Why the Impreza Concept design should be the next WRX/STI hatchback

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The Impreza Concept 5-Door is being unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show. The 2016 Subaru WRX/STI is only available in a sedan body style. Will hatchback fans see another WRX/STI 5-Door?

Subaru will unveil two new concept cars at the 44th Tokyo Motor Show 2015 for Press Days on October 28 and 29. One will be a sporty new Impreza 5-Door Concept that will get the crowds of show-goers excited about the design direction of the brand. Fans remember what happened to the WRX Concept and that the popular design never made it to the 2015 WRX production model.

Fans also know that Subaru dropped the 5-Door hatch body style from WRX/STI for 2015. The hatchback body style of the Impreza Concept will remain in the Impreza lineup along with the sedan and WRX/STI fans still want the 5-Door hatch in the performance models. Subaru wanted to differentiate Impreza from WRX/STI and dropped the name from the performance models.

Subaru is selling twice as many Imprezas as the do WRX/STI and dropping the hatchback from the performance models has not hurt sales at all. WRX/STI sales are booming and they continue to set sales records. The new Impreza 5-Door Concept is a reminder to performance fans that it’s still missing in the lineup.

Many WRX/STI fans are still upset that Subaru has suspended production of the hatch model in WRX and WRX STI. It’s still the number 1 burning question fans have about the new-generation sports cars. Fans like the versatility and utility that the hatch body style provides. Most WRX/STI buyers lead active lifestyles and use the performance car for many weekend activities like transporting mountain bikes, snowboards, and surfboards for use on the weekends.

Subaru says the Impreza 5-Door Concept is the first Subaru new-generation model to take its inspiration from the design of the next-generation Impreza envisaged in Fuji Heavy Industrie’s Mid-Term Management Vision “Prominence 2020,” announced in May 2014. The architecture will carry through to the new-generation models in the entire lineup. WRX/STI fans can only hope the Impreza Concept 5-Door hatchback design will also carry over to the performance cars.

Media source: Subaru Global