Subaru Impreza

The new model moves closer to the mainstream C-segment market, but a hatchback is added that will spawn the ultra-high-performance STi.

Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI), the maker of Subaru vehicles, is poised to move into the mainstream of the world's fiercely competitive compact C-segment with the third-generation Impreza. The car's Product General Manager, Akihide Takeuchi, is a native of Nagano, Japan, graduated from Shinshu University in the region, and aspired to pursue his aeronautical engineering career at FHI that traces its roots to Nakajima Aircraft, with its wholly owned Aerospace Company, a highly regarded aircraft and components manufacturer among clients including Boeing, Airbus, and the Japan Self-Defense Agency. He did not get a job in the smaller aerospace company, but Takeuchi has established himself in the bigger business unit-automotive, which accounts for about 80% of the group's revenues. Among his work is the Tribeca B9 crossover, which was a joint General Motors-FHI project, but forsaken by the former and delivered and raised by the junior partner up to its recent mid-life rejuvenation.

Takeuchi observed that the first- and second-generation Impreza had been conceived and developed to win the heart of true enthusiast drivers, and importantly the World Rally Championship (WRC). The Impreza fulfilled that role admirably, and appealed to others who sought good value, all-wheel-drive capability, and made-in-Japan reliability and durability, but it had never been in the mainstream of the world market with such formidable competitors as the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, and a horde of European C-segment cars in the old world.