AI design contest turns the future Forester into everything from a jungle tank to a rolling dessert, with fans now voting on their favorite concept
Subaru asked fans to create AI renderings of future Foresters.
Ten top entries are now up for voting by the fan community.
Designs include cucumbers, cavemen, and chocolate bananas.
Subaru’s Forester may only be two years into its current generation, but that hasn’t stopped the brand from daydreaming about where it could go next. With the official design process locked behind closed doors, Subaru has taken a different route, turning to fans and AI to imagine the SUV’s future.
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The initiative took place as part of the Subaru School Festival 2025, held in Japan on November 23. Participants were invited to generate their own futuristic Forester concepts using AI tools. Out of dozens of submissions, Subaru narrowed the list to the ten most popular and opened them up to a community vote.
Pushing Boundaries with Fan-Driven AI
The concepts were most likely created with simple prompts, meaning the only limits were each participant’s imagination and not their drawing skills. This explains both the wild names of the concepts and some inconsistencies with Subaru’s current styling language.
Most of the entries were likely made with minimal prompting, meaning technical drawing ability wasn’t required, only the willingness to type something vaguely descriptive into a text box and see what happened. This, naturally, resulted in a collection of designs that ranged from nostalgic to nearly unhinged.
Some of the renderings draw from earlier Forester generations, others look like they crawled out of a forgotten 2012 concept bin, and a few are so detached from reality they may require footnotes.
While we are not here to judge, One of the few that actually resembles a working vehicle is “Strength is Power” (no.10). It’s relatively restrained and might even look better than what’s currently sitting in showrooms, depending on how generous you’re feeling.
The Weird and the Unfiltered
Then there’s the opposite end of the bell curve: “Jungle Caveman” (no.8), a concept that features wooden fangs on the grille, an axe bolted to the roof rack, and body panels that appear to have been carved from granite.
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Other fun entries include the “Chocolate Banana” (no.5), which resembles a birthday cake scaled up to SUV proportions, and the “Cucumber House” (no.7), featuring a plant-like grille and a leaf on the hood.
For the speed-obsessed, the “Black Thunder” (no.3) and the Subalist (no.6) are the closest thing to sport-tuned Foresters. Not that speed matters much when the vehicle doesn’t technically exist. Meanwhile, the “Sky Tree” (no.4) seems to channel Cadillac’s angular phase.
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The “Time Machine” (no.1) has the most hypnotic headlights you’re likely to see on a vehicle, raising some concerns about what happens when the machines start making decisions.
The “Drill” (no.2) looks fully prepared to tunnel through rush hour with its aggressively pointed grille, while “Safe Money” (no.9) resembles a Subaru Ascent crossed with a high-security deposit box.
How to Cast a Vote
Whatever your reaction to these AI-generated fever dreams, Subaru deserves some credit for letting its fan base play designer for a day. Voting is open only to registered members of Subaru’s online community.
If you happen to have a Subaru ID and a few opinions, you can log in through the Suba Studies Office and cast your vote for the concept that best captures your preferred blend of chaos and creativity.
Subaru / Facebook