Did Subaru Just Inadvertently Confirm the Car Everyone Wants?

New trademark filings and Subaru’s participation in one of Japan’s revered motorsports leagues says a lot.

Front view of a blue Subaru STI car with black hood scoop and red trim around the grille.

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Published March 19, 2026

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Updated March 19, 2026

Subaru appears to be moving forward with producing its STI Performance-B Concept. New trademark filings from Japan’s own intellectual property office recently surfaced, very clearly showing the concept in digital renderings.

While trademark and patent filings don’t necessarily confirm anything, they could provide another clue regarding Subaru’s intent to bring back its highly desired performance model.

Bringing back the hatchback

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Japan’s federal IPO office published the renderings earlier this month, which were very clearly filed by Subaru. But rather than showing a traditional WRX STI sedan, the digital photos show the familiar STI Performance-B Concept.

In the past, the Impreza WRX STI was available in several body forms, ranging from the standard sedan, to even a five-door hatchback and wagon. However, Subaru made the previous WRX STI in sedan form only.

Blue Subaru hatchback with black roof, hood scoop, wide fenders, and large rear spoiler in a studio. — Subaru’s recent trademark filings show a digital rendering of the Performance-B STI Concept.

With the new trademark filings clearly showing a five-door hatch model, which is based on the original concept, Subaru is obviously looking to revive the WRX STI in one of its most beloved forms.

Not much else is known. But Subaru and STI will most certainly have to put in a lot of work to make the STI variant faster and more capable than the current and already fairly potent WRX. In comparison, the current WRX is good for 271 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque.

Not just for show and tell

Blue Subaru hatchback with large rear spoiler and black alloy wheels in a studio. — The trademarks suggest Subaru and STI are moving forward with a production version of its Performance-B STI Concept.

Subaru also recently entered Japan’s renowned Super Taikyu motorsports series. It’s the country’s most revered endurance races and is often a chance for automakers to test and benchmark their performance engineering.

Photographers recently caught Subaru’s purpose-built track-only High Performance X Version II or HiPerfX2 five-door hatchback touring car, which strongly resembles the Performance-B STI Concept. While it is only a racing car, it’s another telling clue about Subaru’s ambitions.

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Previous production WRX STI models were World Rally Championship homologations based on the league’s qualification rules. Meaning, the automaker had to produce a certain amount of road-going versions of its racecars.

That’s how the world got the production Impreza WRX STI. Subaru’s claim to fame and world prominence came from its victories in motorsports throughout the 1990s and 2000s.

Two blue Subaru race cars with decals and spoilers on a racetrack corner. — Subaru also entered Japan’s coveted Super Taikyu endurance race with a similar-looking racecar.

But when the global financial crisis struck circa 2008, Subaru pulled the plug on its STI-based motorsports programs. That eventually led to the WRX STI’s slow demise in 2021.

Since then, Subaru and STI attempted a few models inspired by the true WRX STI. But none of them have been true successors, nor been available outside Japan’s Domestic Market.

Silver Subaru WRX sedan drifting on a gravel surface, kicking up a large cloud of dust with mountains in the background under a clear sky. — The original Impreza WRX STI and its succesors were born from motorsports, specifically rallying.

With Subaru and STI picking its motorsports efforts back up, plus the concept and now, the trademark filings, all roads are leading to what we hope is a potentially new production WRX STI.

About the Author: Chris Chin is an associate editor at Gear Patrol, covering cars, trucks and anything else with four wheels. He has over a decade of experience writing news and reviews but considers himself an enthusiast first, with a passion for classics and European cars. His daily driver is a 1987 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL with nearly 250,000 miles (87,000 are his).

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