Impreza XV Targets Gen-Y

May was a big month for sales of the Subaru Impreza. The small car didn't keep pace with the rising market for the first four months of the year, due to a shortage of Impreza R stock. But Subaru has addressed that, says company MD, Nick Senior.

With improving supply during May the dealer network has sold the small car in record numbers -- around 1590 units for the month, said Senior during the launch of the Forester 2.0D. The importer is preparing to expand the Impreza's sales volumes further, with the introduction of the Impreza XV.

"Impreza XV continues in [the] spirit of the previous Sportswagon and Impreza RV, but with some youthful styling cues that we are confident will add a new dimension to our small-car range, as well as attract new customers," Senior said about the new model.

Sales of the Impreza XV should be icing on the cake. But if anything, Subaru is dampening down expectations that the new car could sell beyond the company's forecast.

"It's not a make or break car for us," said Senior, "we're only aiming to sell a hundred a month..."

But while Subaru is not saying as much, the Impreza XV is arguably vital for brand management. By implication, the new variant reveals that the Subaru brand's core demographic is getting older and there's nobody coming up to replace those loyal buyers.

"It's a way to get in touch with younger buyers," Senior admitted.

Accordingly, the advertising for the new car will be aimed specifically at younger buyers around the 25-year old mark. To get off on the right foot, the importer has insisted that the campaign for the new car be handled by someone from the target demographic.

"I don't want a 35-year old working on this account..." Senior told the Carsales Network.

The Subaru MD also intimated strongly that the advertising campaign for the Impreza XV was not going to follow in the footsteps of other Subaru advertising campaigns, when he said: "Our traditional advertising won't work."

As for the car itself, it's distinctive and it has been tweaked slightly for Australia, so it should provide fairly broad appeal among younger buyers who are looking for a vehicle with small-car practicality but some of the offroad cachet of an SUV.

"Our XV version is noticeably higher than the Japanese domestic car, which was previewed a few weeks ago, giving it even more road presence," Senior explained.

That road presence won't trickle down to the other variants in the Impreza range though, according to Senior. The company wants to quarantine the XV from the other Imprezas, since that's how the car will appeal more to those younger buyers -- buyers not traditionally drawn to the Subaru brand.

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