Impreza MY03 'Facelift' CONFIRMED by Subaru Australia

SURGEONS at Subaru are just about to put the compact Impreza under the knife.

An update, including a sportier look for the rorty WRX, is just over two months away.

The car will be one of many to be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in September, with local sales expected before the end of the year.

"The mid-life change is towards the end of the year, or maybe early next year," Subaru Australia general manager Nic Senior says.

He refuses to be drawn on the exact timing, and denies any panic -- or early update -- triggered by criticism of the Impreza's looks.

"Panic? Why would there be. We're having our strongest year ever," Senior says.

Even so, the controversial styling of the car, called "bug-eyed" by a lot of critics, led to a slow start to sales of the latest Impreza and widespread criticism of the WRX.

The changes for the 2003 Impreza will focus on the headlamps and pinched-in rear end, with Japanese sources pointing to a totally new nose.

"It's commensurate with a mid-model facelift," Senior says.

He defends the look of the car, and will not comment on talk that British design guru Peter Stevens -- who has done some great-looking cars such as the McLaren F1 -- was called in for the Impreza update and to put some power back into the look of the WRX.

"I think some of the talk is blurring reality. The WRX is a hi-tech performance car," Senior says. I think we're still successful. It's a huge image car for us.

"It's a pity we can't bottle young kids' enthusiasm for that car, because we've got a huge customer base for the future."

He also says the WRX is averaging close to 230 sales each month, which is above its target.

"We're on track this year to do about 3000 cars, which will be our third-best year.

Senior says weakness in the WRX response was linked more to the downturn in the information technology than any styling issues.

"There was a huge correlation between the downturn in the IT world. The original success of WRX was closely linked to people in the IT world, who were drawn to the car, and it has also tracked the performance of the stock market in the USA."

Senior also says the Impreza RS, which is the newest model in the range, is starting to kick hard for the company.

"The RS 2.5-litre has been a sensational inclusion. We're only just being able to meet demand.

"And we're taking sales now from the Europeans, like Golf and Peugeot 306."

Source: Sydney Morning Herald - Australia [July 10 2002]

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