2020 Suburu Outback Adam Jeffery | CNBC

There aren't many products that can claim to have saved a brand, but the Outback is widely credited with turning things around for a struggling Subaru when it was introduced 25 years ago. Little more than a tall version of the automaker's Legacy wagon, the first-generation Outback also helped set the crossover boom into motion. Crossover utility vehicles, or CUVs, are now the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. automotive market. For Subaru, in particular, the Outback has been a key to its ongoing success. The automaker's U.S. subsidiary last year recorded its 10th consecutive annual sales record. So, the Japanese automaker has a lot riding on the sixth-generation Outback making its debut at the New York International Auto Show on Wednesday. Still sharing the same underpinnings as the latest version of the Subaru Legacy line, the new Outback is expected to become one of Subaru's first models to be electrified during a life cycle that will take it into the middle of the next decade. Pricing for the 2020 Subaru Outback won't be released until closer to the new model's on-sale date next autumn. The current Outback starts at $26,345.

The original Subaru Outback was a definite oddity, basically a Legacy on steroids with a full 7.3 inches of ground clearance. Of course, it didn't hurt for the then-struggling automaker to have signed up Paul Hogan, the Australian actor who was then reaching the height of his fame in the "Crocodile Dundee" film franchise. The gen-six Outback has grown even larger than the original, and it now boasts a full 8.7 inches of ground clearance. The familial similarities to the Legacy is immediately apparent, though Subaru has tried to put a bit more room, at least from a styling perspective, between the two nameplates. There's a vertical array of LED lamps along the Outback's lower fascia, according to the teaser image released by the automaker, a different layout than on the new Legacy. And there's plenty of black cladding on bumpers, fenders and sills that you don't see on the sedan. Like the 1994 model, all Outbacks have shared their underpinnings with the more conventional Subaru Legacy family. This time, that starts with the brand's new global architecture — which will underpin the majority of other Subaru models going forward. The platform is said to be stiffer, offering better ride dynamics, and it is expected to have a better layout for future moves into electrification.

2020 Suburu Outback Adam Jeffery | CNBC