Boring Impreza must do better

Subaru has this week revealed its fifth-generation Impreza small car to Australian media at a preview drive in Japan. The all-new model, which is set to go on sale locally from December, represents not only a generational leap forward for the Japanese brand, but one that could prove crucial to its success.

"It's a boring car," said Subaru product and portfolio planning engineer, Masahiko Inoue, of the current-generation Impreza. "It's seen as an older vehicle, no longer 'cool' to the younger generation. We have had to step-up quality, especially of the interior, the emotional quality and fun-to-drive aspect of the Impreza to make it more appealing."

The sentiment expressed by Impreza's head engineer was echoed by local managing director, Nick Senior.

Senior, who has been involved with the Subaru brand for over 20 years, said parent company Fuji Heavy Industries had struggled through the aftermath of the Japanese recession, and more recently the global financial crisis, but would keep moving forward under its new corporate moniker, Subaru Corporation, which takes effect from April next year.

"We have made the Impreza recipe four times previously, and on those occasions we have missed one or two ingredients that have limited its broader appeal," admitted Senior. "I think this time we've got that receipt right.

"This is probably the most exciting and most-anticipated new model we've ever launched, and that's a pretty big statement considering I've been around since we first launched the WRX."

Subaru claims the 2017 Impreza is 95 per cent new, the model underpinned by its first all-new global platform since 1989. The small hatch and sedan range also features a direct-injected version of the outgoing model's 2.0-litre horizontally-opposed four-cylinder petrol engine, a revised continuously variable transmission and updated infotainment and safety technologies.

"It's all been made possible by the new Subaru Global Platform, which will underpin all new Subarus going forward," continued Senior. "It's going to have much broader appeal than previous models [and will] attract a younger audience and more females to the brand given some of the changes we've been able to make."

Priced from $21,400 (plus on-road costs), the current Impreza is outsold nine-to-one by segment leader Toyota Corolla. Year-to-date sales of the Corolla tally 27,525 in a market down 2.2 per cent overall, the same market in which Subaru sold only 3575 units – including high-performance WRX and STI variants – to the end of August.

Last month just 294 Impreza variants were registered nationally.

"The passenger car market is shrinking, but the small car segment is the largest-selling passenger car segment in the Australian automotive industry," Senior explained. "It is down 2.2 per cent year-to-date but there are still 19,000 cars up for grabs [each month], and we're very keen to get a huge slice of that in the future."

Senior explained that as the lowest-priced model in its portfolio, Impreza was a crucial model for the brand. Attracting and retaining a newer audience was of critical importance, and was a key focus in the new model's design brief.

"The Impreza is the number one entrée to the Subaru brand," Senior clarified. "It is our first chance to attract people to the Subaru brand, and hence it's very important. We need to do a much better job to build on that moving forward."

Subaru will announce pricing and specification of its new Impreza closer to the model's local launch.