NEW YORK MOTOR SHOW: Next Rex revealed

Subaru’s next WRX has made its world debut in thinly unveiled concept form at the New York motor show overnight, about 12 months before it goes on sale in Australia around March next year.

Identical to the official renderings that leaked out days ago, the striking four-door sedan concept will morph into one of the most handsome showroom Subarus ever at the Tokyo motor show in November.

Subaru was keeping mum on any firm details of the 2014 WRX production model, but motoring.com.au understands it will be faithful to the WRX Concept that wowed New York crowds this week.

It’s been known for some time that Subaru’s next-generation all-wheel drive turbo sedan -- and its even hotter sibling, the STI -- will for the first time be a standalone model from the Impreza, the latest generation of which was released in Australia in 2011.

However, Subaru America chief Tom Doll confirmed a number of other vital new details of the new WRX in New York, including that it will be based on the current Impreza platform and produced only in four-door sedan form.

The first WRX to wear exclusive bodywork will be powered by a direct-injection version of the turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder boxer engine that powers the new Forester XT, which produces 177kW/350Nm.

It will be matched to six-speed manual and continuously variable automatic (CVT) transmissions – the latter with steering wheel-mounted shift paddles.

Combined with weight reductions from measures such as aluminium panels and a carbon-fibre roof, the new WRX will not only be the fastest ever, but also the most efficient.

Doll ruled out petrol-electric hybrid power for the WRX – at least in the near-term.

"Not in a performance car," he said. “You could argue that with the electric engine and the additional power it gives you and the additional torque it provides, particularly at the low end ... it might have a possibility".

Masashi Uemura, translating for Subaru’s global sales and marketing director, Tomohiko Ikeda, also left the door open for hybridised WRX.

“If we make a hybrid version of WRX we don't comment on that. It's too early to say. Anything's possible,” he said. “We are studying every possibility.”

Although the ‘WR Blue Pearl III’ coloured show car on display in New York had no engine and no interior, expect its head-turning exterior details to carry over the circa-$40,000 production model, including fluorescent yellow WRX logo on the grille, massive yellow six-piston front brake callipers and an aggressive rear diffuser with quad exhaust outlets.