There are two separate stories about the Subaru Hybrid Tourer making its debut here in Tokyo. The first is the obvious one. This is a hybrid. It showcases the in-house hybrid system that Subaru will bring to worldwide production in 2012, likely as an additional model within the Impreza or Legacy lines.

This will be a setup like in the Honda Insight, wherein you have a gas engine (a 2.0-liter, direct-injected boxer four, in this case), a continuously variable transmission (the Lineartronic CVT), and a front-drive electric motor packaged between those two.

However, the Hybrid Tourer also has genuine Symmetrical All Wheel Drive, so the gas engine does drive the rear wheels, too. At least in theory, the concept has a driveshaft and center clutch pack built into its flat floor. There's a rear-drive electric motor in the back, too. Subaru officials are adamant that any hybrid production car would have a true all-wheel-drive setup.

But the other story about the Hybrid Tourer is just as interesting. In talking with Osamu Namba, general manager of Subaru design, we learned that this car represents the next design direction for all Subaru models.

We'll achievement you through it after the jump.

Yes, that's right, Subaru is changing directions again. But we think the company might stick with this new direction for a while. Namba told us he's actuation hard for consistency in styling crossways the lineup — something Subaru has never really achieved before.

We also learned that his favorite Subaru design of the last decade is the same as ours: the 2005-2009 Legacy. He regards that as a clean design in need of bolder cues. So he's taken the "hawk's eye" headlamps from the old Legacy and combined them with a large hexagonal grille.

Big grilles are trendy right now, undoubtedly because they help minimize the mass of the taller hoods necessitated by tightening country standards.

Still, Namba's favorite part of the design is the rear quarter — both the shape of the lamp and the character line that runs horizontally crossways the hatch, curving down on either to side to finish in the bumper.

Inside, the Hybrid Tourer looks every bit a concept car with a four-passenger layout and "floating" seats. Seat design is something Namba hopes to refine throughout the Subaru lineup. He also wants to give Subaru cabins a more designed look in an effort to impart a higher-quality feel.

Namba became the new design chief at Subaru in August 2008, so he wasn't involved in the design for the 2010 Legacy or Outback. He started his automotive design career at Suzuki and later worked freelance, doing designwork for many major Asian and Korean automakers. His favorite design of all time is the '83 Fiat Uno by Giugiaro.