Subaru BRZ 2015 News

A combination of high demand and low supply has already made the Toyota 86 or Subaru BRZ rare with a 18-month waiting list for customers.

Virtually all stock of the hot rear-drive coupe is sold ahead of its official July launch - an event that is shaping up to be a very quiet affair for motoring journalists - and it may take months for the pent-up demand to ease. Subaru has sacrificed part of its own marketing strategy with the BRZ. It ceased production of its broad-brush mini-car range - sold predominantly into the Japanese domestic market - and converted the factory to make the BRZ. Toyota, the majority shareholder in Subaru's parent Fuji Heavy Industries, has taken over some of the minicar production. The BRZ is expected to be sold in the $40,000 range, slightly higher than the Toyota GT 86 clone that goes on sale a month earlier. The July launch date for the BRZ coincides with the release of the far less thrilling - unless you're a parent - seven-seat Exiga wagon. This wagon was originally launched as a six seater but was re-configured to broaden its market. It retains the 2.5-litre engine of its sister car, the Liberty. Subaru Australia's managing director Nick Senior says feedback from Exiga customers showed they wanted the size and flexibility of the cabin "but some felt a seventh seat would be the icing on the cake''. "So that's exactly what Fuji Heavy Industries has now delivered,'' he says. Minor cosmetic changes will come with the seven seats, including a new-look 17-inch alloy wheel design for the Premium model and changes to the door mirrors. The model was upgraded in January with standard reversing camera, dusk-sensing headlights (Premium model) and steering wheel controls for Bluetooth, voice command, audio streaming, USB connectivity and iPod jack.  

The Japanese sports car is finally confirmed for local owners in the first half of 2012 with a promise that it will deliver the real-world enjoyment of the best computer driving games. "We want to take kids from Gran Turismo simulation to grand turismo reality," Nick Senior, managing director of Subaru Australia, tells Carsguide. He is promising a breakthrough sports car that - despite being shared with Toyota as the 86 - will deliver on Subaru's strengths and satisfy the early adopter in Adelaide who was first with a local deposit. "This is a chance for us to appeal to younger people, the 25-35 year-olds, and people who might not have considered a Subaru in the past. It's also for people who might not have been able to afford a WRX," Senior says. He refuses to be drawn on price but admits Subaru will only have a single, full-loaded BRZ with just one option - most likely a sunroof. With Toyota planning a sub-$35,000 starting sticker for the 86, that points to a BRZ at less than $40,000. "It's all about the offering to the customer. We will only get one specification. We won't have a base model and there will be only one option," Senior says. "We haven't even talked pricing with the factory yet. I'll do that in February." Senior says Subaru will not go head-to-head with the Toyota 86, even though the cars are virtually identical from their Subaru chassis and the 147 kiloWatt engine package to the Toyota-styled coupe body. "That's the challenge. Part of the whole decision making process was that we have to think about doing things differently. Being a bit innovative," he says. "We'll be looking at the whole-of-life benefits to our customers. That's where the focus has been, and continues to be." Subaru took months to finally commit to the BRZ and Senior says the decision was influenced by everything from the car's Subaru DNA to the response from Australian buyers. "We have been overwhelmed by the response to the BRZ since its unveiling in Tokyo. People have been pleading for us to bring the BRZ into the country." The BRZ will take a new place in the Subaru Australia range, without the company's signature all-wheel drive or the turbocharged engine - it's a naturally-aspirated 2.0-litre four - fitted to the WRX and STI hero cars. “It’s a driver’s car, so is in keeping with our fun to drive philosophy. But the STI will always be the pinnacle," Senior says. "As the factory has said, the next generation of WRX and STI is going to be a standalone nameplate. For performance, STI will be the pinnacle. So the BRZ is like a taster, or a sampler plate at a restaurant. It's a precursor to getting a WRX or an STI later on. We hope to get a younger audience. And traditionally WRX has been over 35. So we would like to get an under-35 audience. There will be an older group too, and they are likely to be the 'weekend warriors' who like to enjoy their cars, maybe occasionally with some laps on a track."

Subaru says it is the creator of the two all-new sports cars which will be sold simultaneously as its BRZ and the Toyota 86. The smaller of the two Japanese makers, who are partners in the project, says it is responsible for all the important stuff in the BRZ-86 and Toyota only added the froth and bubble once the hard work was done.  Subaru did the engine, chassis, suspension and brakes in the project, and the 86 even has a signature Subaru exhaust note from its flat-four engine. The car definitely looks like a Toyota, and is missing the all-wheel drive that has become a Subaru signature in Australia, but company chief Nick Senior says there is no doubt about who was responsible for the car. "It is, at the end of the day, a Subaru," Senior says bluntly to Carsguide. "Toyota input, at the end of the day, was design and product planning." His claim is sure to spark a stoush as the doors are thrown open this morning at the Tokyo Motor Show and people can decide for themselves as the two production cars can be assessed side-by-side for the first time.  Toyota has already given journalists a first drive experience in its 86 - and it's a terrific car - while Subaru will follow soon with the BRZ. Senior says anyone who drives the 86 or the BRZ will know that it's a Subaru at heart.  "They have poured a lot of Subaru into this car. it is a driver's car," he says. "The car, the drivetrain and the driving experience is all Subaru. That's one of the things that's given us a real cause for discussion and debate about this car and whether it comes to Australia." Subaru is also worried that it might not be able to match Toyota's plan for a starting price in the low $30,000s, perhaps as little as $32,000. "We are studying. We won't make a decision until later in December," Senior says. But he seems to be wavering from his previous assertion that the BRZ was unlikely for Australia because two of the brand's local pillars are all-wheel drive and turbocharging for its performance cars, both missing from the BRZ. "It's a process that started several years ago. It is great, at last, that the car breaks cover," he says. "More people have seen it now ... and I think that it ticks off a lot of boxes. "What Fuji has said for some time is they would like to consider it, and take it. But the final decision is up to us."

The basic shape of the Subaru is identical to the Toyota FT-86 but Subaru is likely to differentiate its car with a unique bumper and LED daytime running lamps.