LA show: Subaru teases new WRX

UPDATED: 12:00 IMAGES of the long-awaited Subaru WRX have leaked ahead of its world debut at the Los Angeles motor show on November 20, just as the company released an official teaser image.

The singular image gives little away beyond confirming the new-generation model will retain its signature oversized bonnet scoop.

The teaser - in red, rather than the traditional bright blue - sports a hexagonal grille, honeycomb diffuser and rather subtly pumped-up wheel arches.

Subaru has previously said its new Rex would be further differentiated from its humble Impreza underpinnings, but this teaser - plus a range of leaked spy images - indicate it will retain the tried-and-true styling direction of its forebears, with perhaps some hints of the concept version revealed in New York last April.

As we’ve reported, Subaru’s Australian outpost plans to fast-track the WRX Down Under by March 2014, with a hardcore new STi derivative to arrive in showrooms hot on its heels around three months later.

This means Subaru Australia appears set to have the full complement of hot Impreza-based spin-offs by mid-2014.

Mechanical details remain somewhat under wraps, although as we reported from the Big Apple this year, the car is a lock to retain the signature all-wheel drive, turbocharged layout of its famous predecessors.

The likely engine is a pumped version of the Forester’s 2.0-litre direct-injected unit. As previously confirmed to us by Subaru America president and COO Tom Doll, a traditional manual gearbox will be offered, alongside a CVT with paddle-shifters.

Subaru’s local arm has previously hinted the new model might cost more than the outgoing, $39,990 version due to additional standard equipment.

Subaru has sold 42,000 WRX models in Australia since 1994. It has been not only a key volume driver, but has boosted the image of the brand amongst – crucially – younger clientele.

The new WRX will share the LA stage with an unnamed concept car making its world premiere. Subaru has previously announced it will tear the covers off three concepts at this year’s Tokyo motor show, which runs concurrently to the LA show, including a new “sports tourer prototype” that will go into production next year.

Meantime, Subaru is also understood to have committed to replacing the recently axed Tribeca with a new seven-seater wagon, at least for the US market.

Subaru parent company Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd president Yasuyuki Yoshinaga told US publication Autonews this week that such a vehicle was in the pipeline, although it could be a few years away yet.