First (official) look: Impreza gets B9 nose

IT’S official: Subaru’s facelifted Impreza, featuring radical new front-end styling from its forthcoming B9 off-roader, will replace the current model in Australia in October.

Scooped on US enthusiast website subarunews.com two weeks ago and officially launched in Japan late last week, the new-look MY2006 Impreza will represent the second facelift since the current model went on sale here in October 2000.

The second-generation small car’s launch was marked by controversy five years ago, with some Subaru fans and media outlets claiming the heavier, slower ‘bug-eyed’ MY2001 Impreza had lost the hard-edged look and feel that helped forge its rallycar reputation.

Sales dipped and a facelifted version followed in record time, with the current Impreza appearing just two years later in October 2002.

Since then Impreza sales have soared, climbing to a record 8156 last year, with sedans almost doubling hatch sales. In 2004, Impreza achieved a 4.5 per cent market share in the small car category to place sixth overall – its best ever showing.

Last month Impreza recorded its best May sales month on record and surpassed the 70,000 sales mark in Australia.

But Subaru Australia is unconcerned by the latest drastic facelift that comprises a new front bumper, front guards, grille and headlights to form a new corporate face for Subaru, which highlights its origins as an aircraft manufacturer. Rear-end changes are less extensive, comprising only a revised tail-light cluster.

"We’re very confident with the look and, looking at the Fuji (Heavy Industres) photography that’s come out I think we’ve got every reason to be confident," Subaru Australia national corporate affairs manager David Rowley told GoAuto.

"In terms of the (bug-eye) 01 car, sales didn’t drop across the Impreza range – they’ve actually steadily increased with virtually every Impreza model year over time," he said.

"We tend to look at a car across the range, not just at one variant within a range.

"I think it’s fair to say that if you look at Impreza and STi sales combined over time since the mid-1990s, you’ll find it’s had a remarkable ability to hold its own against a number of competitors some of which have been and gone, but the bottom line is the WRX and STi sales hold up very strongly against anything that’s perceived as a direct competitor," he said.

Mr Rowley would not comment on pricing or specification for the MY2006 Impreza, which he said were still under negotiation.

However, he said Subaru information released in Europe, which refers to a peak torque output for the MY06 Impreza WRX STi of a V8-like 422Nm (up from the current Japanese-spec STi's 412Nm (on 100-octane fuel), could refer to a European variant not destined for Australia.

Given Australia’s current STi delivers peak figures of 195kW and 343Nm, the new version could well break the 230kW performance mark.

In Australia, WRX is one of the best-selling Impreza variants, combining with STi to average around 250 sales per month.

Nor would Mr Rowley comment on reports that the 92kW 2.0-litre boxer four that currently powers entry-level Imprezas will make way for a 2.5-litre version as standard across the range, including a 2.5 turbo WRX.

In current Impreza RS guise, the 2.5 produces 112kW, but in the Liberty 2.5i it delivers 121kW. The US-market STi, which sells alongside a 168kW WRX similar to ours, is powered by a 220kW 2.5-litre turbo four.

"Feel free to speculate that (2.5) might be an option but at this stage we can’t comment either way," he said.

While Subaru Australia’s media release was conspicuously vague in detail, the FHI release claimed the revised Impreza would also bring improvements to quality and interior functionality, plus an improved version of the driver’s control centre differential (DCCD).

An all-new, third-generation Impreza is not due to appear globally until 2007.

Impreza sales:

8156 in 2004
7651 in 2003 (facelift)
6889 in 2002
6592 in 2001 (new model)
6863 in 2000
7659 in 1999
6494 in 1998
5780 in 1997