Subaru is planning to skip the diesel boom and move straight to petrol-electric hybrids, as previewed in the B9 Scrambler concept (pictured).
The company says that the cost of developing a competitive oil-burner is not matched by the predicted growth in sales. Subaru insiders confess they have been experimenting on diesel versions of its boxer engine but that they couldn’t achieve reliability in an engine with more than 1300cc capacity.
First of the new breed of hybrids to hit the market is likely to be a dual fuel version of the new Legacy, which could be in showrooms as soon as 2005.
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