Subaru has seen huge success in the United States and Canada over the past decade, with the market making up two-thirds of the brand's global sales. That success has come because Subaru's specialty is selling precisely what the average American car buyer wants these days: a rugged, spacious, all-wheel-drive crossover that is easy to get people and gear in and out of.
Take a look at Subaru's showroom today, and you'll see it already has a solid SUV lineup. The affordable Crosstrek and three-row Ascent provide the bookends, with the Forester and Outback mainstays slotting in between them. But other automakers have shown you can't cut the crossover pie too thinly. Could Subaru have another SUV in the works?
Well, dealers want one. Subaru dealer bigwig Patrick Wergin recently told Automotive News that dealers want more crossovers, and that Subaru had "new product" coming, in addition to the new BRZ, that would make "a splash in the market."
As Torque News notes, Subaru has referenced a new, Forester-sized crossover in the past; this could be another indication that such a vehicle is en route. Of course, the splashy new product this year could be the upcoming rugged Wilderness trims for the Outback and Forester spelled out in a leaked product planning document last summer.
That said, if you were trying to game out a new SUV Subaru could offer with characteristics that would make it distinct from the Forester and Outback, it might well be an SUV that was sportier, more fancy and powered by either a more fuel-efficient plug-in hybrid or all-electric powertrain. In other words, the 280-horsepower Evoltis EV Subaru is co-developing with Toyota.
