Subaru announced the continuation of their contingency program, the Subaru Rally Sport Program, for the 2012 Rally America National Championship. The Subaru Rally Sport Program, which is managed by Subaru of America with Vermont SportsCar as a partner, will continue to be North America’s most lucrative contingency program for rally racing.

Over $20,000 will be available at each Rally America National Championship event for Subaru drivers to earn. The program will continue to focus its support in the Super Production class (SP) where the top eligible Subaru SP driver can earn $7,000 each round, and second through 10th place will also receive generous (at least $500) payouts.

The SP class was originally created in 2009 by Rally America to offer a compromise between the top-tier Open class and the more restrictive Production GT (PGT) class. It’s a rally-racing class that is cost-effective for the racers in WRX or WRX STI models.

“Subaru as a brand, and our WRX and WRX STI models in particular, are widely recognized as having rally-DNA and being associated with performance and rallying in general,” said James Han, motorsports marketing manager for Subaru of America, Inc. “By announcing a continuation in the [Subaru] Rally Support Program, Subaru reaffirms our commitment to privateer entrants campaigning our products in Rally America events and to the growth of rally in the United States.”

Subaru of America will also offer a $200 “start fund” to any eligible Subaru entered in a Rally America Regional rally that runs concurrent to a national event weekend.

Subaru has announced that Andrew Aquilante and Bret Spaude will return as factory team drivers for their entry in the Grand Sport (GS) class of the 2012 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. The first round of the series will take place at Daytona International Speedway on January 27th, 2012.

Subaru will be fielding a race-prepped 2012 four-door WRX STI, developed specifically to compete with all the other 400-hp vehicles in the class. Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) has been working on a technical progression for the number-35 STI during the off-season and appears to be optimistic heading into round one of the championship.

SRRT Principal Joe Aquilante noted, “We’ve enjoyed a very productive off-season, and our team is looking forward to getting back to the business of racing our Subaru WRX STI.  Our drivers have been focusing on honing their physical fitness while our technical staff has been diligently progressing our car development plan.  To say that we’re excited for Daytona is an understatement.”

Round one of the 2012 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge starts January 27th at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, FL.

Subaru of American announced today, that its highly-anticipated 2012 Impreza will start at just $17,495. At that price, customers will get the base model 4-door 2.0-liter with a five speed manual transmission.

Impressively, the car’s starting price remains the same as last year’s model. The base model equipped with a CVT transmission will carry a $1,000 premium. The five door model with a five speed with cost $17,995 or $18,995 for the CVT model.

The Impreza will also be offered in 2.0i Premium, Sport Premium and Limited models. The 4-door 2.0i Premium will cost $18,795, with the five door Premium starting at $19,295. The 2.0i Limited 4-door will cost $21,595 and $22,095 for the 5-door. Lastly, the Impreza 2.0i Sport Premium will start at $20,295 and is only offered in the 5-door body style.

The 2012 Impreza has a few changes from last year including the all-new148-hp 2.0-liter Boxer engine, that achieves 27 mpg city and 36 mpg highway. The 2012 Impreza will hit dealerships in November 2011.

Subaru of America has won the top automotive Webby Award and the Gold IAAA Award for their ‘mediocrity’ advertising campaign, which lampooned traditional mid-size sedans. Subaru played off the abudnance of bland sedans in the market place. Subaru’s campaign portrays a dull and unexceptional fictional vehicle: the 2011 Mediocrity, displayed in dull beige. hue . The bland vehicle is then contrasted to the vibrant Subaru Legacy with its 2.5-litre Boxer engine and standard all-wheel drive, which, according to Subaru, is quite the opposite of ‘mediocre’.

The campaign’s digital focus was highlighted by a fully interactive website, as well as a Facebook page, a YouTube channel, a Twitter feed and a Flickr presence. Their win was chosen from almost 10,000 entries from all 50 U.S states and more than 60 countries worldwide. The Mediocrity campaign as well as substantial television advertising has increased Subaru awareness, contributing to record sales for the brand in both 2010 and the first quarter of 2011.

Check out the video after the jump!

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If the recession is slowly beginning to end, it’s companies like Subaru that are leading the charge. The Japanese automaker recorded its best sales ever in July with 21,839 units sold, compared to 16,271 units during the same period last year. That’s an increase of 34 percent!

While a lot of credit can be given to the fact that in July Subaru brought the new 2010 Legacy and Outback to dealerships, both the Forester and Impreza out-paced the new models. Outback sales were up 33 percent over last July, while Legacy sales were up 34 percent. The Forester posted a 36 percent increase while the Impreza wracked up an amazing 41 percent climb. In fact, the only model to suffer decline was the Tribeca SUV, which is sold in such small volume anyway that it doesn’t have much of an effect on overall sales.

“Our sales reflect that our brand has solidly connected with customers,” said Subaru of America executive VP and COO Tom Doll. ”We have been consistent with everything we have done to build not only safe, durable, fun-to-drive vehicles, but also the Subaru brand.”

Official release after the jump:

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