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Subaru BRZ replacement:: still no word on second-generation sports coupe

Will there be a second-generation Subaru BRZ? There’s no word either way, just yet, according to the Japanese brand.


The two-door sports coupe co-developed and produced by Toyota and Subaru is a few years into its lifecycle now, with a mid-term facelift just a few months away from launching in Australia.

The BRZ has never kept up with the 86 in terms of sales in Australia - due in part to a smaller allocation - usually accounting for about a fifth of the Toyota's tally.

But, in 2016, the numbers are down for both cars. Toyota has sold 1572 units to the end of August (down 24.7 per cent year-on-year), while the BRZ has managed only 246 sales this year (down 43.8 per cent).

Is there a viable case for a new model, then? It seems unclear, based on our chat with Subaru Australia managing director Nick Senior.

“I haven’t seen it on the product planning charts, but there’s talk of it. So I’m not sure,” he said of a second-generation BRZ. How that model would fit in with the brand's new global platform, which it has said will underpin every Subaru from now on, remains unclear.

But while the sales haven’t been huge, Senior said the coupe has had an impact on the brand.

“It’s brought new customers to the brand, there’s no doubt about it, younger customers,” he said.

“And where it has been beneficial is younger customers that are sportier-orientated, have been probably not ready or probably couldn’t afford a WRX, but we’re seeing a few BRZ people – as they get a bit older and their income rises they move to a WRX.

“So in that sense it’s good for the brand, as it has introduced those people where we may not have got them if we didn’t have it, they may have gone to another brand. Once you’re with another brand they’ve got first crack at you next time, so it’s hard to pull them away,” he said

As for doing something to boost sales, Senior indicated that the facelifted model should see a bump in sales, but suggested the company isn’t looking to do any special-edition versions, like the BRZ tS sold in Japan.

“It was only a no-go because I think we had our BRZ tS well before they did, because we did our sports pack BRZ at launch. It basically had everything that the tS had,” Senior said.

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