Subaru has made its name in the U.S. market on its standard all-wheel-drive and boxer engines. Its cars have generally appealed to outdoor enthusiasts, residents of snowy areas, and specifically the WRX models, to performance enthusiasts. Fuel economy has long been a secondary concern for Subaru's target buyers, but the recent redesign of the Impreza, the 2014 Forester, and the Impreza-based XV Crosstrek with smaller-displacement engines and CVT automatics shows that economy is becoming more of a priority for Subaru.
Subaru's economy cred is about to get a big boost in the form of the XV Crosstrek Hybrid, the brand's first production hybrid, but it's clear Subaru's been toying with the idea of hybrids for quite a while. It displayed its gullwing Hybrid Tourer Concept at the 2009 Tokyo motor show, and most recently presented the Viziv diesel-hybrid concept in Geneva. In between those two, Subaru also took its wagon-shaped Advanced Tourer concept to the 2011 Toyko show.
The hybrid system showcased in the Advanced Tourer concept is probably closest to what we'll see on the Crosstrek Hybrid, which is a single-motor system. The 2009 Hybrid Tourer concept employed a two-motor hybrid system, one powering the front and rear axles, respectively.
Stay tuned to Truck Trend for the official reveal and specifications of the new Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid.