The power of the hybrid badge appears to know no bounds. Despite the Subaru Crosstrek retaining the previous model’s inferior hybrid system with negligible fuel savings, there is a six-month wait on the new model.
The wait time for a new Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid – marketed as “E-Boxer”, a reference to the horizontally-opposed engine layout that mimics a pair of fists punching like a boxer – has blown out to six months before the first vehicle has been delivered in Australia.
However customers who are after a regular 2.0-litre petrol version of the new Subaru Crosstrek can take delivery within four to six weeks, depending on availability of options and colours.
Subaru Australia says one-in-five customers (20 per cent) in the queue for a new Subaru Crosstrek are waiting up to six months for the hybrid variant.
This is despite the fact the new Subaru Crosstrek carries over the old, inefficient hybrid system from the previous Subaru XV.
Testing by Drive and other media outlets has found the fuel savings on Subaru’s hybrid tech is negligible to non-existent and yet the company charges a $3600 price premium for it.
In response to the widespread industry criticism about the ineffectiveness of Subaru’s first generation of hybrid technology, the company has announced an agreement to adopt Toyota’s benchmark hybrid technology that halves fuel consumption and tailpipe emissions.
But the first Subaru models with Toyota hybrid tech won’t be in showrooms until 2025 at the earliest.
Subaru Australia spokesperson Chloe Fraser told Drive: “The wait time on a hybrid Crosstrek is about six months if you order one today.”
As previously reported, not all hybrid systems are created equally – even though they are marketed under the same name.
Testing by Drive has found the hybrid systems in Mazda and Subaru cars deliver negligible to non-existent fuel savings and GWM Haval vehicles trim fuel use by about 25 per cent.
GWM Haval says it is already working on its next generation of hybrid technology to cut fuel use even further, in an attempt to match Toyota’s fuel-miser hybrid tech that halves consumption and emissions.
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