New Subaru Forester due next year, Toyota hybrid power likely

The next-generation Subaru Forester is due in Australian showrooms from next year, as the current model posts the nameplate's lowest annual sales in two decades – amid a raft of newer competition from more rivals than ever before.

Subaru Australia managing director Blair Read told Drive by the end of this year, the Forester will be the company's next model due for replacement – which would correlate to local showroom arrivals from 2024 onwards.

The next-generation Subaru Forester – which is due five to six years after the current model went on sale in late 2018 – will follow into showrooms the XV-replacing Crosstrek small SUV this April, and the new Impreza small car due before the end of this year.

MORE: 2023 Subaru Forester 2.5i-S review

Few details of the next Subaru Forester are known, however it may be the first model to adopt more advanced hybrid technology – and it could also re-introduce the option of turbocharged petrol power.

Subaru has previously confirmed it plans to introduce "next-generation [hybrid] models adopting Toyota hybrid system technology" from the "mid 2020s" – after independent testing of current Subaru hybrids has found fuel efficiency savings to be marginal or negligible.

If Toyota hybrid technology becomes an option on the next Forester, it would mean Subaru's new family SUV would share its hybrid system with its closest rival, the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid – which is also due to introduce a new-generation model in 2025.

The next Subaru Forester could also mark the return of a turbocharged petrol engine option for Australia, which last offered with the previous generation in 2018.

A 1.8-litre turbo version of the current Subaru Forester is available in Japan, but it serves as a substitute for the 2.5-litre non-turbo engine available in Australia, rather than a performance option like the previous 169kW Forester XT.

When asked if there is any news on a Forester Turbo for Australia, Mr Read told Drive: "No immediate update on Forester Turbo ... By the end of this year, Forester will be the next model due a new generation. So nothing [on a turbo version at] this stage.

When asked if the next Forester would be expected in the next two years – by the end of 2024, or early 2025 – Mr Read said: "I think you could easily speculate on that.

"We've got a new Impreza at the end of this year and with Crosstrek [due in April 2023], Forester is the next cab off the rank So I think, yeah, you can easily speculate on Forester due [within two years]."

A brand-new Subaru Forester would be much-needed for the Japanese car brand, as the 10,637 examples reported as sold last year represents the worst sales for Subaru's family-SUV nameplate since 2002, when 9863 were reported as sold.

That is despite sales of all types of SUVs increasing by 316 per cent. Sales of all Subaru vehicles has grown by 28 per cent compared to 2022, but they are down 2.6 per cent on 2021.

The Subaru Forester's annual sales record stands at 15,016, recorded in the current model's first full year on sale, 2019.