£2,500 price cut for Subaru BRZ

Subaru has cut the retail price of its sporty BRZ coupe by nearly 10% to £23,995 on-the-road for the SE Lux model. The reduction from the previous £26,495 list price (effective from 1 May 2014) marks a £2,500 saving for customers.

The price drop is in part related to the introduction of the firm’s performance flagship model, the WRX STI, which hits UK shores in May 2014.

On Bing: see pictures of the Subaru BRZ

Find out how much a used Subaru BRZ costs on Auto Trader

As the new WRX STI is £4,000 cheaper than its predecessor, with prices starting from £28,995, at the former price of £26,495 the BRZ SE Lux model would be positioned far too close to the faster, more powerful WRX STI saloon. This could have potentially damaged BRZ sales.

The second reason Subaru has been able to cut the BRZ’s cost is due to more favourable exchange rates between the pound and the Japanese yen.

As the pound has strengthened against the yen, it has improved Subaru UK’s buying power, which has allowed the company to pass on savings to the customer.

Although there is an entry-level BRZ SE model, only the BRZ SE Lux variant is imported into the UK, meaning the cheapest model you can buy is the £23,995 BRZ SE Lux manual.

The £2,500 discount also applies to automatic models, reducing their on-the-road price to £25,495.

Although it’d be nice to bag a basic BRZ for £22,495 including the recent price cut, the extra equipment of the top trim level – including heated leather and Alcantara seats – are more than welcome.

With clear water between the two cars, Subaru is hoping that it will drive sales of both machines further.

It’s fair to say the BRZ hasn’t exactly been the commercial success Subaru had hoped it would be in the UK, so can a £2,500 price cut kick start some more customer interest in the car – especially now it’s £1,115 cheaper than its mechanically identical Toyota GT86 equivalent.

On Bing: see pictures of the Subaru BRZ

Find out how much a used Subaru BRZ costs on Auto Trader

Subaru BRZ review (2012 onwards)

Read a Subaru review on MSN Cars

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By motoringresearch.com