Subaru has unveiled the new 2007 Impreza and it looks -- well, a bit odd. Auto Express described it as "one of the most daring cars of the year - and one which represents a dramatic change of direction for the firm".

It's due in 2007 and will be unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show shortly. It gets upswept door shapes a clamshell rear hatch and a practical-sized boot.

Under the bonnet lurks the Subaru 2.0-litre flat-four but the turbocharging arrangement is unusual. It's officially called a Turbo Parallel Hybrid (TPH), and looks likely to put out about 300bhp, some 30bhp up on today's Impreza STi. While the power figures look good, the system is said also to deliver loads of bottom-end torque, while improving economy and reducing emission levels.

Pictures are on the Auto Express site (see link below) -- their copyright so we can't show them here.

Prices for 2006 model Impreza

Meanwhile, Subaru has released prices for its 2006 model (see pic above). It starts from £16,200 for the entry-level Impreza 2.0R 5-door. The most popular model – the Impreza WRX saloon – gets a new 2.5 litre turbo engine among other improvements and costs £20,900 OTR – up £600 on today's price.

Top of the range is the £26,995 Impreza 2.5 WRX STI with a 277bhp engine for a 158.4 mph top speed and 0-60 mph time of 5.0 seconds.

Subaru reckoned that its gearboxes are slicker-shifting, while the STI has a thoroughly revised symmetrical all-wheel drive system to give more agile handling.

Equipment levels include air-conditioning and a single disc CD player on all models, while most Imprezas also have driver, passenger and side airbags and new HID headlamps with pop-up washers.

Subaru-maker Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. is developing a new hybrid powertrain technology: the Turbo Parallel Hybrid (TPH).

TPH, which will undergo a test launch in Japan in 2007, uses a compact 10-kW motor generator situated between the vehicle’s engine and automatic transmission to deliver all-around solid performance, while also attaining improved fuel economy and reduced emissions, the auto maker says.

Fuji plans to use the new technology in conjunction with its turbocharged horizontally opposed 4-cyl. engine, which will adopt the Miller engine cycle, and Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system. The result, the auto maker says, will be excellent acceleration and fuel economy combined with the midrange turbocharged punch characteristic of its boxer engine.

A motor assist feature also is incorporated into the technology and boosts engine torque output at low engine speeds.

The auto maker also plans to further improve the TPH system’s performance by equipping it with manganese Lithium-ion batteries, which are being developed at NEC Lamillion Energy Ltd., a joint venture between NEC Corp. and Fuji.

The Lithium-ion capacitor enhances energy density while retaining the instantaneous charge/discharge capabilities and durability of conventional capacitors, Fuji says.

The auto maker currently is testing prototype Lithium-ion cells and says that the technology can be applied to hybrid trucks and buses, along with serving as a replacement for conventional lead-acid batteries in the future.