Subaru Australia eying return to factory motorsport

After a decade on the sidelines, Subaru is considering a return to motorsport in Australia to polish its brand badge.

The all-wheel drive carmaker was unbeaten for 10 straight years in the Australian Rally Championship before it walked away from competition and there are strong signs that it intends to return.

The most obvious indicator is the arrival of 10 special STI pocket rockets that cannot be registered for road use. "We've been thinking for a long time about a new motorsport program," admits Subaru Australia's CEO, Nick Senior.

"We get a lot of people wanting to see the blue cars in their warpaint back in anger." He is giving nothing away but knows his brand, one of the smaller players in a super-competitive national showroom, needs to have a significant point of difference.

It achieved that with its Impreza WRX rally program with champion drivers Possum Bourne and Cody Crocker, success that is still reflected in an overwhelming buyer preference for 'WRC Blue' paintwork on the current WRX, STI and BRZ sports car.

Subaru is also working hard on its showroom contenders after going backwards through the Global Financial Crisis. It wound quality back and failed to invest enough in new products, although that has changed with the arrival of the latest Liberty and Outback.

"Motorsport is one of those interesting ones because it's hard to measure. But it's probably not until you pull out that you realise just how important it has been to the Subaru story. Not only in Australia, but globally," says Senior.

"Our staff miss it. The dealers miss it. But, most importantly, from the customer point of view there is a lot of ownership." Apart from the local withdrawal, Subaru also pulled out of the World Rally Championship during the economic downturn but it is showing signs of renewed interest including the motorsport cars for Australia.

The price is $11,000 less than the equivalent road car but full competition preparation would easily add $50,000 to the final bill.

The latest limited-edition motorsport STI is priced at $38,000, although that's just the starting point because they must have a rollcage fitted before they can even be race-registered. The price is $11,000 less than the equivalent road car but full competition preparation would easily add $50,000 to the final bill.

The STI competition cars are the latest chapter in a motorsport story that goes back to 1984, when Senior was responsible for importing a small set of rally-only RX cars. They were followed by the Liberty RA RS and 25 cars for the Impreza RS one-make series in the ARC.

But the payback was substantial, as Barry Lowe won two titles in an RX and Rob Herridge won in a Liberty, before Subaru Australia began its full factory involvement through Bourne.

Senior says one of the new STI cars is sold to New Zealand and one is being set up for promotional work in Australia. Although he will not confirm it, or any support, rally team boss Les Walkden has taken two to his Tasmanian base to be prepared for rallying.

"Yes, we have six that are still for sale. I'd like to see them competing anywhere," Senior says. "Our car is having a rollcage fitted but it will only be a promotional car. It will be used for displays at dealerships and events."

But he is still stopping short of an official motorsport comeback by Subaru Australia. "Yes, we have a motorsport partner in Possum Bourne Motorsport in New Zealand. Yes, Les Walkden has a lot of experience.

"But it's my responsibility, because motorsport is costly, to get the right return on any investment. It's one of those things that we'll keep looking at."