Subaru will show its new Qashqai rival, the XV, at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show. Not that you would have guessed it from this frustrating teaser sketch issued today.
Parent firm Fuji Heavy Industries confirmed the Subaru crossover will be shown on 13 September at the IAA German show – five months after the concept waded in at the 2011 Shanghai show.
Subaru XV: sounds like a rugby team!
Yes, but those roman numerals don’t signify the number of seats; this will remain a five-seater.
‘The XV is a rival for the Ford Kuga and Nissan Qashqai,’ Subaru’s then UK managing director Paul Tunnicliffe told CAR in May 2011. ‘It’s four-wheel drive only and we’ll offer a 1.6 and 2.0-litre petrols and a 2.0-litre diesel. We are hoping for around 2000 XV sales in a full year.’
The new Subaru XV will go on sale in early 2012. It marks a planned resurgence in the Subaru brand, which has sunk to around 4000 sales a year in the UK.
The XV crossover isn’t the only new Subaru arriving in 2012. It will join the new rear-wheel drive coupe twinned with Toyota’s FT-86 and the replacement Impreza.
With that renewed range, Tunnicliffe claimed Subaru would be back to selling around 6000-7000 cars in the UK.
The brief Subaru statement about the XV
As well as this teaser photo, Subaru issued a brief statement about the XV. ‘The final production version of the XV remains true to the Concept and Subaru is confident that it will bring something fresh, as well as a new level of engineering excellence, to the segment.
‘Subaru also expects the XV will bring a new type of customer to the brand, people who are confident in the knowledge of the company’s AWD and engineering expertise and who are also looking for the flexibility and lifestyle statement that owning a crossover brings.’