 at 07:46 • Filed to: Subaru

The Lancer Ralliart and Evolution died a sad death. Stranded out in the wilderness by their own Maker. Without the sedan rival to the WRX and WRX STI, what will Subaru do?

Will we finally get a hatchback version? This would place the WRX line into the Golf GTI & R, and Focus ST & RS comparisons instantly and accurately.

Perhaps create a luxurious interior package and a more subtle exterior in order to be a bigger, AWD, bargain shop to the CLA and S3? (WRX S4 SporVita).

Or just keep doing what it’s doing and be the only AWD, performance sedan in its class? (Regal doesn’t count).

Subaru could probably get by without a WRX hatch until the next generation. Not like anyone is going to bother othering a compact, AWD, performance sedan for under $35k this decade.

AWD Civic Si and Type-R? Versa Nismo?? Corolla Trofeo??! Kia Fortissimo?!!

Yeah, no...

Maybe GM will do a Buick Regal GS AWD “RalliPack.” Stripout some of the luxury materials and tech, de-chrome, smaller wheels, all for a reduced price of $33,950?

Nah, GM would Encore GS AWD or Excelle-XT instead.

Well maybe Subaru will Crosstek GT and STI? There is a 325hp, AWD Fusion coming for under $35k soon. Perhaps an excuse to go Legacy GT and STI if the sales are there. Either way, those all seem more likely than a hatchback WRX in the US before 2019.

DISCUSSION (34)

Mattbob > Wobbles the Mind
04/12/2016 at 07:55

They will probably make more money. You don’t need a rival to sell, as the Jeep wrangler exemplifies.

Wobbles the Mind > Mattbob
04/12/2016 at 08:02

Bothers me. I hate seeing a vehicle without competition. I wish Hummer could have stayed around, they were the brand that could have created an actual threat to the Wrangler. The thing sells like 200,000 units a year! Right in line with the Cherokee and Grand Cherokee.

sportcompact > Wobbles the Mind
04/12/2016 at 08:05

subaru will keep making the wrx and sti and do fine btw that buick rallipack idea is sick

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Wobbles the Mind
04/12/2016 at 08:07

Subaru US is all about sales volume these days. I’d expect their focus to be on the numbers-based vehicles, which is basically their entire current lineup (sans BRZ, which is only being produced because of Toyota).

I’m still surprised they produce the Forester AND Outback, since they’re essentially the same size (current Foz owner here). The new Impreza will have US production, which makes me think that Subaru may be interested in either killing the Forester and gambling on those buyers going to the OBW or retooling a Highlander as the “new” Forester (Tribeca?).

Either way, it’s doubtful that the WRX will ever be more than a current gen Impreza with a turbo and some more aggressive shift points. We may get a hatch in the WRX because there’s a small clamoring for it, but the STi will probably remain one or the other (probably sedan). The Crosstrek is a strange sales success; there's no need to make a Baja racer turbo version

I wouldn't hold my breath on a performance Leggy again any time soon.

BeaterGT > Wobbles the Mind
04/12/2016 at 08:11

Put a CVT in it like the rest of their dumb cars.

Wobbles the Mind > BeaterGT
04/12/2016 at 08:16

Doesn’t it already have one?

jkm7680 > Wobbles the Mind
04/12/2016 at 08:17

think they'll keep selling exactly the same way they are. Who knows, Mitsubishi might be working up something good behind the scenes?

Somethin' 'bout a truck > Wobbles the Mind
04/12/2016 at 08:20

A Crosstek GT or STI is the stuff of dreams. I love those cars as they are, but a higher spec turbo model would be amazing!

Somethin' 'bout a truck > Wobbles the Mind
04/12/2016 at 08:21

I agree... I wish someone would compete with the Wrangler.

Tekamul > Wobbles the Mind
04/12/2016 at 08:40

Even with the sedan/hatch mismatch, the STI is still a Golf R and RS competitor. Unfortunately, it just got slapped around by both in a C&D comparison.

They need a hatch, and more driveline tech to keep from losing its sales lunch to the other two.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Wobbles the Mind
04/12/2016 at 08:46

Kinja'd!!!

they are selling more WRX’s that ever.

Wobbles the Mind > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
04/12/2016 at 08:54

Too true. I guess BajaTrek stays in my mind and out of my driveway then.

Autofixation > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
04/12/2016 at 09:12

I highly doubt that Subaru would go as far as to use the Highlander platform.

Autofixation > Wobbles the Mind
04/12/2016 at 09:13

Why does a vehicle need direct competition?

Autofixation > Wobbles the Mind
04/12/2016 at 09:14

I think Subaru won’t do anything differently. Except make their cars more and more lined up with the mainstream.

Wheelerguy > Wobbles the Mind
04/12/2016 at 09:22

Bullshit reply: Rally the living fuck out them. WRC regs bogging them down? Send models to where the specs of the car can comply, and support the interested teams until wins happen. Multiple wins will bring back the WR in WRX, and maybe by then Subaru may even get their voices in WRC rule-making come 2018 so they can join in.

Serious answer: Eh, they’re fine. Before any sort of ambitious thing, money needs to flow big enough that when the oxbow forms they can afford to run a nutty project for two years.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > Somethin' 'bout a truck
04/12/2016 at 09:27

We need a modern day reincarnation of the FJ40

RyanFrew > Wobbles the Mind
04/12/2016 at 09:37

They’ll keep making the STi sedan for exactly the reasons you indicated. The segment is surprisingly saturated with hatchbacks, which means Subaru can’t sell very many if they enter the space, which makes the car more expensive to produce, on a per-unit basis.

Tripper > Wobbles the Mind
04/12/2016 at 09:39

I don’t know if we will get a hatch or not, but I think that they will revamp the WRX/STi for the 2018 model year.

Shift24 > Wobbles the Mind
04/12/2016 at 09:44

The main rival for the WRX and STi right now is the Focus hatches. Similar price ranges and power numbers, it doesn’t really matter that it’s not a hatch. It’s “affordable” performance.

Eventually when Honda gets to it the Si and Type-R will be compared to it on the track. I mean that’s how 99% of the STi and Evo comparisons were done.

Tatanko > Autofixation
04/12/2016 at 09:45

Competition forces each respective offering to get better rather than rest on their laurels.

Tatanko > Wobbles the Mind
04/12/2016 at 09:46

Yup. It replaced the “regular” automatic for this generation.

TylerJ > Wobbles the Mind
04/12/2016 at 09:46

Yes.

uofime-2 > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
04/12/2016 at 09:57

WRX/STI haven’t been on the same chassis as the impreza for 2 generations, in the current generation they only share about 2 exterior body panels and they don’t even share the name plate anymore.

Its funny people see a new impreza hatch and say WRX/STI hatch confirmed!!!1!! They somehow forget the current generation Impreza has a hatch too and like I said are NOT based on the same chassis.

uofime-2 > Wobbles the Mind
04/12/2016 at 09:59

I’m not sure why you don’t see the FoST/RS, GTI/R as competition, despite the WRX/STI not having hatches, they are clearly all “hot hatches,” they do compete and are cross shopped.

Somethin' 'bout a truck > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow
04/12/2016 at 10:01

I second this.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Wobbles the Mind
04/12/2016 at 10:02

They should keep a close eye on the Fusion Sport is what they should do:

Kinja'd!!!

I know it doesn’t have the rally/off road heritage but it’s going to be fast as hell in a mid-size sedan with AWD.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > uofime-2
04/12/2016 at 11:19

I never said they were.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Autofixation
04/12/2016 at 11:21

Perhaps not the same platform as right now. But don’t you think a Subieyota joint design, new “Highlander” (or whatever they call it; a medium-sized three row SUV) would sell like crazy??

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > uofime-2
04/12/2016 at 11:49

The WRX/STi are still on the Impreza platform as they have been since their inception. The only part of Impreza that got dropped is the name. From the beginning of the WRX/STi line they have been based on the Impreza platform with some different body panels and some stiffening added.

uofime-2 > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
04/12/2016 at 11:59

The chassis codes are different, saying the changes made are just some added stiffening is a bit of an understatement

Autofixation > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
04/12/2016 at 19:32

It would quite possibly sell well. However, Any joint design Subaru does is an abomination as far as I’m concerned. Subaru has had a definitive vehicle type and drive train layout, and I would very much like to see them stay more as a wagon/sedan and very much not an SUV.

Subaru has had very few badge engineered vehicles. The 9-2x comes to mind, but it was a Subaru first and a SAAB second. Nobody deserves Subaru’s expertise and name.

Of course this is me speaking as a fanboy and not as a marketer. It may be more than a coincidence why the Legacy’s and Imprezas are looking more and more like warmed over AWD Corollas and Camrys.

Autofixation > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
04/12/2016 at 19:41

Overall, I’ve always loved the fact that a Subaru has always been a Subaru and nothing else, and nothing else has ever been a Subaru. (9-2x and FRS excluded) This bastardization is tainting the marque.

sn4cktimes > Wobbles the Mind
04/12/2016 at 20:58

Neither the H2 or H3 were real completion for the wrangler off-road. Probably better in sales for a while though.

The 3 vehicles I most commonly saw crashed, or upside down on (or off...) the trail while I used to wheel my JK, in order were: FJ Cruiser (usually the upside down or tipped sideways culprit), H2 (usually stuck on a tree, or a hill), then the H3 (stuck in the mud or a ditch; most people were smart enough to leave these on the pavement). All 3 were actually pretty awful off road vehicles. A stock Ranger would do better than the tank-like H2.