brendy

Just read the Birmingham post tonight (quality broadsheet honest) and they had an article on car sales in UK over 2002.
Even with the discounting IM sales were down 10.2% from 2001 so as this will take in the Isuzu brand as well the number of Impreza's sold must have dropped like a stone.
Who wants a bug-eye then?????????????

Toonman1

"Who wants a bug-eye then?????????????"

Me! I'd have another like a shot. Best Car I've owned, let alone best Impreza Turbo, and I've had 4 since April '94.

A 10% drop in IM Group sales, may or may not mean the Impreza has sold well. As you point out, the figure does include sales for Isuzu (and also other Subaru models). Whilst I'm sure they're not happy, I can't see IMG being suicidal about it either...

Toonman1

I should also mention that according to the BBC, the SMMT say there'll be a drop in car sales in 2003 and a KPMG survey of 100 car industry bosses, had most of them worrying about a return to profitability in 2003. It's called a recession guys. It just needs Blair and Co to realise it...

scooby-new

THe bug-eye put off loads of non enthusiast owners....a friend of mine had 20K burning a hole in his pocket..I suggested a WRX and he went for a test drive...he said he didnt even get in the car took one look at it and laughed in the face of the salesman- told me that it looked like his girlfriends Toyota Corrola and that he would be a joke in the office car park. The fool went and bought a BMW Z3 in the end! So the joke is finally on him but shows how those ugly looks killed off the Impreza for all but the true believer.

As for recession : that started back on 9/11/2001- just wait until the war starts then we will see a crash that'll have peoples overpriced houses creaking under the weight of increased interest rates and plumetting values!

Huge

IM certainly weren't the only ones.

Certainly wasn't the year to be a Fiat or Saab salesman either

Two brands with the biggest increases were Mini & Smart.

Hugh

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

I doubt it has much to do with the car at all - has anyone else spotted what's happened to the technology industry? All the IT peeps have suddenly found themselves out of a job at worst, or with worthless stock options at best. No cash = no car!

If the tech bubble hadn't burst, I'd probably be driving around in a PPP-equipped STI by now (or maybe a Jap-spec one!). As it is, I just console myself that my MY00 has held its value better than my employer's shares have

chiark

The report that's spurred all this made me laugh.

The fact is that 2002 was the best year on record for new car registrations.

The UK car dealers have been crowing about this. Question: what percentage were supplied by UK car dealers, and how many were imported from the rest of the EU?

speedking

Spot on Chiark. As a percentage the amount of imported Imprezas must far exceed that of other marques. If you take a VW Beetle or an Alfa to a dealer for warranty work they don't even think about it being an import. What's the first question a Subaru dealer asks? "Is it an import".

Number of registrations is a better guide in this instance than UK dealer sales.

brendy

Just rechecked the article to clarify - that was the number REGISTERED new in the UK not sold by the dealers.
Looks like the Impreza sales are well down.

stanmo

iTrader: (1)

Yes, but UK is a relatively small market compared to the US where FHI want to shine; hence the 2.5 Impreza announcement ?
I'd be more worried about the a 10% drop in US sales if I were a director of FHI.

The bugeye has won critical accolade there for safety and good performance, but they need to either publicise world rally success (unlikely in the short term) or gain the approval of the enthusiast, hoping that an Impreza cult will turn into a craze.