I picked up the latest issue of "Brand X" car mag and in the back was a short story on a new car Subaru is bring to the U.S....besides the BR-Z (or whatever it's called).
It seems that the parent company was about to launch a new model in Europe and a few other markets when U.S. dealers got wind of this new vehicle and said they wanted it too. The original plan was NO sales in North America. Anyway, the car was termed a modern day AMC Spirit by "Brand X" mag, but to my eyes it's closer to being a lower priced BMW X6. Unlike the Spirit, but like the X6, it has 4 doors and a fastback/hatchback body, but the way that it's sort of "jacked up" would put many here in mind of a Spirit.
The car is called the XV (I think, my memory is easily "swiss-cheesed") and it used the Impreza's platform and 2 liter engine. One of the reasons it wasn't going to be sold here is the possibility that ANY new car this size would steal sales from the Forester. Apparently, the XV will SLIGHTLY undercut the Forester on price, but being a hatchback/fastback, interior space will be smaller. Basically, this is a jacked up Impreza hatch, marketted like the "original" Outbacks were...as an entirely different car, even though they were basically just jacked up Legacy 'wagons.
And as always, a diesel version will be sold in other markets...but not in the U.S.
