TOKYO -- Subaru is adding a second hybrid vehicle to its lineup, a gasoline-electric version of the Impreza hatchback it hopes will tap booming demand for the fuel-efficient technology in Japan.
The Impreza Sport Hybrid goes on sale July 10 in Japan, becoming the brand’s second hybrid after the XV Hybrid, the automaker said today. There are no immediate plans to sell the Impreza hybrid overseas.
The Impreza Sport Hybrid and XV Hybrid share an electrified all-wheel-drive powertrain that was developed in-house by Subaru-maker Fuji Heavy Industries. The XV Hybrid is sold in the United States as the XV Crosstrek Hybrid, an Impreza-based compact crossover.
Subaru is extending its hybrid lineup despite tepid reviews of the hybrid powertrain, which critics sometimes dinged as offering neither stellar power nor standout fuel economy.
Both the Impreza and XV hybrids deliver 20.4 kilometers per liter under Japan’s testing mode. Though that does not convert directly to a U.S. EPA rating, it equals about 48 mpg.
With a lineup skewed heavily toward midsize, awd vehicles, Subaru is under pressure to improve fuel efficiency across its range and is busy investing in new powertrains. Going hybrid is popular in Japan because hybrids comprise more than 20 percent of the domestic market.
Subaru is ramping up spending on better drivetrains. On the drawing board is the brand’s first plug-in hybrid, which is expected to be launched in North America in 2018.
As part of the overhaul, Subaru will convert all gasoline engines to direct injection starting in 2016. The technology will be standard in a next-generation boxer engine Subaru will roll out. Subaru also will add cylinder deactivation and lean combustion cycles by 2020.
The work will push r&d spending 16 percent higher to ¥97 billion ($780.2 million) in the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2016, the company has projected.
Outlays for r&d rose 39 percent in the year just ended.
Subaru aims to sell 6,000 Impreza Sport Hybrids a year in Japan.
