- Redesigned Subaru Outback expected for 2026 model year
- New Outback likely to offer hybrid powertrain shared with Forester
- Legacy sedan counterpart bows out after 2025 model year
The Subaru Legacy sedan bows out after the 2025 model year, but its jacked-up wagon counterpart, the Outback, will stick around.
A redesigned Outback soft-roader is expected to land next year as a 2026 model, and a camouflaged prototype has been spotted. Without the need to be linked to a sedan anymore, it looks like the Outback will take on a boxier, more upright stance for the next generation.
2026 Subaru Outback spy shots – Photo via Baldauf
New design details include split headlights, a flat roof, and what appears to be five individual side windows, just like the current Outback, as opposed to the four-window design of Subaru’s Forester and Ascent.
For the interior, a shot revealing part of the dash shows what appears to be an infotainment screen that sticks out of the top of the center stack. This differs to the current Outback design which features an 11.6-inch touchscreen that’s fully integrated with the center stack.
Subaru Strong Hybrid powertrain
In the powertrain department, Subaru is widely rumored to be planning to introduce a hybrid option. This will likely be the same powertrain pegged for a new Forester Hybrid also due for the 2026 model year. Referred to by Subaru as a “Strong Hybrid,” the powertrain has already debuted in a Crosstrek Hybrid in Japan, and combines a hybrid-optimized version of Subaru’s 2.5-liter flat-4 engine with an electric motor and battery developed by Toyota.
Compared with Subaru’s previous hybrid powertrains, the electric motor in the Strong Hybrid setup delivers a lot more power to enable the vehicle to travel on electric power for longer and leave the gas engine to operate more of the time in its most efficient bands, even serving purely as a generator at some points. Drive still goes to all four wheels via Subaru’s signature symmetrical all-wheel-drive system. In the Crosstrek Hybrid launched in Japan, the 2.5-liter flat-4 delivers 158 hp on its own while the electric motor delivers 88 hp.
2025 Subaru Outback
The current 2025 Outback offers the choice of a 182-hp 2.5-liter flat-4 or 260-hp turbocharged 2.4-liter flat-4. One or possibly both of these powertrains will likely be offered as an alternative to the hybrid powertrain in the redesigned model.
Despite the more SUV-like alternatives at Subaru like the Forester and Ascent, the current Outback remains a top-seller at the brand. Over the first six months of 2024, Subaru sold 81,703 Outbacks in the U.S., making it Subaru’s second most popular model. The Forester remains the brand’s most popular model, with 92,849 units sold over the same period.
