Subaru WRX coming late 2021

Rex fans rejoice! Subaru Australia has revealed that the long-awaited new-generation Subaru WRX is locked in for a local launch late in 2021.

Subaru has confirmed to carsales that the international launch of the 2021 Subaru WRX is due to take place mid-year, with right-hand drive production ex-Japan cranking up in the second half ahead of a local launch likely in the final quarter.

The company has also confirmed that the flagship Subaru WRX STI is not that far away either, with a launch set down for 2022.

The new-generation 2021 Subaru WRX is expected to move from a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder boxer engine (197kW/350Nm) to the Japanese brand’s new FA24 2.4-litre boxer turbo-four that in other models overseas – such as the US-market Subaru Outback – produces 195kW/375Nm.

But for the new Rex – which will take its front-end design cues from the new Subaru Levorg (pictured above) that’ll launch here around the same time – the engine could be tuned to well in excess of 200kW.

In an interview with carsales, Subaru Australia general manager Blair Read said he was unable to confirm these and other details, such as whether the new WRX would be offered with both manual and automatic transmission – a particularly relevant point for fans considering 30-40 per cent of current Aussie WRX buyers still opt to shift gears themselves. 

But he said there would be improvements in every key area, including powertrain, and that enthusiasts would not be disappointed after being forced to wait five years since the launch of the fifth-generation Subaru Impreza (in December 2016) before getting their hands on the new Rex.

“For lovers of performance cars and WRX, it’ll be well worth the wait and they will be really looking forward to the new model,” said Read.

He also categorically ruled out any suggestion that development of the next WRX or STI would be shared with Toyota – in similar fashion to the Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86 – as has been speculated by some media outlets.

“No,” he said. “It’s a Subaru model [only].”

Subaru Australia’s national corporate affairs manager David Rowley added that the Subaru Global Platform (SGP) underpinning the WRX for the first time – it already sits under the Impreza, Forester and XV – would also bring widespread enhancements.

“You’ll see [improvements in] everything from powerplants, transmissions, all the things that the Rex fans really crave,” he said.

On the subject of the 2022 Subaru WRX STI, the local executives said it would be only “slightly behind” the WRX, which should therefore see it launch in the first half of 2022.

“It’s too early to have that final detail [launch timing] at this point, but obviously the target market for this car are performance enthusiasts, so meeting that market is obviously key on the development agenda,” said Read.

The next Subaru WRX STI is similarly expected to have a high-output version of the 2.4-litre turbo as its headline act, possibly producing as much as 300kW if overseas reports prove correct. The current 2.5-litre turbo produces 221kW.

“It’s too early to share exact detail on that, but the new STI will push the boundaries in all areas of its design and specification,” Read said.

Asked about the excruciatingly long time it has taken for the new WRX and STI to get to market, the Subaru boss said: “The current generation has been the best seller in terms of customer acceptance. It’s far outsold the previous generations.

“And 2020 was a difficult year all-round to make comparisons on, but WRX and STI were two of our best-performing models [with 1399 sales combined] and were up on the prior year, where the market itself was down significantly.

“So there’s definitely still a big love for WRX and STI within the market at the moment, and that’s been shown by the number of orders our dealers have been receiving,” he said.

Rowley added: “It’s a fair observation that the lifecycle has been relatively long by Subaru standards.

“I think Subaru in Japan have made no secret that with the introduction of the SGP there’d be a transition for new models onto that platform. And because STI was one of the last launched on the previous platform … that’s one of the reasons it’s launching [last] which is the normal order, to some extent,” he said.

And on the topic of the speculated turbo hatch in the pipeline to be shared with Toyota – be it a version of the WRX, STI or something else – Rowley said: “The factory hasn’t shared any level of detail with us on that. As to whether it’s correct or not, we genuinely don’t know.”