Citing the Philippines’ preferential tax on electrified vehicles, Subaru is pinning their hopes on the launch of electrified vehicles (note the plural) to arrest their sales slide. Per Tan Chong International Limited’s annual report, Motor Image Pilipinas suffered a 48 percent year-on-year sales decline in 2024. 

No official actual figures were stated in the report, but this different from figures presented by local publications thus far.

The two likely candidates to receive the hybrid treatment for Subaru would be the Crosstrek and the Forester.

The all-new, sixth-generation Forester was set to arrive last year, but due to Motor Image shuttering its Thailand assembly (where it planned to source the compact SUV), a strategy reset was needed. The Forester will now be sourced from Japan instead where all Subaru models, but the Evoltis are sourced.

The all-new Forester was first launched in 2023 and is longer and wider than the current model. While it rides on a carryover platform (wheelbase stays the same), the Subaru Global Platform has received extensive modifications resulting in increased torsional rigidity.

The Subaru Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicle (S:HEV) system first made its global debut in the Crosstrek in 2024. It was launched in the Forester in 2025. It pairs an Atkinson-cycle 2.5-liter normally aspirated flat-4 with 160 horsepower and 209 Nm with two three-phrase AC synchronous electric motors (one providing traction, the other a generator) developing 120 horsepower and 270 Nm. Together, it makes 197 horsepower making the Crosstrek Hybrid and the Forester Hybrid the most powerful variants in their respective line-ups.

Thanks to its compact layout, series-parallel hybrid’s power control unit is located on top of the engine and this one controls the electric power supplied from the high-voltage lithium-ion battery. And unlike other hybrid all-wheel drive setups, Subaru has stuck to its roots by maintaining a mechanically coupled front and rear axles using a propeller shaft. Together with a large fuel tank, Subaru says the Crosstrek Hybrid can go over 1,000 kilometers on a single tank, while the Forester Hybrid can do 935 kilometers.