The American customers asked, they listened. Subaru is finally addressing one of the major complaints with its Subaru XV subcompact crossover come 2021 over there: it’ll get a larger engine.

Tom Doll, the CEO of Subaru of America told Automotive News (subscription required) that the Japanese carmaker will add a new variant to its Subaru XV line-up, at least in the U.S. Called Subaru XV Sport, this new variant will come packing a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder Boxer engine. The highest trim there, called Limited, will also get the larger engine option.

While Doll didn’t give technical details during his interview, it’s understood that the 2.5-liter engine he’s referring to is the Forester / Outback / Legacy’s FB25 engine. This means it’ll up this subcompact crossover’s output to 182 horsepower and 240 Nm of torque.

With the introduction of the FB25 in the Subaru XV, this makes it the vehicle with the most varied engine choices in the carmaker’s line-up with potentially four engine configurations: the 2.0-liter FB20, a mild-hybrid (e-BOXER), a plug-in hybrid, and now, a 2.5-liter FB25.

Though the Impreza should also stand to benefit from this new engine, Doll didn’t mention whether or not Subaru’s compact car will receive it as well. Moreover, there’s no word whether this new engine will be made available outside of the U.S. Honestly, for Philippine market conditions, the 2.0-liter engine in the Subaru XV is enough, what’s really needed here is a bigger engine for its Forester.

Source: Automotive News