Subaru BRZ will not match Toyota 86 price

The 86 is introduced this week with a sub-$30,000 sticker that is a clear $5000 less than predicted, thanks to hard bargaining in Japan and the strength of the Australian dollar.

But Subaru Australia says it cannot make the numbers work and is instead concentrating on a single, fully-equipped BRZ that will be supplied in relatively low numbers. 

"The answer is no. We won't have a $29,990 car, because that's a base model," Nick Senior, head of Subaru Australia, reveals to Carsguide. "We will only have one specification of BRZ and ours is the high-spec model."

The 86 and BRZ are identical beneath the skin and even Toyota admits that Subaru is responsible for the heart of the car, its 2-litre flat-our engine, although it supplied the direct fuel injection system that helps it to make 147 kiloWatts. 

There is a chance that the BRZ could be priced in line with the GTS version of the 86, which starts at $35,490 with similar equipment to the package expected in the Subaru. But Senior is not taking the bait.

"We still have not finalised our pricing and we won't until the second or third week of July," he says bluntly. "In terms of specification, and the consumer offering, there are a lot of things that have to go into the mix. Until we stop the mixer we won't predict or get into discussions around pricing." 

But he admits Subaru will have very limited supplies of BRZs, with nothing like the 250 cars Toyota is forecasting to deliver each month in Australia, and customers are likely to face a wait. 

"We are going to be very constrained in terms of supply. We're likely to get 201 cars (Subs: 201 is correct) for the first six months. So that's about 30 a month." "We had an order bank, but we got to the stage that we had to say we couldn't take any more orders." Senior is not prepared to predict the waiting time for BRZ enthusiasts, although it could easily top three months and perhaps even rival the 6-12 months delay at the peak of local demand for the Volkswagen Golf GTi. 

"We'll launch in July. We will have an understanding of the production schedule and shipping then. (But) it's certainly going to be several months," Senior admits. He now says the decision to take the BRZ, which was only a 'maybe' for more than a year, has been proved right. "I think, from the level of interest around the car, it's been well and truly vindicated. It's created a huge amount of interest and attracted people we would have never seen before. "Obviously, Toyota have committed a huge amount to this project and we're picked up in most of the stories. 

To have that level of awareness is very good." But Senior says there is zero chance that taking the rear-wheel drive BRZ will lead to any breakdown in the all-wheel drive commitment by Subaru Australia, even as a way of cutting prices. "I can't see that happening in either the short or medium term. All-wheel drive has got a very significant role to play in AUstralia," he dead-bats. "With four per cent of the Australian market, to be able to command that share is all about being different.

It's not about the sameness. I still think symmetrical all-wheel drive is an important difference and becoming more relevant, particularly with the SUV boom. "We don't have to deal with expensive four-wheel drive systems like many of our competitors. It is simple, sophisticated and quite cheap in manufacturing terms. The amount of savings you would generate are minimal." So, a final word from Senior on the BRZ? "I want to see as many as I can in customer's hands. I won't be driving one. I would rather a customer was driving it," he laughs.