2012 Subaru Impreza debuts at New York

The 2012 Subaru Impreza has been launched  at the New York Motor Show. On sale in the UK later in 2012 we will only get the hatch, not the saloon.

We had what we thought was a taster of the 2012 Subaru Impreza back at the Los Angeles Motor Show in November when we saw the Subaru Impreza Concept.

Subaru were adamant we shouldn’t read anything in to the concept, and that it wasn’t the next Impreza. But they all say that. Sadly, it seems they weren’t kidding as we found at last week when we got the firts photo of the actual 2012 Impreza.

Now we get the full-blown reveal. And it seems to be more of what the photo last week showed us; a rather uninspiring update of the current car, with a more defined front and a slightly longer wheelbase for more passenger space.

New York saw both the saloon and hatchback version of the Impreza, but the UK will only be taking the hatch. We’ll also get Hobson’s choice on the engine, with just a new 4-pot 1.6 litre Boxer petrol five-speed manual or  Lineartronic CVT.

Actually, we’re being a bit hard on the 2012 Impreza, probably because the Impreza Concept promised so much and the reality is bland by comparison. But it will be a more than decent car with good levels of equipment and AWD. It’ll be on sale in the UK by September.

And the WRX STI continues unaffected.