Subaru teases Impreza XV hatch

NOT content with revealing its fourth-generation Impreza sedan at the New York auto show next week, Subaru has issued a teaser image pointing to a high-riding five-door hatchback version of its all-important small car series that will be unveiled just hours earlier at the Shanghai auto show on April 19.

Subaru has provided few details of the concept, which is dubbed the XV – the same designation as the current off-road-oriented Impreza variant – and has been confirmed as using the Japanese brand’s symmetrical all-wheel drive system.

However, the silhouetted image – which reveals the same basic proportions as the production sedan shown for the first time in a single photograph released last week – clearly shows a hatchback rear end for the vehicle and casts light on expected design cues such as roof rails and slightly utilitarian plastic body cladding around the wheel-arches and side sills.

Subaru Australia managing director Nick Senior said: “It’s an exciting time for new models and concept designs at Subaru and we look forward to sharing greater detail on XV concept and Impreza next week.”

All Subaru or its parent Fuji Heavy Industries will say on the XV at this stage is that the “new-generation vehicle blends practicality with fashionable form, fun and comfort”.

Both the new-generation Impreza sedan and hatch are likely to make their Australian debut at the Melbourne motor show on July 1 ahead of their showroom arrival later this year.