Kev

Hiya folks ..

Just got back from my dealer, 15k service ... chatting to a sales guy while I was waiting, disscusing the new shape and availability etc and basicly he said the shape on release in Japan might not be the one Subaru release in Europe ... he also had a picture (faxed mind you) which was similar to the new shape but with different lights and he said no rear spoiler .. he also said with one month to go till the motor show Subaru UK still have'nt got one ???

Can all this be true ??
Is it sales patter ??
Does he know and not letting on ??

He did say the picture's bounding about are doing Subaru's sales no favours ... and he said why release the 2001 shape when it's still 2000 and they still have P1's and the like to sell ??

What do you think ??

K

crusher

There are some pics of new style Impreza to be seen at

Steve Breen

There are two headlight clusters. I can guess which one we'll be getting and which one the Japanese domestic market gets (and the grey import owners).



If the picture doesn't come out nip over to the MY2001 page at

Trout

iTrader: (1)

There is another similar thread to this.

I think a lot of dealers got burned by buying P1s in their own right. This a NOT a comment in the car but the commercials.

P1 promised early 2000 with 500 limited edition. Based on past experience lots of dealers order them in their own right and so the optional extra 500 comes into play.

Early in the year IM reportedly sent a stern fax to all dealers trying to confirm firm 'customer' NOT 'dealer' orders for all the P1s. Obviously limited effect.

Now, P1 was delayed several months and just about every Scooby dealer in the country has at least one P1 in stock - which is commercially a disaster as real car prices have fallen 15% plus over the last six months, residuals on these limited edition cars are now brought into question (certainly not the premium those greedy dealers hoped for) AND the new model is out in two/three months.

On top of all this are all the unsold standard cars.

As Jonathan said elsewhere, the best news for P1 sales was the release of the new edition pictures - it's certainly helped sell a few cars.

Of all the people I know who ordered P1s, they have all cancelled, and worse they have gone on to buy things like Porker Boxes, or Audi TTs and the like - because they are sexy and they are CHEAP by comparison.

IM and the UK dealers are now in a fix - shift the metal before the new (more powerful model) is released. FHI/Subaru are in a fix because they chose the 'bold' design. A bit like Ford with the last Scorpio and we all know what happened there...

...come to think of it those headlamps are pretty similar...

R

Jonathan

Mr Breen raises an interesting point by showing the differences between haedlights on Jap and UK models. Where will this leave the imports ?

Will imports need new front light clusters to pass SVA ?. If so you can imagine that these will be £500 a corner.

Jonathan

DavidLewis

With regards to price, Autocar mentions a price INCREASE of 10% for the new model.

With other major manufacturers REDUCING prices by around 10%, is IM really that stupid?

Ugly car, high price = white elephant?

RobMac

AFAIK, the gas discharge headlights (red car) WILL be coming to the UK.

Probably as an option on the standard car, although possibly not until next year.

And they should be standard on the 2001MY STi if that comes to the UK (which it is supposed to...)

Rob.

jbryant

Ugly or not it's still likely to handle and perform better than anything else in the price bracket.

Don't forget you will still be able to import from Europe as well...
Joolz

johnfelstead

I recon the F'ugly front lights are OUR fault.

We have spent the last god knows how long complaining about the crap lights on the Impreza.

I think they had a design meeting at FHI that stated, Number1 priority bright lights, Number 2 everything else LOL

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

Subaru UK not having one of the new cars????

I don't believe that! I have it on good authority that the head office in Coventry had 6 new cars. That was about two months ago!

Subaru dealers have been invited up to have a look!!

Just relaying what I've heard, and no I haven't been up there to have a look!!!

Andy

Kev

Interesting this one ....

I got the idea he was hiding something, perhaps he had seen the new one and it's the same as the Jap one .. who knows .. the picture he showed me was a poor one ( faxed ) and it was a different frontend with "conventional" H/lamps not the bug eyed type and without those added indicator repeaters. The wheel arches were the same as the new Impreza, it just phased me a bit when he said just because they have released that shape over there don't automaticly assume that's the shape we will get here ... I can't see in todays cut throat car market that Subaru would produce different shapes for different parts of the world whem most companies produce new cars as "global" cars to reduce costs ....

K

LanCat

Subaru UK not having one of the new cars????

I bet they do... surely if Prodrive have some to play with then Subaru UK do too?

simo

spoke to a new dealer in milton keynes & he's seen one so they are in the uk somewhere. Hes says it is better in the flesh (he would!!) but the more i see it the more it is growing on m .

simon

scrappydoo

RobMac, how do you know that the headlights like the one on the red car will be coming to the uk?

clarence

Both light clusters belong to Jap spec cars, the normal lamps belong to non-turbo Imprezas and the xenon lamps belong to the WRX. The rumour of different styling for European cars is known over here in Hong Kong since last year, another guess is the STi will have a different front end (maybe same as the rumoured European front?).
As for whether grey imports need UK spec light clusters in order to pass SVA, I think it's unlikely because the previous generation (BG) Legacy GT/GT-B/RS have projector headlamps whereas the EU spec Legacies have normal reflector lamps. I've never seen a BG GT-B/GT/RS in UK with reflector lamps-all are with their Jap lamps.