From Automotive News
TOKYO -- Subaru is about to shift to a new global platform that will underpin its entire lineup and propel what it hopes will be a new phase of growth.
Two concepts at this month’s Tokyo Motor Show offer a glimpse of the coming era. One previews the next-generation Impreza five-door hatchback. The other, the Viziv Future Concept, looks at Subaru’s vision for green drivetrains and safety.
Impreza
The Impreza 5-Door Concept previews a full model change expected to go on sale in the U.S. in late 2016 as a 2017 model. It will be the first vehicle on the new platform to be used in all redesigns plus a new full-size crossover.
Renderings of the Impreza concept show an aggressively creased hatchback with a low and wide stance and pronounced shoulders over the wheels. With a fastback roofline and minimized greenhouse, the design cuts a meaner silhouette than the current generation.
Subaru said designers were targeting a “dynamic and solid” look.
Viziv Future Concept
The Viziv Future Concept encapsulates several technologies that Subaru is pondering.
On the outside, the Viziv (VEE’-ziv) is a stout and sporty compact SUV. With clean, linear creasing and distinctive beveled shoulder paneling under the side windows, the white concept cuts an active go-anywhere aura with its safety-orange accents and black wheel arch moldings.
It has a massive panoramic glass roof and suicide doors.
Under the hood, it has a direct-injection downsized turbocharged engine mated to an electric motor hybrid system. Motor power positioned in the rear would provide symmetrical all-wheel drive. That would enable designers to scrap the propeller shaft for a flat floor and deliver torque vectoring to the wheels for precision handling.
The goal is to stay true to Subaru’s awd DNA while boosting fuel economy through electrification and more effective combustion.
Safety and more
Subaru also is using the Viziv Future Concept to showcase its ideas for safety technology, autonomous driving and car interconnectivity.
Subaru says future cars will have intelligent traffic telecommunications systems to communicate with other vehicles and the infrastructure to help navigate, avoid accidents and assist with such functions as automated parking. Detailed mapping and precision GPS guidance will also evolve to enable safer driving, Subaru says.
Subaru is trying to position safety as a key selling point, centered on its EyeSight precrash automatic braking system.
