Impreza in the Market

The improved Impreza stands to steal buyers away from brands that have taken their eyes off the ball. Its interior quality has jumped, right when some class leaders have foolishly allowed their interiors and feature sets to decay. By upping the mileage, Subaru has addressed one of the shortcomings of having standard all-wheel drive, but the Impreza doesn't improve much on the pricing. Say what you will of the dumbed-down Volkswagen Jetta; at least it came with a price decrease.

To truly excel in the compact-car market, the Impreza needs to convince buyers that the all-wheel drive for which they'll pay a premium has advantages beyond foul-weather traction. While all-wheel drive can provide this advantage in sporty cars, I fear the 2012's body roll and modest power keep it from doing so.

    See also:

    Key lock-in prevention function
    This function prevents the doors from being locked with the key still in the ignition switch. ...

    Ignition switch light
    For easy access to the ignition switch in the dark, the ignition switch light illuminates when driver’s door is opened or when the driver’s door is unlocked using the remote keyless entry transmit ...

    MODE button
    Models without Hands-free system Models with Hands-free system The “MODE” button is used to select the desired audio mode. Each time it is pressed, the mode changes to the next one in the ...