Interview: Paul Tunnicliffe, Managing Director, Subaru UK
By: Martin Kahl, Wednesday, July 28, 2010, AutomotiveWorld.com
At the media presentation of the UK-only Subaru Impreza Cosworth STi, AutomotiveWorld.com interviewed Paul Tunnicliffe, managing director of Subaru UK.
Only 75 retail units of the Cosworth Impreza STi will be produced, assembled by Cosworth at its facility in Northampton. The vehicle is 33% more powerful than the standard Impreza STi on which it is based, and has undergone major modifications to the powertrain, chassis and engine.
Tunnicliffe discussed how the relationship came about between Subaru and Cosworth, and outlined the importance of this special edition vehicle. He explained the role that the Impreza and STi names have played for Subaru, but also emphasised the changing nature of Subaru's product range and customer base. Whilst glad to have Subaru's association with performance cars, rally and STi, particularly in the UK, Tunnicliffe says the company is now focusing on the other brand attributes, such as engineering heritage, lifestyle AWD vehicles and unique Boxer diesel engine.
AutomotiveWorld.com: You have worked with Prodrive in the past. What led to this relationship with Cosworth?
Paul Tunnicliffe: Cosworth has done a lot of work globally on producing high performance packs for Subaru, but we have never done anything formally. Cosworth is a really good partner to be with at the moment. The company is on the up, and has a very high profile. There are lots of people with Prodrive on the back of their cars. This offers something a little bit different, and we will exploit that.
AW: How did the relationship come about?
PT: This happened before I arrived at the company, but I understand that Cosworth approached us. It had a Subaru kit it was selling to customers overseas, and through one of our dealers who had sold some of those Cosworth Subaru kits, we were approached with the suggestion to do something formally. At that stage, the Cosworth name was growing on the back of Formula 1, and we thought it could be a very good thing. Let us see how this progresses.
I am confident that all the development work has gone well. We are now at the stage where we have to produce these cars on a regular basis. We have sold all 75 cars, and we have a waiting list. We now have to ensure we have 75 delighted customers, and then we will have a think about what to do in the future. We will have conversations with Cosworth and Prodrive to see who has the most compelling proposition and who can meet our needs.
AW: How does this vehicle differ from the Impreza STi and what technical changes have been made?
PT: It is a much harder car with a new turbo, new pistons, new exhaust, new brakes and callipers, and Cosworth has done a full job on the suspension. The additional 100bhp means the performance is appreciably different, and the torque is phenomenal.
Significantly, though, we have tried to keep it rooted in the real world, so we have enhanced the interior with high quality leather and piano black trim. It is not a track day-only car. You could use it on a daily basis. Our brief to Cosworth was to ensure it suited the real world as well as our hard-core fans.
AW: How much of what Cosworth has done was Cosworth input, and how much was Subaru input?
PT: Technically, we bowed to Cosworth's superior knowledge. Our input was to make sure it remained in the real world so that customers could drive it as a regular car. Cosworth did the technical and mechanical work, but Subaru UK was responsible for the vehicle's interior and exterior.
AW: What made you decide to make just 75 units?
PT: We wanted to increase demand and desirability. The STi is coming to the end of its life. This edition effectively turns the page on that model, and there is a facelifted STi coming out at the end of the year. At that time, the Impreza name will be dropped from the STi. The Impreza name will only be used on the normally aspirated version, whilst the turbo versions will be known as Subaru STi.
AW: Is that a global strategy?
PT: Yes.
AW: Will the Impreza facelift also see the wider introduction of the four-door version?
PT: The four-door will be available at that time. My view is that the four-door market in the UK is nowhere near what it was around ten years ago, but I think there are still some people who would like a four-door version.
When Subaru first launched the five-door version, there was a huge backlash. When you have a vehicle which generates passion in the way that the previous Impreza STi did, you abandon it at your peril. From talking to dealers and customers, my feeling is that people have slowly warmed to the five-door vehicle.
AW: What are the views of Subaru HQ and your parent company, Fuji Heavy (FHI), towards Subaru UK putting out special edition, high-performance models like this?
PT: This version is converted post-registration, so it does not distort the company's CO2 figures. But yes, if it was a run of more than 75 units, then they may have a view. The demand for STi happened in the UK in a way that it did not happen elsewhere. Go anywhere in Europe, and people are surprised at how much the STi brand took off in the UK.
Outside the UK, people think of Subaru as being a Forester or a Legacy. Stop people here, and they describe it as a very loud car with gold wheels that just passed them very quickly. Subaru and FHI are glad of the profile it has given the brand, but now they want us to hit our targets by selling more diesel models. They see us coming much more into line with what is happening elsewhere, which is to sell estate cars, SUVs, and diesel lifestyle cars.
The good thing is that the brand is a reason to exist in the market, and engineering is at the heart of the brand. The easiest thing would have been to put a Toyota engine in a Legacy, but Subaru does not want to do that. The company believes that customers want the Subaru Boxer engine.
AW: How important is the Cosworth STi for Subaru's brand strategy?
PT: It is important, and I can understand the passion for this model, but this is a limited 75-unit run. Once upon a time, the backbone of the business was high performance. That market was great when we had it. We are glad to still have a presence in that market, but will it be what it was ten years ago? I do not think so. The market has moved on. Cost of ownership has changed, but also we are no different from any other manufacturer in that we have to hit CO2 targets. You cannot hit those targets if 80% of your range is 300bhp turbocharged cars. We need to sell more diesels, we need to sell normally aspirated cars. We have a threat hanging over us in 2012.
AW: Which is Subaru's best-selling model in the UK?
PT: Our best-seller is the Legacy, with a diesel engine. After that, Outback and then Forester.
AW: How did Subaru perform in the UK in 2009 in terms of sales, and where does the UK market rank in Europe?
PT: We sold around 3,600 units last year. It is nowhere near enough. We are under serious pressure to increase that volume. We are paying the price for being seen as a performance franchise. It has taken some time to see the turbo side fade away, and see the rest of the range come through.
Our new advertising focuses on the vehicles' engineering and lifestyle products, and HQ is wholly supportive of that. HQ wants more volume from us, which is understandable with the UK as the second largest car market in Europe. We demanded a diesel engine, which Subaru developed specifically for us, so now it wants to see a return.
In Europe, we are currently in fourth place. Germany is first, followed by Switzerland, which is a big four wheel drive market, and then Italy.
Published on Wednesday, July 28, 2010
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