Subaru teases the new Viziv 2 concept...but won't say what's inside.
Subaru may have some big news in store for the Geneva Motor Show next month, the maker offering up a teaser of the next-generation Viziv Concept vehicle and hinting that it’ll have more to say about its hybrid plans.
To confuse things a bit, the Subaru Viziv 2 Concept is actually the third show car to use that name, following the earlier Viziv Concept and Viziv Evolution Concept, the latter unveiled only last November at the Tokyo Motor Show.
Subaru was slow to the hybrid game, only recently introducing its first model, a gas-electric version of the XV Crosstrek. But it has hinted there’s more to come – and perhaps we’ll learn a bit when the Viziv 2 makes its debut at Geneva’s PALExpo convention center on March 4th.
Visually, the latest iteration gets newly redesigned boomerang headlamps and LED fogs. But beyond that, Subaru is saying little more.
“It is a future-generation crossover concept that signifies a future path for the Subaru’s brand value of ‘Enjoyment and Peace of Mind,’” explains a press release, adding, “The name ‘VIZIV’ expresses Subaru’s determination to continue the pursuit of this value because customers should be rewarded with nothing less when driving a Subaru.”
Oh, and if you’re wondering why “Viziv, we’re told it’s short for “Vision for Innovation.”
(Click Here for a first look at the 2015 Subaru Legacy.)
Both the original Viziv, as well as the Viziv Evolution, used a three-motor electric drive system paired to a compact internal combustion engine and a continuously variable transmission. The first model was supposed to use diesel, the second reverted to gasoline. Curiously, both models had little in common with Subaru’s first production hybrid, the XV Crosstrek.
Along with the latest Viziv 2 Concept, Subaru plans to use its Geneva spotlight to highlight both the 2015 WRX STI and a new race car spinoff that it plans to campaign later this year at the 24-hour endurance race at Germany’s vaunted Nurburgring.
(Muscling up…the new Subaru WRX STI is just one of many new performance and muscle cars coming to showrooms this year. Click Here for more.)