SPY PICS: Subaru Impreza mule spotted

The vehicle pictured here is believed to be Subaru's next Impreza, clothed in wide-body WRX sheet metal to disguise its added bulk.

Alternatively, it could also be Subaru's plug-in hybrid model scheduled for release a year later, in 2017. According to the spy photographers it's an either/or situation, with the car caught in the open sporting one narrow exhaust pipe at the rear – along with a rear diff.

So whatever the case may be, either the new Impreza or the plug-in, the car tested here looks set to end up a production all-wheel drive model. Under all the camouflage and olde-worlde panels is a new modular platform Subaru has developed for its broader product range, including possibly a Tribeca replacement – or something very much like that, to seat seven and go a little way off-road.

Naturally, with modular platforms, the Subaru architecture will offer weight savings that, in combo with direct-injected engines and cylinder deactivation, will improve fuel economy and reduce emissions. Subaru Australia MD Nick Senior has previously told motoring.com.au that with the new-found market share in emerging markets such as Russia and China, Subaru has the economies of scale to persevere with its much-loved boxer engine layout, which could lend itself easily to cylinder deactivation to reduce fuel use.