LA MOTOR SHOW: WRX sedan-only 'no problem'

Subaru
Australia is holding pricing, equipment and exact performance specification of the new WRX close to its chest. But local boss Nick Senior is prepared to go on the record on one thing -- the sedan-only rollout of the new generation car will not negatively affect sales.

Officials from the company were spread across two motor shows in Tokyo and Los Angeles overnight, as the new WRX was unveiled in the United States.

In LA, Subaru Australia spokesperson David Rowley would not comment on pricing, equipment or performance details suggesting those facts and figures would be released closer to the car’s onsale in late March 2014.

Speaking in Tokyo, boss Senior told motoring.com.au that initial supply for the car would be tight, but that he saw no issues in the new one-body offering.

“I’m negotiating that [volume] stuff this week in Japan,” Senior explained.

“With WRX there’s always going to be a bit of a squeeze with demand initially. Australia will be the number two market behind the USA,” he said noting that WRX is not sold in Japan.

Senior said 90 per cent of WRX sales have historically been sedan.

“In 1993 when we ordered the first WRX we thought the hatch would be 80 per cent. We got it wrong and have never made the same mistake again. Sedan has been 90 per cent consistently since then.”

Neither Senior, Rowley, nor WRX Project general manager, Nasuo Takatsu, would be drawn on details of an STI version of the new car. The top-spec WRX accounts for 30-50 of the total of 180 units (approx.) Subaru Australia sells currently each month.

Senior is confident, however, that WRX itself can grow the marketplace and fight hard in the $40K hotshoe segment.

“It’s always been a small but hotly-contested market. There’s more competition but that improves the breed… The one [WRX] we’ll launch next year will set a new benchmark.

“People own a [Volkswagen] GTI, but they drive a WRX,” he stated.

The new WRX will be offered with a sports version of Subaru’s Lineartronic CVT automatic transmission. Senior says he expects this variant to grab a bigger share of the volume as time goes on.

“We expect the [CVT v manual] split to be just 20 per cent initially, but over time the skew will increase.

“Enthusiasts and existing owners will account for the bulk of [total WRX] sales initially, then over time as we market the car and [other] people drive it, the skew [towards auto] will change,” he stated.

Like the car’s project head Senior says the car’s dynamics are the highlight.

“The proof of WRX has always been in the driving experience,” Senior stated.

“I’m absolutely convinced the driving experience will be a step change. It will be significantly faster. It’s a car people want to drive.

“We talk about design, but the greatest change will be in the drive.

“A lot of effort’s gone into making it more of a driver’s car,” he said.

See more photos of the new Subaru WRX

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