The Subaru WRX has a long history as a rally-bred hero car. No other Subaru inspires quite the same enthusiast excitement. Thus, when the Japanese automaker dropped a telling teaser, Subaru fans were quick to notice something important. One detail stood out, hinting that the hatch could be back.
Subaru showed the teaser at a press conference ahead of the Fuji 24 Hours endurance race. It featured a brawny widebody vehicle with pumped arches and an obvious hood scoop. At a glance, it approximated the dimensions and styling you’d expect for a new generation of WRX.
By and large, it just looked like any old concept drawing that an automaker might use to test the waters. Only, Subaru had mysteriously blurred the rear end of the picture. It was obscured enough that you couldn’t really tell if you were looking at a sedan or a hatch. Adding further spice to the mystery were some of the finer details on the roof, which Subaru fans were quick to latch on to.
Eagle-eyed Reddit user Dazzling-Rooster2103 picked up on the protrusions on the rear of the vehicle. “I noticed that there are two bumps on each side of the car near where the back glass would typically start on a sedan,” they explained on Reddit. “Usually those two bumps indicate a hinge for a hatchback trunk.”
Indeed, there are several hatchbacks on the market that have bulges in the roofline, just like these. Not least of which is the 2024 Subaru Impreza, as seen below. It’s a feature that is somewhat characteristic of a hatchback design. Not all hatches have them, but quite a few do. Such protrusions are seldom seen on a sedan, where the roof is typically flat where it meets the rear windshield.
Of course, this is not a surefire tell. The bumps on the roof don’t confirm anything—they could be a weird styling tweak, part of a spoiler mount, or something else besides. Still, it’s a tantalizing hint that Subaru might just be contemplating building a five-door brawler once again.
It’s been a long time since Subaru built a WRX hatchback. We have to go all the way back to the third generation, back when the model was still officially branded as an Impreza. The turbocharged AWD hatch debuted alongside the sedan in 2007, followed in 2008 by the more powerful and aggressive WRX STI.
Come 2015, the new-generation model was rebranded purely under the WRX name. Subaru would only build it as a sedan, despite hatchback models making up around 50% of WRX sales in the US. The Subaru Levorg would come into being as a wagon based on the same platform, but was not brought to the US market.
Conventional wisdom says hatchbacks and wagons don’t sell as well as sedans and SUVs. However, the more practical body styles are having a renaissance in the US at the moment. Indeed, perhaps the best example is the BMW M5. Right now, the German automaker is selling more M5 Touring wagons than traditional sedans.
In any case, we won’t have to wait too much longer to find out what Subaru has in the works. As covered by Japanese outlet Best Car, Subaru’s chief technical officer noted that a reveal for the teased model is planned for the 2025 Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo this October. If a new WRX is announced, it might not enter production for a few years yet, given the current generation debuted in 2021.
In any case, it’s a promising hint at the future of the WRX. People who like driving fast in practical cars could have a lot to celebrate in a few months time.
Top graphic images: Subaru via Car Watch; Subaru
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