New Subaru WRX global debut delayed

UPDATED 18/08/2021 11:00am: Subaru USA has released another teaser for the 2022 Subaru WRX overnight, with a short social media video confirming the new all-wheel drive sedan will again be available with a manual transmission and fitted with an old-school manual handbrake. No reveal timing was confirmed, other than "coming soon", and there's no update on its early 2022 Australian launch.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE PUBLISHED 17/08/2021: Fans of the Subaru WRX will have to wait just a little longer to see the sixth-generation sports sedan, following the cancellation of this week’s New York International Auto Show for the second time.

That’s where the global unveiling of the all-new Subaru WRX was supposed to take place, alongside the jacked-up Forester Wilderness, which is yet to be confirmed for Australia.

While the next-generation turbocharged all-wheel drive sedan is still on track to arrive Down Under later than previously expected in early 2022, Subaru USA has confirmed to Carscoops that the new Rex’s world debut has been postponed but a new date is yet to be announced.

“We have not confirmed when information about WRX or the next Wilderness model will be released due to the cancellation of NYIAS,” a Subaru spokesperson told the US website.

Of the two other big debuts set for the Big Apple show, which was due to open on August 19, it’s now not clear when the new Hyundai Elantra N (i30 N sedan) will be revealed, but the new Nissan Z will be revealed online tomorrow morning.

Pre-reveal campaigns for both the new Subaru WRX and Forester Wilderness are well underway, so both model reveals shouldn’t be too far away. And the new Subaru BRZ coupe remains on target for local showrooms by the end of this year.

In the meantime, a procession of teaser pics and spy shots have given us a good idea of what to expect from the next Rex, which will also spawn a new WRX STI and Levorg sports wagon in 2022.

The hotly-anticipated new model will come with a bigger new FA24 2.4-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol boxer engine, producing about 213kW of power and 412Nm of torque.

The upsized turbo flat-four will again come with the option of both manual and automatic transmissions, the latter set to be a development of the current continuously variable transmission (CVT).

We’ve also heard reports that the new WRX will be 55mm longer, 55mm wider and 25mm lower than the outgoing model, however, we’ll have to wait for official details to be sure of its dimensions.

Stay tuned for all the latest on the 2022 Subaru WRX.