After its recently revealed "Motion V" program was announced late last year, Subaru bosses arranged a special briefing for potential investors. At that meeting, senior staffers laid out a road map of what models and new technologies would be unveiled up to 2015.
It started with the all-new Impreza of last year, the BRZ and Forester which will go on sale this year, the Exiga minivan in 2013, the all-new WRX (which will diverge from the Impreza platform) and a brand new sport wagon for 2014, and the all-new Legacy in 2015.
Of note on the technology side is a new direct injection turbocharged engine slated for introduction by the end of this year. And that's just part of Subaru's powertrain plans.
Aside from a name change, the 2013 Subaru WRX will get an all-new platform to call home, along with a new engine underhood. Subaru is dropping "Impreza" from the WRX nameplate, but will continue building the car from the Impreza platform. Subaru wants to distinguish the Impreza as its mainstream small car offering while highlighting the WRX's gravel-spitting, rally-racing heritage. As such, the new WRX will likely ride on a slightly shorter wheelbase and use lighter-weight suspension components and unique suspension geometry for enhanced performance handling.
The 2013 WRX will use a new turbocharged 2.0-liter boxer four-cylinder engine that, while a half-liter smaller, will make more power than the engine in the current model. Aided by direct injection, the new four-cylinder should make close to 270 horsepower and, coupled with the new WRX's expected weight loss, help achieve better fuel economy than the current model's 19 mpg city/25 mpg highway. Expect a six-speed manual transmission and all-wheel drive to come standard.
This is likely to be related to the existence of a powerful and highly efficient new 1.6-litre unit that will debut at Geneva next month and is set to replace the well-regarded 2.2-litre diesel used on several European-market Hondas.
Mr Senior said he expected Impreza volume to remain steady despite the arrival of the fourth-generation model.
This is largely due to pressure on the factory, which is operating at 100 per cent capacity and working hard to satisfy exceptionally high demand for the new XV, more than 650 of which were sold locally in the two weeks immediately following its launch last month.
source:motortrend.com,edmunds.com,goauto.com.au
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