Subaru XV: production XV teased ahead of Frankfurt

Subaru XV Tease

Crossovers are where it’s at today. Every car maker wants a crossover in their range and Subaru is no different. Which is why they rolled out the XV Concept at Shanghai. And now they’ve turned the Subaru XV Concept in to a production model and it’s heading to Frankfurt.

Oddly, even though we see it all the time, Subaru are busy teasing the XV, even though we’ve seen it as a concept at Shanghai. Does that mean the production version of the XV is radically different to the concept XV? No, probably not. Perhaps toned down a little, but essentially the same. In fact even Subaru say that “…he final production version of the XV remains true to the Concept.”

So if we ignore the tease sketch and look at the XV Concept gallery below it’s probably more informative. And what we get is a perfectly good crossover based on the 2012 Subaru Impreza, but butched-up and jacked-up. The normal crossover recipe.

Subaru are going after a market dominated by the Nissan Qashqai – which really started the whole crossover thing – and the the Peugeot 3008 – which is the best of the bunch. The Subaru XV has an edge by being a bit bigger than either and having Subaru’s 4WD expertise on board.

So with 4WD and a strong 2.0 litre Boxer engine the XV should make an impression, even if Subaru do lumber it with a CVT ‘box. Price will be crucial, but if it kicks off at under £20k it will be in with more than a fighting chance.

With, we think, a launch planned for the UK in early 2012, we’ll know soon enough.

(18 photos – click any thumbnail for full gallery)

By Cars UK