I guess I’m one of those
I guess I’m one of those weird people that actually LIKE the black cladding on the new WRX lower body (that includes the wheel well arch trim). I had a Saab 9-3x wagon with over 100K miles that cosmetically looked almost new which I partly attribute to the cladding. Since a car is lower to the ground than an SUV, it is much more prone to stone damage to the lower painted areas. Yet most cars DON’T have cladding. For the new WRX I see this as a huge benefit in keeping this car looking new for much longer. The cladding is molded-in-color (unpainted), so no stone chips and tar doesn’t show. A little tire shine and it stays looking new! Plus the cladding protects the rest of the painted car body from said stone chips. Given that this is modeled as a rally car, this totally makes sense …and I happen to think it looks bad-ass! There… my rationale for an apparently unpopular opinion. Oh, and yes bring the Levorg wagon (I mean hatch-back) to North America for sure! While we’re at it, give us a GT trim with a manual and put memory on the power seat (my wife is a driver too!). Do that and I’m all in!