Back in the day Subaru knocked the Mitsubishi Lancer GSR off the AWD 2-litre turbo perch with its then new Impreza WRX. The ‘Rex’ then proceeded to take all before it to establish itself as the benchmark $40K weapon of choice.
A great product well marketed off the back of local and international rally successes ensured the WRX became a cult classic. Its ability to punch well above its weight in performance terms also helped greatly.
Despite a few bug eyed hiccups along the way the WRX has been a fixture in the affordable performance category, with regular sales continuing to tick over. No surprise, then, that Subaru Australia is making some noise about selling its 30,000th Rex down under.
Although, it must be said, Subaru Australia Managing Director, Nick Senior, does appear lost in his own hype, “I have lost count of the number of supposed competitors built up as Rex challengers, but they couldn’t cut the mustard, particularly the front wheel drive and rear wheel drive pretenders who soon got lost in the dust.”
If Senior truly believes the Rex hasn’t lost significant market share to the likes of Volkswagen’s Golf GTI and Mazda’s MPS 3, then he is kidding himself.
To be fair, though, no other car in the WRX’s segment can match its longevity in the Australian sales charts over its 15 year life cycle. It’s just a shame the car’s exterior design team lost its mojo when creating the current model.
