Subaru previews EV performance plans with fearsome STI concept

Primarily for that reason, he said, electric vehicles present an interesting opportunity to reinvent the STI brand – because "you've got the power and performance, and you've got an all-wheel drive system", the latter being an intrinsic element of Toyota's performance heritage.

"We're working on more sporty models and electrification allows us to do this", he said, and the Performance E-STI appears to be the manifestation of that ambition.

Notably, it has been revealed just a few weeks ahead of the 30th anniversary of Colin McRae's WRC title victory at the wheel of the Subaru Impreza 555 and clearly takes some influence from the iconic Group A dominator in its dark blue paint, gold wheels and pink STI detailing.

It does not appear to be based on any current production model, but as a rakish, four-door fastback, it could preview a successor to the current Subaru Legacy, which has been on sale outside of the UK for six years.

The Performance E-STI follows on from the wild STI E-RA concept Subaru revealed in 2022 as an early indication of its plans to maintain a performance car offering in the EV era.

That concept, though, was a dedicated supercar – completely unrelated to any production model – with a quartet of Yamaha EV motors that produced 1073bhp, and a carbonfibre monocoque helping to keep weight to 1690kg.

Also on Subaru's Tokyo stand was an STI concept version of the current production Impreza (pictured below), which is more likely to enter production in the near future as a replacement for the US- and Japan-market WRX, which is effectively a stand-alone model separate from the Impreza line.

Details were similarly sparing, but it was said to have a boxer engine and AWD, and had been designed to "offer more customers the chance to experience the joy of driving".

There was no word on any plans for a production version, nor any indication that it could be a global model.