I personally would like to see a hatchback. Coupe would be nice as well, but I miss the days of the old hatchbacks.

Keith

 

That is assuming that Mitsubishi developes the colt. But someone has gotta do something to catch the Pugeot.

 

Seems competing with Mitsubishi isn't a big concern right now.

Ask yourself if it's worth dropping your best-selling line to develop a car for what is, in the grand scheme of things, a minor competitive series. It doesn't make economic sense to me.

 

The Peugeot and now the Citroen too.

 

A hatch would rule. They could turn the Coupe into a hatchback relatively easily, and the WRC is more than a minor series, it is the reason Suburu sold 20,000 extra cars in the US last year alone. Without the WRC, Subaru probably wouldn't sell half as many cars as it does now.

 

To be honest with you, nobody in the U.S. had ever heard of WRC until afterthe WRX arrived. Most probably still haven't. I bet Gran Turismo sold more of those cars in the U.S. market than WRC did.

 

Sorry, but myself, every other SCCA Pro Rally lisence holder, and just about anyone that is really into motorsports will have to disagree with you on that one Drover. For one thing they've been making rally games for Sega and play station much longer than Gran Turismo has been around. For a good example look at Colin McRea Rally. Also, Subaru has been rallying in the the states for longer than any of those games. That is why we have the late 80's RX and the early 90's turbo Legacy.

 

Sorry, I thought people would recognize a little hyperbole when they saw it. So for the benefit of those who can't, I'll clarify. Most people in the U.S. who aren't SCCA Pro Rally license holders and/or really into motorsports had never heard of WRC before the WRX came here. SCCA Pro Rally license holders and people really into motorsports obviously don't account for the sale of some 40,000 WRXs in 2 years. How many of those 40,000 have still never heard of WRC? I'd bet it's most. And the fact that SoA sold about a combined total of 28 RXs and turbo Legacys in the U.S. (deliberate understatement for those who can't tell), even though they were active in the U.S. rally circuit, actually supports my contention that video games sold more WRXs in America than rallying did.

My specific mention of GT is not exclusionary of other contributions made by other video games. I used it as a general example because GT and its various iterations are clearly among the most popular, if not the most popular automotive video games of recent times, and one of just a handful to feature the WRX. My point was about the automotive marketing power in the U.S. of video games versus WRC, not of any specific video game.

That said, interest in rallying seems to be picking up substantially in America. In just in the last year or so, I've personally witnessed interest and participation in local rallycross events absolutely explode. IMO the WRX brought interest in rallying to America with it, not the other way around. Of course there's room for debate on this issue....

 

Drover, Sorry for my misinterpertation.

For fun you should meet the sales guys from the dealership near me. I think they've sold more RS and WRXs to little old ladies than any other group. I don't know how they do it, but I keep seeing people driving them that are not of the "typical" group.

 

I discovered World Rally from a Playstation game then found it on Speed Channel. I knew that when a WRC style of car came to USA I would have to have it no matter what manufacturer it was. The WRX came to America in March ( I think ) and I had mine in the first week of May. In my case watching WRC sold me the car. I wish Rally were more popular in USA but TV will only present to viewers what has worked in the past.

 

I'd also like to see subie make a coupe/hatchback as well!!

This portion is a little off the original topic but what the hey!
Personaly I think Rally will become more popular over time and will be seen more on TV in the US, on the down side I don't think this will happen unless a US manufacturer wins some major races (Dodge SRT4?) And since we are talking about it, I also have played the ralley game on sega/nintendo/ps and they are my favorite type of race game (not my favorite type of game though)
And also will watch WRC on speedvision as well. Recently found out that the little bro of a good friend of mine is a ralley driver, in a subie no less!, (races out MN) and apparently did pretty well this past year!