Predicting the future can be fun, but it can often turn out wrong. Still, if a trustworthy source serves up a huge swing, we’d be amiss to not talk about it. Something like Bank of America’s Car Wars report, for example. In this document sits a list of every model expected to launch in America through 2029. There are some expected things here, like the next-generation Mazda CX-5, and some unexpected things, like the electric Porsche Boxster being pushed back to 2028. However, one of the most unusual appearances is the Subaru Levorg nameplate, one that American Subaru enthusiasts have been craving for more than a decade.
Think of the Levorg as an Impreza wagon because, well, that’s exactly what it’s been over its first two generations. The front clips are similar to those on WRX sport compacts, the platform’s the same as an Impreza, even the engine options and trim levels have serious overlap. Right now, customers in select markets can get a Levorg with the same 2.4-liter turbocharged flat-four as the WRX. Markets as close as Mexico, where the turbo Levorg is actually sold as the WRX Sportwagon.
Granted, the Levorg doesn’t offer a manual transmission, so expect a CVT in every current iteration you might see, but for diehard wrenchers, the Lego-like nature of the platform offers up some serious hope. Over on YouTube, Mighty Car Mods swapped an entire WRX STI powertrain into a first-generation Levorg, and it absolutely ripped. As long as Levorg bodies officially make it to America, creating a modern Subaru super-wagon should largely be a matter of money, skill, and time.
Sounds great, right? Well, hold your horses, because there might be two big catches here. The report states that a possible U.S.-spec Levorg wouldn’t launch until 2027, which should be near the start of a new Levorg model cycle if the first-generation car is anything to go by. Secondly, Bank of America has the Levorg labeled as a “C-CUV EV,” a series of letters that suggest a possible American Levorg would be an electric compact crossover. It’s a bold prediction, but if it were to come true, I feel like Subaru needs to tread carefully.
Firstly, Subaru just facelifted the Solterra EV, which already plays in that exact space. It’s coming online as a 2026 model year vehicle, so launching an internal competitor just two years later doesn’t make any sense. At the same time, Subaru’s announced the Trailseeker electric wagonoid, pictured above, which plays in the larger midsize category but should already attract electric wagon buyers.
Secondly, the crossover utility vehicle description immediately draws the new Outback to mind, which has ditched its wagon pretence and gone full crossover, dividing the internet in the process. Some current Outback owners are outraged, some plan to keep an open mind, but overall, it seems like Subaru’s taking a big risk. If it follows the same strategy with the next Levorg, the result might not be the compact Subaru wagon that American enthusiasts have been craving.
Normally, this would be the right move from a sales perspective, given that enthusiasts don’t have a great history of buying new vehicles and the crossover is the new default car, but things are a bit different here. Not only does Subaru have an actual wagon customer base, but the EV demand curve in America is flattening, and another compact crossover also risks cannibalizing Crosstrek and Forester sales beyond sales of Subaru’s existing EVs.
Of course, it’s also possible that the next Levorg just doesn’t make it to America. After all, this is a third-party report making predictions for years in the future, and even if credible tips are used to build it, product plans can change. While it’s worth keeping an eye on Subaru’s announcements for 2027, don’t be too disappointed if nothing materializes.
Top graphic image: Subaru
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Eventually, all this adventure car off-road sticker pack marketing bs is going to pass. Subaru seems too all-in on this fad. When tastes change even slightly they may find themselves SOL.
Prediction: “WRX Sportwagon” is a model name that will sell 3.6x cars than “Levorg”. Blech.
Levorg is a terrible name no idea where they cooked that up. And it is just a WRX wagon not sure why they felt the need to have a distinct nameplate for it.
Alternate Headline :
Subaru Shits in Enthusiast Mouths – Offers Rumor of Future Breath Mint
When Geordi LaForge became a Borg
I doubt this will be the case, but I guess there’s a small chance that it will be called the l’EV.org and essentially be to the upcoming C-HR what the Solterra is to the bZ(4x, for now.) At least it wouldn’t have a CVT
Subaru’s lineup has no more room for crossovers without self cannibalism. A WRX wagon on the other hand…well we’ve all beaten the 50% of WRX sales used to be wagons statistic to death.
In other news, Subaru and Nissan have decided to merge to become…CVT Motors.
All you need to know is that ‘Levorg’ is an anagram for ‘grovel.’
Came here to point that out. Want a Levorg, America? Look at it backwards and Grovel to your Subaru masters!
Not only that, it’s exactly grovel backwards, e.g. in a rearview mirror.
Did Subaru not check?
Maybe it was supposed to be ‘Levarg” and it got a bit lost in translation
> Granted, the Levorg doesn’t offer a manual transmission, so expect a CVT in every current iteration
Sigh, no manual, no care. Subaru just refuses to give us what we want. The BRZ needs more power. The WRX needs a wagon option. The STI needs to simply exist. And any enthusiast trims must retain a manual transmission. Life is too short for CVTs and lack of options to choose from.
It’s because of either no sales or Fuel economy standards. Enthusiasts do talk a big game, but it doesn’t mean actual sales.
They have tied the manual to lower-trim versions, limiting the market for them.
I wouldn’t whine about the lack of manual options on the 911, because I’m not going to buy a new 911. I have purchased two new manual Subarus in the past decade, and would possibly buy another. If they had a manual WRX wagon / hatch I would have bought one last year.
I don’t think the lack of ales is a concern. I think the WRX manual take rate is 80 to 90%. Does it make sense to only have a manual transmission for only 2 cars in their line up anymore? I don’t know
Was going to say this-it seems Subaru is actively trying to wean us off though-see current gen WRX top trim wasn’t initially offered with a stick. And I don’t see why the hell they can’t put a stick in it, it’s just a WRX with a big butt.
I think the lack of a stick initially on the top trim wrx was because they couldn’t figure out the Eyesight with a manual.
As for the stick, i don’t see it sticking around much longer. Right now only the BRZ and WRX and whatever variants it spawns come equipped with one. There is really nothing else in their lineup that has a manual, so i don’t think they will continue the development.
The Levorg will hit the U.S. market when my online Nigerian Prince buddy finally frees up his vast wealth that my $2,000 is being used to unlock.
. . . any day now.
Apparently the latest iteration of the CVT is quite good for what it is, particularly when tuned for the WRX. The general consensus is that it keeps you in the power band and has had most of the CVT-ness programmed out. In fact it’s faster than the manual car.
Is that enough for terminally online enthusiasts? Of course not. But I think it’s probably not anywhere near as bad as it’s being made out to be. Give this the WRX chassis bits too and I bet it’ll be a pretty fun dad car.
While no sports car, because it’s not supposed to be, my ‘25 Forester has about the best transmission in any car I’ve ever driven – that’s not a manual. Much preferable to anything with actual gears – usually way too many gears.
Subaru’s manuals also kind of suck? I’ve driven a manual Crosstrek and at no point was I like “boy am I happy this has a stick”. But then again I’m not a manual diehard so my input on this is irrelevant when Manual Gang has already taken over the comments to complain that there’s no stick on offer in a family car.
No, you’re right. Some Subaru manual transmissions are better suited to industrial equipment.
Five speed in my Outback was fine. Six speed in BRZ was excellent. Six speed in my Forester is garbage.
Subaru once offered a variety of well-equipped manuals across their range. It’s not unreasonable to want a vehicle they even badge as a WRX in some markets to offer a manual.
There’s no business case for it. Only a small handful of enthusiasts want it and like 95% of us don’t even buy new cars anyway. This wouldn’t be an enthusiast product in the first place either…it would be a volume seller wagon for people who are pissed that the Forester and Outback are now effectively crossovers that we can hope might offer the better engine.
Unfortunately it’s just not happening and I personally don’t think BUT MUH MANUAL NO MANUAL NO CARE WAHHHH adds much to any of these conversations. Anyone who’s kvetching about manuals going away should go out and buy them new so there’s still a business case for them rather than constantly complaining about there not being enough of them while driving their 15 year old Civic SIs.
We can joke, but the last time that Honda offered the Si as a hatchback in North America was in 2005. That’s 20-years ago.
Subaru dropped the hatch on the WRX back in 2014 for the 2015MY*
Now, VW Golf GTI/R – which left the US-market without a 6MT, despite acknowledging the high take-rate of the manual in the US-market (2024’s numbers were 41% and 52% respectively).
*For reference: the WRX’ 6MT take rate for 2024 was 86.7%
https://www.automotiveaddicts.com/104412/report-manual-transmission-take-rates-each-manufacturer-2024
The very premise of the car is already one that isn’t mainstream and that enthusiasts clamor for, a *wagon*, which Subaru hasn’t offered here in even longer than they did manuals (as the Forester and Outback have been crossovers for generations now). Not that different. Subaru also has no real need for this when their crossovers sell like gangbusters already, which this won’t change. It’s not like it would be cheaper or smaller than a Forester either.
Give me the opportunity to buy a new manual hatchback / wagon WRX and it will be done.
From your mouth to the JDM gods’ ears
I don’t care how unpopular this is as this is from experience that changed my mind, but their CVTs are better to drive than all these too-many-speed automatics—they don’t constantly hunt gears, delay kickdown while some computer committee decides if they’ll allow you to waste fuel, and don’t require 3 manual gear downshift requests to get into the power band if you don’t want to wait for the computer committee’s pony express response. I’ll take an ’80s 3-speed slushbox with OD and little gear range overlap that kicksdown via command from a f’n relay instead of a recalcitrant computer for the better driving experience over these 8+ speed frustration machines.
That is exactly right! All the constant shifting can’t be good and sometimes you get two or three shifts as the transmission and computers makes up their minds. It’s like sending your request to a committee but sometimes it’s out to lunch.
I was behind a new pickup truck the other night leaving a red light. It was quiet and the driver was steady on the accelerator so I could hear the shifts. Thing shifted three times before 30mph.
The 8 speed DCT in my car is mostly pretty good but every now and then when I’m traveling 40-60 ish and I hit the kick down point on the pedal it’ll do this weird thing where it downshifts to 3rd (good) but then almost immediately short shifts back to 4th. I assume it does this to protect the transmission, and it doesn’t reduce acceleration much if at all…but it’s weirdly unsettling when I have the transmission in its sporty modes because you really feel it.
When I first bought the car I was worried I’d blown the transmission (and it IS a Hyundai so you can never rule out a random catastrophic failure), but then I realized it was just one of the transmission’s quirks and got used to it. Still, it’s kind of annoying…and if you’re someone that doesn’t know that DCT’s act weird sometimes it could be really unsettling.
The high-count automatics I’ve driven do that a lot. If I’m just cruising along, I keep the engine at minimum load, but there are a lot of incline changes, random people in front constantly shifting speeds for no reason, etc. so any slight change in load under common circumstances can result in gear hunt because there are too many gears with too much overlap and too many modern engines are undersized and relying on turbos for torque, so the computer has the transmission jump around like a ’90s party as it internally fights the opposing forces of programmed max efficiency and slight variations in load demands. Drives me nuts.
I’m considering a Honda Passport as my next car but that 10 speed has me kind of worried
Just have to drive it and see. Most people seem to hate CVTs. Not that I think they’re a satisfying experience, but that’s not what they’re about. I’ve long adapted to the slipping transmission feel (which most seem to have gotten much better about) and they tend to do their job without really making themselves known to annoy me. To me, automatics are like an incompetent and insecure contractor (you were forced to hire) that constantly asks a million questions they should know the answer to rather than doing the damn job you know you could do better and with less annoyance. However, when I say that it drives me nuts, it’s true, but a lot of things drive me nuts, so YMMV. I don’t think I’ve been angry in years, but my annoyance lever is on a hair trigger. I’m sure there are plenty of people who barely notice the hunting behavior or don’t care.
My wife’s 2015 Legacy has the CVT and you know what it’s a totally fine maybe even great replacement for an auto in most situations-BUT-it’s not a choice for enthusiasts. And I’m not sure how much room for improvement there would be on newer iterations. Even to me if I’m going to give up a stick part of the fun of a good DCT or even a performance oriented automatic is violently banging off upshifts so it feels sorta like I’m in a race car.
My older point stands-this isn’t an enthusiast car, we’re trying to make it into one and then getting worked up about the fact that it isn’t. I feel like this is our cycle with everything lol.
Potentially interesting commuter car: is announced
Enthusiasts: they’re definitely putting a manual in this I am SO excited even though I’ll never buy one either way
Manufacturer: doesn’t put a manual in the potentially interesting commuter car because there’s no business case for it whatsoever
Enthusiasts: THE HORROR! Why does NO ONE give us exactly what we want? Cars are dead to me! *drives off in 15 year old car*
I don’t know if I totally agree with classifying it as just an interesting commuter? The Levorg is a WRX wagon/hatch by any other name which is imo a bit more than an a commuter car. I was just watching a youtube by an australian guy looking at them retroactively and it shared engine and suspension, as well as most of the body with the VA generation WRX. I mean in general yeah I agree with you (having just bought a 20 year old turbo legacy wagon lol), but I think calling this a slightly interesting commuter car isn’t giving it enough credit.
It really isn’t a WRX wagon, though. The 2.5T is optional, most of these are sold with the NA 4 popper. It’s not that different from the Outback in that way. I still think we’re all doing mental gymnastics to try to make it into what we want it to be.
I don’t mean this as a sleight to you in any way, either. I like your comments. I just think folks are setting themselves up for disappointment.
Ha well you have a point-I probably am focusing on the version I want them to make, which is just a WRX hatch again. They already have the impreza so I’m not sure what role the decaf version fills.
My tinfoil hat theory is that Subaru is intentionally neutering the current WRX so they have an excuse to axe it and focus even more on crossovers….
Wouldn’t shock me tbh. It sometimes feels like Subaru has made enthusiast cars in spite of itself. Their bread and butter has always been blandly capable awd wagons, if you’d told me in the mid ’90s that Subaru would one day be one of the last torch bearers of affordable enthusiast cars I would’ve spit out my drink. But then they spent all this money and built a lot of enthusiasm during the ’90s and early ’00s with WRC and releasing the WRX and enthusiast focused versions of the Legacy.
Maybe their decisions have been more coherent than it seems to me, but it’s always felt like somewhere in the late ’00s they decided they wanted to abandon the performance side of their lineup (see the widely reviled ’08 WRX) or the arguably hideous redesign of the Legacy in ’10 that also did away with the turbo engine in the wagon. Also seems to me the WRX was left to wither on the vine with every generation after the 1st one (which we didn’t get) with the maybe exception of the STi they offered from 04-07 but in hind sight this feels like their last attempt at really swinging for the fences on a great enthusiast car. Every generation after that has felt like they were trying to see how little they could get away with and still generate decent sales. Which thanks to their relative lack of competition, they did. The BRZ is the only wrinkle that doesn’t make sense in the arc of their lineup or brand and maybe refutes what I’m saying, of course it probably wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Toyota anyways.
The other theory is subaru just sucks at product planning and doesn’t understand their customers ( or at least can’t seem to figure out how to simultaneously appeal to their enthusiast customers and their typical Teva set) combined with being a somewhat small cash constrained company. As an example for the life of me I can’t understand why they kept the anecdotally poor selling H6 Outbacks for two generations and one engine update in production while killing off the much more popular turbo variant that shared it’s engine across their model lineup instead of the somewhat bespoke 6 cylinder.
I think you are projecting too many of the old enthusiast tropes. There are several markets where it is literally badged as the WRX wagon and sold only with the 2.4T, like Mexico and Australia. It’s not something people just made up.
I agree it’s unlikely to have only that to make it worth their time here, but it’s not like the standard Levorg would just be ported over. It has never offered the NA 2.5 we get, just small displacement turbos that in turn we’ve never gotten, so something will give in the next gen.
Frankly I wouldn’t even be surprised if the WRX sedan were to disappear and this fills the space. When everyone moved more to hatches, they moved to a bespoke sedan, that can’t be something they want to stick with for long.
Agreed, the WRX sedan feels like an odd man out in 2025, and making it a wagon would arguably fit subaru’s current image better to the extent enthusiast cars fit their brand identity at all anymore. I’m pretty sure I read they’re killing off the Legacy sedan. And didn’t they already kill of the Impreza sedan? Even more weirdly they tried to go hatch only for a few years with the GR generation (08-14) then flip flopped (at least in the states) and went sedan only for the VA generation ’15.
Indeed the Legacy sedan is ending production and the Impreza sedan is already done for. Legacy sales had increased so much over the 2010s and with how competitors dropped out of the segment it almost seemed like it could have gotten a bigger share of the shrinking segment.
Subaru probably needs the volume here to justify another generation of Levorg, I think it may be the only Subaru model they build (i.e. not Daihatsu or someone else) that isn’t. Certainly a few ways it could go to be a viable model here.
Somehow between the Levorg, the Impreza hatch, and the Crosstrek, I would think it makes sense for Subaru to consolidate some overlapping products AND I really don’t see how they couldn’t generate decent sales on a WRXified version of one the above if offered in the USDM.
“As long as Levorg bodies officially make it to America, creating a modern Subaru super-wagon should largely be a matter of money, skill, and time.”
None out of three ain’t bad.
You got me with the talk of an imprezza wagon with the WRX engine, but then crushed my heart with the CVT.
Buying a new car and swapping the transmission isn’t something I’d be willing to do, because the end result is (at best) a WRX equivalent.
WRX is fine for the money, but silly for 1.5x the money.
With the outback becoming more of a cuv and Subaru declaring it a suv there is a wagon gap. Impresa used to be a value. And you used to be able to get a legacy wagon.
Sometimes I miss my AWD 5 speed Justy. I know “people do not buy small cars” but if subaru could bring back something small and cheap it would be cool.
I knew this article would toy with my emotions. All I want is a semi-hot longroof to fit my middle age outdoorsy demeanor without having to spend a ton to get one from a luxury brand.
It doesn’t seem like too much to ask for.
Right? The options are what…..BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, Audi, or ??? That’s it. And sad the last affordable offering stateside was a Buick of all things.
The cynic in me says this will be a crossover to fit in the space between the Crosstrek and the Forester/Outback. Basically where the Outback used to be.
The dreamer in me says it will remain a wagon and replace or supplement the WRX.
Is it being cynical if there’s a mountain of evidence that supports that view? Cause it doesn’t take much research to see Subaru has completely walked away from the American auto enthusiast.
The Levorg isn’t all that compact, it’s kind of between the late Impreza and Legacy sedans in length. Widthwise it’s closer to the former. It’s actually quite close in size to the Legacy generations during the 2000s.
The new Outback’s size increase actually gives more credence to the Levorg, I think – it would fit right between the Forester and Outback. The Levorg Layback would even be more like a true successor to the wagony Outbacks if they went that far.
It’s a bit larger than Solterra, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if it replaces the Solterra. The Solterra gets updates because the Toyota gets updates. I don’t know which new bZ will edge ahead in Toyota showrooms, but at Subaru the Trailseeker seems far more relevant to the brand image.
Originated because people liked the legacy 05 wagon and didn’t like the 08 wrx. So it’s not so much feel as sportier without the rough edge a STi brings. Note wheelbase on all 3 are the same, so it’s not a size thing.
Lol I just bought a ’05 Legacy GT wagon (unicorn 5 speed version). And to your point I think the thing with the new ones the height has grown as well as “visual size”. My wife has a ’15 legacy sedan and the two (2 generations apart) and it’s within an inch of my wagon, but hers is much taller and thus bigger feeling even though it takes up the same room on the road.
Aside from the WRX-iness, how is the Levorg different to the existing Impreza wagon available in the US now?
The current WRX is a hatch, much shorter I think
I’d love to see the Levorg come to the US. I don’t think it’d keep that name, but stranger things have happened. I’d like to see it stay smaller-ish and not huge. Everything is huge. Let the additional interior space of the wagon format justify a smaller and lighter body overall. An STI wagon without CVT would be on the short list for my next car.
Does the STI wagon offer free mobile testing?
Subaru seems to hate American auto enthusiasts, so seems highly unlikely they’d make that car, much less do anything to cater to that crowd.
Fingers crossed they keep the name. Otherwise it’s JDM time.
How many marginally different compact/midsize SUV’s with CVTs can one company build? Let’s find out!
Looks like we’re finding out in real-time.
Levorg sounds like a couch from IKEA.
I thought it the Star Trek episode was Leforge was assimilated to the Borg in French?
Prediction time: When this vehicle gets to the US, they will not use the “Levorg” name. It won’t actually be a wagon, and instead will just be a hatch (that’s a good thing). That is an easy way to distinguish it from all the other wagons that Subaru already sells that are similarly-sized. It won’t be an EV, like the already announced Trailseeker. It will probably be a hybrid (or at the least, offer a hybrid as an option). A manual is a must. This model will end up being the next-gen WRX hatchback.
A hybrid would make a lot of sense and might explain why the Outback doesn’t offer a hybrid or mention one upcoming (AFAIK). ‘EV’ in that description could just mean electrified, not all-electric.
As of model year ’26, Subaru will sell a grand total of zero wagons in the US. The Impreza/Crosstrek are hatchbacks, and everything else is a high-roof CUV. If there is one thing Subaru needs, it’s a wagon.
“everything else is a high-roof CUV”
Thus a wagon.
A wagon has a low roof, try to keep up man!
My thoughts exactly.
Subaru’s, probably well meaning, attempt at improving the Outback doesn’t bode well for them doing anything I want to buy when they bring out the Levorg.
I like the OB interior changes, but they did a stinky on the outside.
Levorg is 1. a really ugly word that sounds like a nonsense Amazon brand and 2. grovel spelled backwards
I was thinking IKEA shelving unit…
Needs more umlauts
Grovel is what Moog on MCM called it
Grovel?
https://youtu.be/pAwR6w2TgxY?feature=shared
There’s already the Crosstrek; where creating a Crosstrek EV as a variant of the standard one would be warmly welcomed by existing buyers, and bring in hew conquest buyers?
Why intentionally burn the bridge and irritate customers that they’ve pushed away from the brand by skipping an actual WRX-hatch, one that people have literally been begging Subaru to bring back with the 6MT?
Even more so, would vye for the attention from buyers frustrated with VW’s recent moves ditching the 6MT in both the Golf GTI & R.
The Crosstrek and Impreza-hatch are identical; both are 176in long, with 105in wheelbase, and 79.4in wide (with mirrors). The Levorg also matches those dimensions.
Whether you call it a hatch, a longroof, or a wagon: they’re the same in all three vehicles.
I don’t see the WRX as ‘boy racer’ as a hatch. I see it as something that can haul the family camping on holidays, pick up awkward things for home renovations, has space I can quickly toss the bicycle without disassembly, a daily commuter that brings a smile to my face as I mash through the gears, and still fits into a nice compact parking space.
There’s nothing wrong with having options. If there was a sporty Levorg version with more pep and a manual transmission, how would that take away from the non-sporty, CVT standard edition? (It wouldn’t).