With the production model set to make its public debut in a couple weeks, Subaru today offered up the first teaser image of the 2024 Impreza.
The sixth-generation compact will formally debut at the LA Auto Show on Nov. 17 — and TheDetroitBureau.com will be on hand for that event. But the teaser does give us at least a little sense of what’s coming.
The Impreza is clearly due for a makeover. The current model has been around since the start of the 2017 model year. Along with a new design, inside and out, we can expect to see the 2024 Subaru Impreza get a number of upgrades, starting with its now rather dated infotainment system.
Plenty of questions
The teaser released Thursday doesn’t reveal very much beyond the 2024 Impreza’s upper silhouette. And that’s only the hatchback version. We’ll have to wait until the L.A. show to find out whether the sedan version will return in sixth-generation trim. Considering the severe plunge in four-door sales since the current model debuted, however, that’s far from guaranteed.
Currently, Impreza sales overall are running barely half of what they were in 2017 when Americans purchased about 86,000 of the compact model’s various body styles.
The teaser image suggests there’ll be a bit more of a coupe-like curve to the new Impreza hatchback’s roofline — as well as a built-in rear spoiler.
Following Crosstrek’s lead
Overall, it’s expected the new Impreza will hew close to the design of the upcoming Crosstrek makeover which Subaru has already revealed. That would include more cat-like headlamps, angular air intakes and fog lamps shifted low and wide.
Though Impreza also has much in common with the newest-generation Subaru WRX, there’s little likelihood the compact hatchback would share the sporty model’s turbo engine. Expectations are that the 2024 Impreza will carry over the current model’s 152-horsepower 2.0-liter inline-4 — though the Crosstrek’s plug-in hybrid might also be added. Subaru has indicated a desire to increase the electrification of its line-up.
The automaker has also put more of a premium on technology in recent years and that’s certain to carry through with the 2024 Subaru Impreza. A larger infotainment screen, with an upgraded processor and improved operating system, seems certain. A digital gauge cluster is also a strong possibility, though it might not be offered on base trim.
Declining sales
The Impreza should also get an updated version of Subaru’s popular EyeSight advanced driver assistance system.
There had been some speculation that Subaru might reconsider the need for the Impreza considering the way the market has shifted during the past decade. Considering that the Crosstrek outsells it nearly five-to-one — 128,979 of the crossovers compared with 25,490 Imprezas through October of this year — there was logic behind that speculation.
How the sixth-gen Impreza is positioned for 2024 is something we expect Subaru to lay out in Los Angeles.