Subaru has given its Impreza compact sedan and XV compact crossover a minor refresh for the 2019 model year. Though the changes are so far limited to its home country of Japan, these minuscule changes may find its way eventually to export markets such as the Philippines.

For the Impreza, Subaru has kept its aesthetics and mechanicals the same. The only change is the addition of Automatic Vehicle Hold or AVH. Also found in the 2019 Forester, it automatically applies the brakes for the driver if the AVH button is engaged. This reduces driver fatigue, especially at stop-and-go traffic.

Meanwhile, the Subaru XV gets more changes for 2019. Together with the same AVH function found in the Impreza, all Japanese market XV variants benefit from a side view monitor as well as active grille shutters which should improve highway fuel economy.

And as mentioned before, the 2019 Subaru XV also benefits from the e-BOXER gasoline-electric hybrid engine. This particular model, Subaru XV Advance gets unique exterior and interior tweaks that set it apart from run-of-the-mill XVs.