Subaru Trezia: The Toyotafication Continues
Remember the just-released Toyota Ractis? It’s just dropped in Subaru form, giving the Japanese market the tantalizing choice of two distinct brands for an identical four-door subcompact hatch. Moreover, the Trezia marks a changing of the guard at Subaru: whereas Subaru used to develop and sell a wacky rainbow of subcompact and “kei” cars and trucks (some of which are still visible at Subaru’s Japanese website), all future Subarus smaller than the Impreza will be rebadged Toyotas. This change won’t materially affect the US market, but it can’t help but erode Subaru’s image as an independent small maker of quirky cars. Apparently there is just no place for that kind of automaker in the future… the revolution will be rebadged.
More by Edward Niedermeyer
Latest Car Reviews
Read moreLatest Product Reviews
Read moreRecent Comments
- El scotto Do the Agnellis care about any of this?
- El scotto Wait! What are these higher-level Kias you write about?
- El scotto The real question is: If you live north of I-70 when do you switch to summer tires?
- MaintenanceCosts Warmer weather.Summer tires get a little slick under 50 and very slick under 40. Those are the nighttime temps here all but about two months of the year. And I don't drive on the track, so my tires are rarely hot. I buy performance all-seasons, and in our climate that means I trade a bit of grip on the summer days for more grip the rest of the time.
- Ras815 My favorite point from the 'How to Sell Cadillac over Imperial' document: Fins same as last year.Could there be a more representative statement on 1950s automative design? 🤣
Comments
Join the conversation
Isn't much (if any) money to be made in this segment, so it will be beneficial for Subaru in the long run to let Toyota develop these kinds of cars so they can concentrate on their Impreza and Legacy sized vehicles. I know it's cool to hate on Toyota on the internet and everything, but historically Toyota has produced good cars in this segment, so I don't see how a rebadge in a market outside of the US has any bearing on how the Subaru brand is perceived in the US. It's hilarious to see how people are remarking that Subaru is dieing a slow death, even though the opposite is true and that they're making all sorts of sales records. Internet.
Surely the smaller ones will be re-badged Daihatsus rather than Toyotas. Toyota doesn't make any kei cars itself.