Confirmed: Subaru WRX STI Leaves Europe After 2018, Special Edition Incoming

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Confirmed: Subaru WRX STI Leaves Europe After 2018, Special Edition Incoming

22 Nov 2017, 16:57 UTC · by Mircea Panait
/ Home / News / Industry

In a Facebook post published by Subaru of Germany, the Japanese automaker confirmed a suspicion that set the WRX STI community on fire in the past couple of weeks. And that is, the performance-oriented sedan will be pulled off from Europe at the end of 2018. The reason for this decision? The EJ25 engine.
11 photos Here’s Christian Amenda, the managing director of Subaru Deutschland: "The WRX STI has a long and successful motorsport history and enjoys a small but loyal fan base. The increasingly stringent [CO2] emissions regulations in Europe make the [commercial] conditions for such a classic athlete more difficult, which is why Subaru has opted to stop production.” Clear enough?
Fret not, for the WRX and WRX STI will live on in markets such as the United States of America. Over in Europe, however, the writing was on the wall eons before the current breed went official in 2014 for MY 2015. Take Germany as the best case in point possible, a market where high-performance automobiles are in demand. From 2011 to date, Subaru sold less than 1,000 examples of the rally-bred WRX STI in Deutschland, so that’s that.
This is not the end of the Euro-spec WRX STI, though, with the automaker highlighting that “there’s gonna be some delicacies” in 2018. Most likely, Subaru might adapt the Type RA for the Old Continent or offer the WRX STI in 50th Anniversary Edition flavor. Another possibility might be the Final Edition announced for the UK market only recently. What’s more, hearsay suggests work is underway on the next-generation WRX and WRX STI.
According to the rumor mill, the newcomer will welcome hybridization to improve both performance and carbon dioxide emissions. But as Subaru prepares to take the veils off the Ascent seven-seat crossover at the 2017 Los Angeles Auto Show, a second rumor made the rounds. And that is, why wouldn’t the next-generation WRX and WRX STI get the Ascent's 2.4-liter turbocharged boxer engine as a replacement for the venerable EJ25?
Whatever trick Subaru will pull out of the hat for the next generation, don’t expect the torch to be passed before 2020. And with that, now’s the right time to place an order on the WRX STI if you like the smell of a new car.