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Subaru just made a brilliant manufacturing change. There are two things Subaru of America revealed about the next-generation 2024 Subaru Impreza hatchback and why less is more. The 2024 Subaru Impreza compact hatchback arrives this spring for U.S. customers, and many new upgrades are worth waiting for. And a significant move Subaru made is smart.
The first thing Subaru of America revealed about the all-new Impreza is they are counting on the remodeled hatchback to bring in new customers to the brand that have never purchased a Subaru vehicle. A recent report from Automotive News says Jeff Walters, senior vice president of sales at Subaru of America, told them that Subaru retailers across the U.S. will now have the opportunity to get new buyers through the door who have never purchased a Subaru vehicle.
Subaru will do it with the redesigns of the next-generation 2024 Crosstrek subcompact SUV hatchback, and the next-generation 2024 Impreza comes in a hatchback body style only. Walters said. "From the Impreza five-door building up to the Crosstrek, when this production starts to come back, we can clock it, soak up some volume with these five doors, especially the Crosstrek."
The second thing Subaru of Indiana Automotive (SIA) revealed is that the all-new Impreza will not be produced at the U.S. factory in Lafayette, Indiana. All Impreza production will now be in Gunma, Japan.
The next-generation 2024 Subaru Impreza production is centralized to Subaru's manufacturing facilities in Gunma, Japan. Scott Brand, Executive Vice President for SIA, told us in an exclusive interview this week. You can read the complete interview here.
The Impreza production being centralized in Japan enabled the U.S. Subaru factory to begin making the all-new next-generation Crosstrek in North America for the first time.
Because the Crosstrek is now the Camden, N.J. automaker's top-selling all-wheel-drive vehicle, this will be a boon to U.S. customers. They won't have to wait for Subaru Corporation to build the U.S.-specification models and ship them from Japan.
The Crosstrek now outsells the Impreza five to one. The Crosstrek finished 2022 with 155,142 sales and the Impreza with only 30,846. So it was a smart move by Subaru of America to ask Subaru Corporation to make the manufacturing switch for the two new models.
Shorter wait times for the new 2024 Subaru Crosstrek will translate to increased sales and happier customers. The new U.S.-made 2024 Subaru Crosstrek Sport and Limited trim levels will arrive this summer. The 2024 Subaru Impreza hatchback made in Japan will be available for U.S. customers this spring.
You Might Also Like: Our Exclusive SIA Interview Reveals Unknown Info About The New Subaru Crosstrek
Denis Flierl has invested over 30 years in the automotive industry in a consulting role working with every major car brand. He is an accredited member of the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press. Check out Subaru Report, where he covers all of the Japanese automaker's models. More stories can be found on the Torque News Subaru page. Follow Denis on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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Rightly or wrongly, many US
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Rightly or wrongly, many US customers perceive cars built in Japan to be of higher quality than cars built in the US, likely because Japanese car manufacturers (Toyota, Honda, Mazda) tend to be more reliable than US car manufacturers (Chrysler, Ford, GM). This may be unfair perception, after all, Mitsubishi and Nissan are Japanese cars.
Anecdotally, the Crosstrek, manufactured in Japan, has received higher reliability ratings than the Impreza, built in the US. This swapping of manufacturing plants will be a good data point to whether the Indiana plant is as good as the Gunmo plant.