No performance Subaru XV for now
But after new WRX, the news could be different… And hybrid model is in the wingsA performance version of Subaru’s new XV crossover is far from off the cards. And a hybrid model is almost a certainty.
That’s the ‘between the lines’ information motoring.com.au gleaned from talks with senior Subaru program engineers and execs at this week’s preview drive of the new crossover due on sale in June.
Although Subaru overseas sales chief and former Impreza program boss, Makato Inoue, was tight-lipped, it was clear from discussions that an STI or perhaps tS version of the XV crossover was far from off the table.
Inoue acknowledged the appeal of performance crossovers in markets like Australia.
“Yes, a performance version could be very attractive. But that is [in the future] and I cannot talk of future product or planning,” Inoue said with a nervous laugh.
Any performance XV would logically follow the release of the next-generation WRX, expected in 2018. Subaru has pioneered the way for a performance crossover with STI and tS versions of its Forester SUV.
One scenario could see WRX arriving as a sedan-only model with, via XV, Subaru’s sole high-performance hatch being a crossover. Shades of an oriental Mercedes-AMG GLA 45.
A nod from Subaru Australia would be key for such a strategy to be accepted.
Cemented in the XV line-up, however, is a plug-in model – which alongside the Impreza will likely be Subaru’s first production hybrid.
Initially the hybrid was expected to arrive Down Under this year. Now the timeline is less clear.
On current estimates, the electrified XV is not expected until perhaps as late as 2020 – facelift time for this generation.
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