Alongside the Levorg production car and Viziv plug-in hybrid concept on Subaru's stand at the Tokyo Motor Show was a curious shooting-brake concept called the Sport Cross Design, which is the company's vision for a sporting SUV crossover of the not too distant future.
Exterior
Details on the Sport Cross Design Concept are scant, but at 4,300mm long it's a pretty compact thing, actually undercutting similar models from premium brands - think Audi's Q3 or BMW's X1 at 4,385mm and 4,454mm respectively. It'll also only weigh 1,250kg, which ties in with Subaru's belief that the urban SUVs of the future will be focused more on the 'Sport' and less on the 'Utility'. Overall, it's a pretty handsome looking thing, albeit somewhat unconventional in this sector.
Interior
Not much to report here, although Subaru was willing to say that, despite its compact dimensions, it would be practical, with 'easy seat access, a comfortable interior and abundant luggage space'. Here's hoping the interior plastics will finally be up to the standards of many European rivals if it ever gets made...
Mechanicals
As already mentioned, details on the Sport Cross are limited, but it is likely any production version would almost certainly feature a boxer engine, and most interestingly it eschews the more traditional symmetrical all-wheel drive of 'classic' Subarus in favour of sending its power to the rear wheels. Sporty.
Anything else?
You might recognise the front end - it's uncannily similar to the Subaru BRZ coupé, which would explain that rear-wheel drive system. Whether the Sport Cross will make it into production or not is anyone's guess, but could it be the first of a series of spin-offs from the popular rear-wheel drive coupé?