Tokyo 2015: Subaru’s next Impreza surfaces
Teaser concept shows the Impreza will switch back to a hatchback format again
Following its introduction as a sedan, back in the early 1990s, Subaru caused consternation when it switched the Impreza to a hatchback format. Presumably, consumers voted with their feet, and the current car’s notchback look implies an attempt to satisfy fans of both two and three-box family cars.
However, its freshly-unveiled teaser concept for an all-new car is decisively hatchback. Its overall proportions seem similar to a Peugeot 308, which, especially after we’ve become more familiar with the French car on the road, is no bad thing.
Look closer, and there’s a good deal going on when it comes to surfacing and graphics, with softer forms jarring with other design features.
Take the front lamps for example – there’s a creased area directly inside each of the front lamps that has a softness to it, like the car’s motor-show cover is being pulled behind the lamp. However, this jars a little with the aggressive lower mask and its aero ‘tusks’ below, and the very sharp DRL of the lamp itself.
This theme continues up the bodyside too, with sharp, aggressive features like the light catcher in the rocker that seems a bit over the top, and softer forms like the area around the base of the A-pillar. We’ll have to wait and see whether Subaru had decided to go for soft or hard forms with the production car, or its decision-making has all gone into choosing a format…