Subaru Canceled The WRX STI Because Regulations Change Way Too Quickly - gallery

Subaru recently announced that the WRX STI would not come back as part of the second-gen (post-Impreza era) 2021+ WRX lineup, but it didn’t tell us why

The only thing Subaru said was that “Subaru Corporation is exploring opportunities for the next-generation Subaru WRX STI, including electrification”

The official release went on to say that a next-gen STI with an ICE “will not be produced based upon the new WRX platform.”

We were set to speculate that Subaru was planning hybrid or electric WRX STI to keep up with the times, but a new report sheds some light on what’s really going on

According to Subaru Corporate Communications Director, Dominick Infante, regulations are changing so fast that the WRX STI wouldn’t have a very long shelf life.

“If we designed now, it would have a very limited shelf life. The regulations are changing so quickly that it kind of wouldn’t make any sense.”

He was quick to point out that the STI brand still exists in cars like the STI E-RA concept and the Levorg STI Sport that’s sold on the Japanese market, but the WRX STI is on hold

One could argue that Subaru and Toyota might work on building something together through their partnership and it would make sense.

See, Infante pointed out that limited-production or low-output models are simpler in terms of regulations and easier to justify doing

That could mean that a standalone replacement for the WRX STI could happen, but when or if that will happen is still a complete mystery.

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