At the Montreal debut of the car in January, the overall length specs of the car were revealed to be different from specs provided in previous markets to date:
General Specifications mm in. Overall Length (Initial markets) 3710 146.1 Overall Length (Canada/U.S.)
3780 148.8
So it's 70 mm longer, or 2.7 inches.
When I saw that, I assumed it must be a bumper-related change. When Alpha_One posted a pic of his Philippines rear bumper (after getting bumped by another driver in traffic), the difference stood out from pics of the Canadian and U.S. spec car.
For your viewing pleasure, from the Canadian PR photo:
Here's the rear bumper everywhere else:
And with outlines for easier comparison, the Canadian bumper again:
- The first obvious difference is the legislated side-facing red reflector. Usually this is incorporated into the tail light assembly of most cars.
- The other thing you see is the extra length in this bumper, evident in the extra depth of the "shelf" at the lower edge of the hatchback door.
- There are also added "character lines" on either side of & below the license plate area.
Why we get this different & longer rear bumper I'm not 100% sure.
It may be due to different bumper strength regulations, or to address the "parking lot damage" tests that cars are subjected to by the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which conducts & publicises its own research & results . (http://www.iihs.org/research/qanda/bumpers.aspx )
Doing well on that U.S.-only test would clearly require a deeper (& stronger) rear bumper than appears on the car in other markets.