2009 Subaru Impreza Wrx Sedan 4-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

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The Toyota GT86 Shooting Brake Concept is real

As a two-door wagon the shooting brake exists at the unusual but captivating intersection between practicality and sportiness. This Toyota GT86 Shooting Brake Concept is no different – it's a standard GT86, with no mechanical alterations save the grafted-on wagonette roof and hatch. It's fully functional, too, having turned some laps on Toyota's test tracks. It even has the blessing of Tetsuya Tada, the father of the Toyota 86 and its Subaru BRZ and (now rebadged) Scion FR-S, who's been protective of the original GT86 concept to the point of strenuously resisting any serious power upgrades. This isn't the first shooting brake concept we've seen from the Toyobaru twins, but it's the first Toyota-badged one. Subaru brought the Cross Sport Design Concept to the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show. So how did the GT86 Shooting Brake Concept happen? The story, as Toyota tells it, involves the company's Australian design team. They created a 1/4-scale clay model of the shooting brake, and showed it to Tada when he visited in late 2014. He was so impressed, Toyota says, that he had his hand-picked craftsman in Japan bring the idea to full-scale fruition. The Australian design team, in the outdoor-loving spirit of their country, immediately thought that the longer roof would be perfect for carrying surfboards and other unwieldy sports equipment. And it would be. Meanwhile, Tada and the rest of the Toyota corporation want to tamp down expectations. It's a design study, the company says, and it's just "testing the waters." Toyota won't rule anything out, and Mazda recently surprised everyone with the MX-5 RF's unusual and attractive targa model. Maybe in a world where Mazda felt confident enough to introduce the RF, Toyota can be daring enough to bring a sporty wagon to the masses. We can hope, and maybe if we all make enough noise together Toyota will make it a reality. Related Video: Featured Gallery Toyota GT86 Shooting Brake Concept Scion Subaru Toyota Coupe Hatchback Wagon Concept Cars Performance shooting brake toyota gt86 gt86

Subaru might build WRX hatchback after all

The 2015 Subaru WRX is awesome. Really awesome. We told you as much in our first drive of the new sedan back in December. Honestly, our only complaint about Fuji Heavy's new performance machine is that it's no longer offered as a hatchback - the new WRX is a sedan-only affair, despite the more functional five-door variant accounting for some 50 percent of sales in the car's last generation.
But there's hope on the horizon, if a report from Australia's Motoring.com is to be believed. Speaking with Masuo Takatsu, Subaru's general manager for the WRX, the company is now re-considering putting the "hatch" back in its hot hatch.
"We have received strong interest from the US, where the hatchback was 50 percent (of previous-generation WRX sales), so we're now considering," Takatsu told Motoring, noting that the United States is Subaru's main target for this car. Additionally, Takatsu said the company's decision to only offer the sedan was the result of limited engineering resources, echoing statements we've previously heard from Subaru's US arm.

A mighty Outback breaks ground at Subaru's new USA HQ

Subaru is getting down to business at its new American headquarters. Announced just a year ago, the Japanese automaker just broke ground for construction of the new facility. And though it's moving from its existing location, the company is staying in New Jersey just as it has for nearly half a century now. The new facility is being built in Camden, opposite Campell's headquarters in a development spearheaded by the soup company. As part of the project, Subaru will relocate its current offices from Cherry Hill and Pennsauken to the new Camden headquarters, which will accommodate over 600 employees in one building with 250,000 square feet and another with 83,000 – more than double the size of its current headquarters. The distribution and training center, however, will stay put in Florence, NJ. The $118 million project is earmarked for completion by the end of 2017. The groundbreaking ceremony took place yesterday in front of an array of historic Subaru models. The earth itself was moved by a specially prepared yellow Outback wagon with a plow attached to the front. Subaru's decision to remain in Jersey comes in stark contrast to Mercedes' move out of the state and down south to Georgia. Other automakers with their North American headquarters in New Jersey include Volvo in Rockleigh, Mitsubishi (ironically) in Swedesboro, BMW in Woodcliff Lake, and Jaguar Land Rover in Mahwah. SUBARU OF AMERICA BREAKS GROUND ON NEW HEADQUARTERS IN CAMDEN, NJ Cherry Hill, N.J. - Subaru of America, Inc. today broke ground on its future home in Camden, NJ. The company plans to develop an all-new $118 million corporate headquarters in the city, and in doing so, maintain its corporate headquarters in New Jersey as it has for approaching 50 years. The automaker's new headquarters will be located adjacent to Campbell Soup Company's world headquarters. The Subaru of America campus will be the first new corporate headquarters in Knights Crossing, a master plan urban town center community, being developed by Brandywine Realty Trust. The ground-breaking ceremony featured a display of historic Subaru vehicles from the company's 50 years in the Delaware Valley, as well as a unique earth moving/groundbreaking ceremony conducted by a specially-produced Subaru Outback with an attached plow. Thomas J.