Next-gen Subaru Forester Hybrid (2025): What to Expect [Update]

Update: ‘Specifications’ section updated.

Introduced in March 2018, the fifth-gen Subaru Forester is steadily driving towards the end of its lifecycle. By our reckoning, it has about a year left on the market, with Japanese media claiming that the next-gen Subaru Forester is arriving in late 2024. Like the current-gen SUV, the redesigned model would be available with a hybrid option in some regions. Here’s what we expect from the new Subaru Forester Hybrid.

Design & Interior

The next-gen 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid should have a bolder exterior. Expect slimmer and more ‘intense’ headlights, an aggressive grille, sharpened bumpers, and fresh wheel designs. Recent Subarus feature a rugged character, and we expect that to be the case with the next-gen Forester as well.

Inside, the next-gen Subaru Forester Hybrid should have a more contemporary appearance with a sleeker dashboard and fewer physical controls. It may feature a 12.3-inch LCD instrument cluster with three screen layouts: Normal, Map, and EyeSight. Another big upgrade in electronics will likely be a new Subaru Starling infotainment system with an 11.6-inch high-definition portrait touchscreen. A minor change in the same aspect should be a couple of USB-C ports for both front and rear occupants.

Specifications

Subaru has confirmed that it will use Toyota’s hybrid system in the next-gen e-BOXER hybrid system in several models. The company plans to launch its next-gen hybrid models featuring THS in the mid-2020s. The switch from in-house technology to a Toyota-developed system will address the complaints of many customers who criticize hybrid Subarus for being not as fuel efficient as comparable Toyotas, which lead their segments.

The next-gen Forester should be the first Subaru to feature Toyota’s hybrid technology. Blair Read, Managing Director, Subaru (Australia), said that the company “would obviously be advocating for” the redesigned Forester to be the first recipient, carsguide reported on September 1, 2023. Considering the company’s current product range, the Forester stands out as the only vehicle that hasn’t seen a recent generational update.

According to a report Spyder7 published on March 3, 2023, the next-gen Subaru Forester Hybrid will likely employ the FB20 2.0-liter four-cylinder horizontally opposed direct injection engine with the Toyota Hybrid System (THS). The current Forester Hybrid has the same gas engine (FB20), but the Japanese publication expects Subaru to fit a more fuel-efficient version of the same mill in the next-gen Forester Hybrid.

Subaru has confirmed plans to start manufacturing the transmissions for its next-gen hybrid models using Toyota Hybrid System (THS) technology at the Kitamoto Plant in Japan in the mid-2020s. Subaru has scheduled the start of production of the next-gen HEVs in 2025, and the next-gen Forester Hybrid should be among the recipients.

Following the Crosstrek Hybrid, expanding use of the Toyota Hybrid System in other Subaru models.

Toyota and Subaru’s new business and capital alliance announcement on September 27, 2019

The Forester Hybrid delivers a fuel economy of 14.0 km/l as per Japan’s WLTC method, which is quite low and not a substantial gain from the gas-powered Forester’s 13.6 km/l rating. To us, that also explains why the company doesn’t offer the electrified model in the U.S. The current engine develops 107 kW and 188 Nm of torque and its electric motor, powered by a lithium-ion battery pack, produces 10 kW and 65 Nm of torque.

Release date

Spyder7 mentions in its report that the next-gen 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid may debut after Summer 2024. If this timeline is accurate, we can expect Subaru to lift the veil off its RAV4 rival sometime between September and December 2024. Global customer deliveries of the new Forester Hybrid could begin in 2025.

New Subaru Forester for the U.S.

The next-gen Subaru Forester could start reaching American dealerships as a 2025 model next year. We haven’t heard yet, officially or otherwise, if the Hybrid variant will be part of the line-up in the U.S. But as we said in the Specifications section, the availability of a significantly more fuel-efficient variant could finally motivate the American subsidiary to change its mind about launching the Forester Hybrid. Should the market study be positive, Subaru could release the next-gen Forester Hybrid in the U.S. after the gas-powered model, in 2025.

Next-gen 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid FAQs

Featured Image: TopElectricSUV’s rendering of the next-gen Subaru Forester