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2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid finally adds gas-electric option to the brand [w/video]

For a company that does a pretty great job of tying its vehicles to the environment - or, better said, to people who like to actually get out into the environment - Subaru hasn't exactly been a leader in green vehicle production. In fact, it's 2013 and the company is finally releasing its first-ever production hybrid, the XV Crosstrek Hybrid. Tom Doll, Subaru's executive vice president, admitted as much at the unveiling today at the New York Auto Show: "We at Subaru were not the first to market with a hybrid, but we sure made sure we did it right."
That may be, but for now the automaker doesn't want to tell us all the details of how right it is. We do know that the powertrain takes Subaru's 2.0-liter boxer engine and adds in a 13.4-horsepower electric motor and continuously variable transmission. All-wheel drive will be, of course, standard, and Subaru promises the XV Crosstrek Hybrid will offer the "same utility and versatility as the gasoline model," including 8.7 inches of ground clearance. The hybrid does weigh 300 pounds more, though, which required a re-engineered chassis.
The motor can move the lifted Impreza in all-electric mode up to 25 miles an hour (distance not specified). Subaru isn't talking precise fuel economy numbers, either, just that it will be the "most fuel-efficient all-wheel-drive crossover in America" and will unsurprisingly have start-stop functionality. We do hear, though, that the hybrid will get around 10-percent better fuel economy than the standard gas-only XV Crosstrek. The most efficient version of that car, the one with the CVT, gets 25 miles per gallon in the city, 33 highway and 28 combined. Whatever this hybrid XV Crosstrek gets, we expect Subaru'll sell a million in Portlandia. For more, scroll down to watch an official video and read the press release.

Subaru might build WRX hatchback after all

The 2015 Subaru WRX is awesome. Really awesome. We told you as much in our first drive of the new sedan back in December. Honestly, our only complaint about Fuji Heavy's new performance machine is that it's no longer offered as a hatchback - the new WRX is a sedan-only affair, despite the more functional five-door variant accounting for some 50 percent of sales in the car's last generation.
But there's hope on the horizon, if a report from Australia's Motoring.com is to be believed. Speaking with Masuo Takatsu, Subaru's general manager for the WRX, the company is now re-considering putting the "hatch" back in its hot hatch.
"We have received strong interest from the US, where the hatchback was 50 percent (of previous-generation WRX sales), so we're now considering," Takatsu told Motoring, noting that the United States is Subaru's main target for this car. Additionally, Takatsu said the company's decision to only offer the sedan was the result of limited engineering resources, echoing statements we've previously heard from Subaru's US arm.

2014 Subaru Forester XT

Hitting The Mainstream Sweet Spot
The Forester does quite a bit of heavy lifting for Subaru. What was once a plucky little all-wheel-drive utility box has matured into a competitive crossover that accounts for a quarter of the company's total sales in the US. With those numbers continuing to swell even in the third generation's twilight hours, engineers and designers found themselves in the unenviable position of being asked to fix what ain't broke. Rather than reinvent the company's workhorse from the ground up, as we say in our first look at the CUV, Subaru honed the Forester to offer better fuel efficiency, more usable space and a more refined drive.
In doing so, the automaker hopes to toe that delicate line between luring in new devotees to the cult of Pleiades and keeping the brand's longtime fans smiling. While the fourth-generation Forester may have lost some of its trademark pluckiness in the pursuit of a more mainstream existence, there's no denying this is a more sorted vehicle than its predecessors. Make no mistake, the 2014 Forester is keen to carve out a larger chunk of the ever-plumping CUV market for itself, and for the first time in its history, it has the muscle to do so.