Subi coupe not for Oz... Yet

Subaru's top secret sportscar that is being jointly developed with Toyota has been caught on camera undergoing testing.

It is so secret, in fact, that not even the boss of Subaru Australia has seen the car -- apart from these images of it wearing a camouflage.

Speaking at the launch of the new WRX STI sedan in Melbourne this week, the boss of Subaru Australia Nick Senior told the Carsales Network the Subaru coupe is on a wishlist but not confirmed for sale locally.

"I've still not seen it; we know very little about it, and we're not guaranteed to take it," he said.

"The technical details, the production schedule, the timing are all still being finalised. We expect to hear more before the end of the year and we'll make a decision then."

There is speculation that the Subaru version of the Toyota FT-86 -- which is yet to be shown, even in concept guise -- will be powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged Subaru engine, and be rear-drive only.

"That is one of the things we've got to look at," Senior commented.

"We have to consider if it is the right thing for the brand in Australia. We have marketed heavily all-wheel drive and as we understand it the car will be rear-drive.

"We need to assess whether it fits with the current Subaru philosophy in Australia. But rest assured we will look at it at the first opportunity."

Senior said it would not be necessary to change Subaru's branding or dealership Corporate Identity, even though it strongly promotes its exclusively all-wheel drive line-up, and slogans such as "all-wheel drive is all we do".

"It looks like a fun car and Subaru is all about driver enjoyment. If it fits in with that we'll look at it."

In the meantime, test cars continue to clock up development kilometres. As yet, no on-sale date has been nominated for Japan, Europe or North America.

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