A seven-seat version of the Subaru Liberty Exiga wagon will finally go on sale in Australia in July after previously only being available as a six-seater.
Subaru Australia managing director Nick Senior said high customer demand for the extra seating position encouraged Fuji Heavy Industries – the manufacturer of Subaru vehicles – to produce a seven-seat variant suitable for our market.
A seven-seat version of the Liberty Exiga has been available overseas but only with a lap seatbelt for the ‘seventh’ seat, which is positioned in the middle in the second row. Subaru Australia’s David Rowley said the local brand was not prepared to devalue its range-wide five-star ANCAP safety rating by offering the vehicle in that specification, but said with lap-sash seatbelts now standard for all passengers it had no hesitation in introducing the seven-seat Exiga.
The seven-seater will be launched as a 2013 model year vehicle, and will come with minor changes to the door mirrors and a new 17-inch alloy wheel design for Premium variants.
The upgrade will come just six months after Subaru Australia launched its 2012 model year update for the Exiga, which added a reversing camera, Bluetooth connectivity, voice control and USB/AUX inputs to the base model and automatic headlights across the two-model range.
Prices for the 2013 Subaru Liberty Exiga will be revealed closer to the car’s arrival in showrooms in the coming months. The current Exiga six-seater is priced from $37,990 to $42,490.
The Liberty Exiga will become Subaru Australia’s second seven-seat option, joining the Tribeca large SUV.