Subaru BRZ limited edition on the way

Subaru plans to introduce a limited edition BRZ to help stop a forecast sales slide. The popularity of sports coupes typically fades after the first two years on sale. Although the BRZ is still selling at a steady rate, Subaru predicts sales will peak later this year -- and the new WRX released this week could also dent sales.

"I think some people will come out of the BRZ (and into a WRX) because at the end of the day it’s a more practical vehicle," said Subaru Australia boss Nick Senior at the launch of the WRX in Tasmania this week (first drive impressions have been embargoed until midnight Thursday).

"We’re still selling 90 (BRZs) a month at the moment, it’s holding up well, we’re not flooding the market," said Mr Senior. "But everyone over time realises when you add a couple of years (to) a two door coupe … it will settle down to a number, and (for us) that number’s certainly not going to be 90 (BRZs a month).

"Probably this year’s going to be the peak and then it’ll start to settle down a little bit." To stop the sales slide Subaru Australia says it is looking at some limited edition models, but warned not to expect any extra power.

"There’s a couple of things the (Japanese) domestic market is doing that we’re looking at," said Mr Senior, some of which hasn’t yet been released. "The great thing about BRZ is you can have a bit of fun with it, (there are) things you can throw on it to make it look differently."

Sales of the Subaru BRZ are down by 4 per cent so far this year, while sales of the Toyota 86 twin are down by 22 per cent. Despite the slide, the two-door twins are still Australia's most popular sports car. Toyota has attempted to stop the 86 coupe's sales slide by selling about 90 cars into rental companies across Australia to give potential buyers an extended test drive.

This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling