New Subaru XV Seen In Tokyo In The Flesh (And It's Orange)
Today, the Subaru XV crossover was finally and officially debuted in Tokyo, where the much-discussed trucklet will go on sale on October 5. After the car was shown at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show in orange, appeared in Consumer Reports, in orange, and even appeared at lesser venues, in orange, it finally arrived in Tokyo. In orange, of course.
The unveiling took place in Tokyo’s fashionable Harajuku district, a place where one usually would go on weekends, wearing a Lolita outfit, or to look for people wearing one. Today, we looked at the new Subaru XV, which proudly took the stage, wearing orange, of course.
In comparison to the austere launch party for the Toyota eQ yesterday, this was a gala event, complete with dancing girls. Unveiling the XV was a bit like taking the wraps off the Venus of Milo: we’ve seen here in the buff before.
“What it really is is a Subaru Impreza hatchback up on stilts,” Consumer Reports says about the Subaru XV. As a target group for this vehicle, “urban adventurists” have been identified. I guess these are people who wake up in their brick loft on W 4th, and then decide they would drive to the end of the universe, say, 116th Street, “let’s get a wiggle on, we want to be back after dark. Oh, did I say something bad?”
It is assumed that after all the hoopla about that orange crossover, sufficient knowledge of its specs does exist. The JDM specs won’t do you any good anyway if you are not in Japan. Japan gets three trims, all with the 2 Liter boxer engines, all with AWD and CVT, costing in Japan between ¥2,184,500 and ¥2,467,500 ($28,000 and $32,000) before tax. The pricey one has the fabled EyeSight. They come in 9 colors, including orange.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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I was wondering about this article. Considering it's been out here for a few months, already, it's strange that it is just now being launched in its home market.
The XV may be a bit under powered (148hp, for about 3100 lbs), but other than that very few negatives. About the same ground clearance as the Jeep Wrangler Sport. Easy 10-minute DIY oil and filter changes without a lift (top mounted oil filter and front mounted oil drain) Class-leading visibility from the driver seat (low hood from the boxer engine, and thin A pillars) The only CUV in the US market with available manual transmission. Best fuel economy among AWD CUVs. Quirky Subaru styling and classic "Desert Khaki" paint color. What's not to like? SAAB never offered anything as unique as this.