Subaru has confirmed it’s serious about rekindling its performance car heritage, creating a dedicated division tasked with developing enthusiast-focused models as it prepares to launch at least three new manual-transmission sports cars.
The Japanese brand has established a new Product Innovation Division, with a specialist Sports Vehicle Planning Office sitting within it to focus exclusively on future performance models.
The move was confirmed by Subaru chief technical officer Tetsuro Fujinuki during an interview with Japanese publication Best Car, in which he outlined a dramatic shift in how the company develops sports cars.
“The Sports Vehicle Planning Office specialises in sports models,” Mr Fujinuki said.
“We decided to abandon the old way of doing things. Because it’s boring. We’d have a confirmation meeting, then another meeting, and they’d bring out similar materials again.
“So we tried developing it entirely digitally. And it turned out we could do quite a lot. As a result, our development speed increased, and we were able to do more daring things.”
The announcement builds on Subaru’s recent teaser of three manual-equipped performance models – a WRX, BRZ, and an all-new performance hatch – due to debut before the end of 2026.
The creation of a dedicated performance planning office also signals Subaru intends to keep building petrol-powered enthusiast cars, despite tightening emissions regulations and the auto industry’s shift towards electrification.
According to Mr Fujinuki, increased sales of Subaru hybrid and electric vehicles – including the Crosstrek and Forester Hybrids, and the Solterra, Unchartered and Trailseeker EVs – have given the company more flexibility to continue investing in performance models.
He said stricter emissions regulations had previously made it difficult to justify more powerful versions of Subaru’s turbocharged petrol engines, but stronger-than-expected demand for electrified cars has improved the company’s fleet-average emissions position.
That has allowed engineers to revisit higher-output versions of Subaru’s FA24 2.4-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol boxer engine.
Mr Fujinuki also revealed Subaru still has the tooling required to build the heavy-duty TY85 six-speed manual transmission previously used in the WRX STI, despite it being discontinued after the last-generation model ended production in 2021.
While he stopped short of confirming outputs for future performance models, he noted the motorsport version of the FA24 already produces more than 350hp (261kW), suggesting there’s significantly more performance available than the current road-going WRX offers.
Subaru has already confirmed three manual-transmission performance models are in development.
They include a revised WRX fitted with the stronger TY85 six-speed manual transmission, a more focused BRZ coupe based on the Japan-only STI Sport Type RA, and an all-new five-door performance hatch inspired by the Performance-B STI concept, which is expected to use the WRX’s 2.4-litre turbo boxer engine
Subaru has described the hatch as a model with “a new personality” separate from both the WRX and BRZ, though it’s yet to confirm whether it will revive the Impreza WRX hatchback formula or wear an entirely new nameplate.
While none of the three models has been confirmed for Australia, the establishment of a dedicated sports car division suggests Subaru’s renewed commitment to performance vehicles will extend beyond this initial trio.
It also represents a notable shift for a brand that, in recent years, has focused heavily on SUVs, EVs and hybrids, while allowing iconic performance models such as the WRX STI to disappear from its global lineup.
While the WRX is still offered in Australian showrooms, priced from $48,890, the WRX STI hasn’t been available since 2021, when final production of the fourth-generation VA-series model ended. Subaru confirmed in March 2022 that a next-generation STI variant based on the newer VB-series WRX would not be built.
MORE: Explore the Subaru showroom