April, 2008 – Autoblog, “Subaru has branded itself as the purveyor of competent, multi-purpose vehicles that begin and end with one distinct feature: all-wheel-drive. By adding another vehicle into its lineup lacking that core trait, Subaru risks diluting its hard-earned image, not to mention going toe-to-toe with the Toyota monolith by selling a badge-engineered variant.”

Subaru’s coupe doesn’t go on sale until 2011 (which means mid-, late-2010), but they’ve already started the rebranding campaign – a move away from being a car company defined by their AWD offerings.

Old: “The Beauty of All Wheel Drive”

New: “Love. It’s what makes a Subaru, a Subaru”

Update: May, 2008 – Edmunds Inside Line, “The Toyota model, still to be named, will be sold exclusively in Japan, while the Subaru-badged model will be marketed worldwide. The mechanical package will be identical, but both Toyota and Subaru will create exterior designs to differentiate their cars from each other.

…

Surprisingly, the joint Toyota-Subaru R&D team has chosen the out-of-production, front-wheel-drive Honda Integra Type R as its benchmark, because its styling, performance parameters and dimensions mirror what the development team wants to create.

Expected to ride on a 103-inch wheelbase, the 2,866-pound coupes will use a 2+2 seating configuration.”

Even though Subaru’s known for their symmetrical AWD, they’re also more of a niche player. A car company with an attitude and a chip on its’ shoulder. It’d be much more of a stretch for Toyota, known recently for, what…the Camry? to market this car globally, than for Subaru, known for the WRX and STi to do so…

More importantly…”the out-of-production, front-wheel-drive Honda Integra Type R as its benchmark, because its styling, performance parameters and dimensions mirror what the development team wants to create.” This is good news. No, this is GREAT news. If you’ve ever driven one, you’d know why. More on this later.

But, while we’re on the subject. Subaru, if you’re listening (or reading), give us a hatch. One of the ITR’s greatest attributes is it’s versatility. And by versatility, I mean a-couch-in-the-hatch-kinda-versatility. I give you…Exhibit A: