Subaru’s Most Important Car Is Coming Next Year

We’ve known for some time that a Forester Hybrid is on the way. When the next-gen SUV debuted last year at the LA Auto Show, Subaru of America President Jeff Walters said the hybrid would arrive roughly a year after the gas version. Now, we have a general time frame: Mid-2025.

Jump over to Subaru’s website and you’ll find a brief mention of the Forester Hybrid arriving for the 2025 model year. Sneaking in as a 2025 model, we’ll assume mid-2025 means more like June or possibly July. Launching later would push it perilously close to the 2026 model year, but regardless of the timing, it will mark Subaru’s return to the hybrid world after canning the electrified Crosstrek in 2023.

Details of the powertrain haven’t been announced yet, but Toyota will be tapped for the electric motor and battery tech. That shouldn’t come as any surprise, given the partnership between the companies. The Subaru Solterra and Toyota bZ4X EVs are identical save for minor stylistic changes, but that doesn’t mean Subaru will ditch its flat-four for something inline. It will likely use the same setup that debuted earlier this year on the new Crosstrek Hybrid in Japan; a 2.5-liter boxer-four with a single electric motor in parallel arrangement. That would allow the Forester to run electric-only for short periods.

Total system output is unknown, but the gas-only Forester currently has 180 horsepower and 178 pound-feet of torque. It’s reasonable to expect the Forester hybrid to have more power with the electric motor added, possibly taking the place of the long-absent turbocharged Forester XT. Given Subaru’s teaser for the upcoming hybrid, it’s safe to assume efficiency will be highlighted over everything else. And yes, it will still retain Subaru’s all-wheel-drive system.

We’ll share all the details of the new Forester Hybrid as soon as they’re available.