An interesting brand, Subaru, badged by a small constellation of stars but not quite a first rank star in the industry galaxy — just one you can’t help keeping an eye on.

Not exploding in a supernova flash, but growing steadily in Europe for several years now, and aiming for 100,000 European sales, or a significant 15 percent of Subaru’s whole output in 2009.

And to keep the momentum, two new road-ready cars are displayed in Frankfurt:, the new Impreza and Tribeca. Newly redesigned, the Impreza is based on the concept philosophy called “Sports Casual” and the Tribeca is heavily revised and presented as a “more refined premium SUV.”

The five-door, third-generation Impreza for Europe plays to Subaru’s dynamic strengths, rooted in a long line of rally winners and beloved of a whole generation of both aspiring sporty drivers and those who recognize solid engineering credentials (including the iconic Subaru boxer engine layout and Subaru Symmetrical AWD four-wheel drive, celebrating its 35th anniversary this year) without too many frills.

And Tribeca, also with boxer power (a substantial 3.6-liters in this case) and AWD, is restyled inside and out, focusing on improved quality, up to seven seats with space and comfort, and decent driving dynamics.

There was also a new entry-level offering in the latest version of the compact Justy (actually built by Daihatsu on Subaru’s behalf) with the inevitable emphasis on exceptional economy and low emissions, and what’s billed as a world first in the launch of the Subaru Boxer Turbodiesel engine that will be introduced in Europe next year — and which according to Subaru is the first ever horizontally opposed turbodiesel engine.

But the glamour for once wasn’t about green efficiency. It was about hardcore sporting performance and throwing up dust and rocks, in the shape of the Subaru WRC Concept, where WRC stands for World Rally Championship and the design, clearly based on the new Impreza, previews ”future styling trends for a world rally car.”

Subaru’s 2003 world champion driver Petter Solberg introduced it and having helped develop both the Impreza and the company’s latest road cars, you can assume he will be competing with it very soon now.