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Subaru UK Boss Says Impreza "Has Nothing to Do With the Brand As It Is Today"

High-ranking automotive executives often say polarizing things, and the head honcho of Subaru UK has recently joined the club. According to John Hurtig, the rally-bred Impreza from the good ol’ days of Colin McRae “has nothing really to do with the brand as it is today.” But is that true?
1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi 19 photos
Photo: 4 Star Classics
1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi
On the one hand, the man is right. The Japanese automaker exited the World Rally Championship at the end of 2008, yet the Impreza is the car that gave Subaru a bone-fide halo in the guise of the WRX line. On the other hand, John is overlooking the fact that Subaru is still selling both models outside of the UK.

The reason Hurtig had the audacity to bash on the nameplate that made Subaru a household name is rather simple. According to Autocar, the Japanese automaker’s local team decided to morph into “a crossover and SUV brand.” This shouldn’t be surprising in the least, not if you look over the sales of new vehicles in the United Kingdom. Sport utilities are increasingly popular, but hatchbacks continue to reign supreme in this part of the world.

Even though the Impreza clearly has a place in the UK lineup, Hurtig has admitted to the cited publication that “2020 was a horrible year. What can you say? It’s just an embarrassing number,” he said, referring to 951 sales in total. In other words, the year-on-year sales volume fell by 68 percent!

In defense of the Impreza, care to guess why Subaru has struggled this hard last year? Excluding the health crisis and lockdown after lockdown, Subaru UK pre-registered 2019 cars to avoid fleet-average emissions fines. As a brief refresher, automakers have to hit an average of 95 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer or face the European Commission to the tune of 95 euros multiplied by the excess grams and the number of cars sold that year.

This is why Subaru UK has increased the price of the BRZ by 15 percent last year, and speaking of the boxer-engined sports car, the BRZ won’t return to the European market or the United Kingdom. Why, you may be asking? In addition to Subaru having a target audience of mostly old people, the 2.4-liter motor isn't exactly CO2-friendly despite its D-4S technology from Toyota.
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Editor's note: 1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi pictured.

About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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