The Four-In-One Cargo Cover
Jared Rosenholtz/Autoblog
When you open the liftgate in a 2026 Subaru Outback, you may be surprised to find a cargo cover that is unlike others you’ve seen most SUVs, crossovers, hatchbacks, or wagons. It’s not a fixed piece of injection-molded plastic or a rollable unit, but rather a soft fabric one made from 100% recycled material. This design is superior because it’s lightweight, machine washable, and can be bunched up for easy storage, unlike those cumbersome traditional cargo covers. It also has three other built-in functions.
The Outback has hooks on the side of its cargo area, which work in conjunction with loops on the cargo cover to enable a hammock mode to cradle small objects, a partition mode for pets, and a step cover to protect the bumper. It even has a built in zipper to hide objects in hammock mode and to make it easier to store when not installed.
Autoblog spoke with Nikkie Riedel, Subaru National Owner Loyalty Training Manager and former Carline Planning Manager for the 2026 Outback. Riedel helped develop the cargo cover and other clever features in the new Outback. “We did a ton of research with customers; we had surveys and focus group,” she explained. “We also have a program called ‘Subiecrew’ with dedicated owners who love to advocate for our brand.”
Real-World Owners, Real Uses
Jared Rosenholtz/Autoblog
Riedel and her team asked members of the Subiecrew how they use their vehicles to get ideas on how to design the Outback’s cargo cover. “We reached out to them and said, ‘take some pictures, show us what your car looks like, how you’re using it day to day. Don’t clean it up. We don’t want PR shots,'” she joked. “That gave us a lot of direction on how people were using their vehicles; designs they configured in their own way with milk crates (for example) to build out what they want their cargo area to look like.”
“We identified use cases that we were seeing most commonly with our owners,” Riedel told us. “There used to be a stowable in the Outback for that, but we were find that owners weren’t really using it that way. Sometimes they’re taking it out, putting it in the garage, and forgetting to put it back. Or you buy a TV and don’t want to throw anything on top of it.” Through a combination of owner feedback and internal discussions, the Outback’s cargo cover functions came together.
Hammock Mode
Chase Bierenkoven
Of the cargo cover’s four configurations, hammock mode might be the most clever. It allows owners to have small items hanging above the floor so they don’t roll around or get dirty while driving. “Concealed storage is always something we want to make an opportunity for; separating things you don’t want to get muddy was a big use case we were seeing,” Riedel described.
“And then grocery [there ‘s] shopping; you’ve got your milk, your eggs, your potato chips. It’s always a question of where do those go so they don’t get crushed. We were seeing a lot of Outback owners had gear they were keeping in their car: rock climbing and hiking every weekend. They want it in the car all the time but they don’t want it rattling and rolling around,” she detailed. “So hammock mode gets it up out of the way so they can use their cargo area day-to-day. It’s all concealed, nobody can see your expensive climbing ropes; it’s all out of the way.”
Subaru even added a zipper so the cargo cover doubles as a tote bag if you want to bring items from the cargo into your house.
Of Course, It’s Pet Friendly
Jared Rosenholtz/Autoblog
In addition to the useful functions for humans, of course Subaru added functionality that makes the cargo cover perfect for dogs as well. By clipping the cover to the edge of the cargo area, it forms a partition that stops dogs from jumping out of the car when you open the liftgate. When you arrive, you can undo the top hooks to drape the cover over the bumper, protecting it from being scratched by your dog’s claws.
“Tailgating is huge; people live out of the backs of their Outbacks, Reidel said. They’re using it when they’re camping, they’re using it when they’re getting ski boots on and off, they’re at soccer games.” Taking a page from Jeep, there are even a few Easter eggs in the trunk, showing how much cargo you can fit in the Outback if you want to take a road trip with your dog.
More To Come?
Jared Rosenholtz/Autoblog
For now, the 2026 Outback is the only Subaru model to have the four-in-one cargo cover. Putting it other vehicles would likely require changes to the cargo area during a facelift or full model update to integrate hooks and magnets for the cover.
Reidel left the door open for future models like the Crosstrek and Forester to get their own versions of the Outback’s cargo cover, telling Autoblog, “anything is possible if we see that’s what the customer is looking for.”
She even expressed that Subaru could add new configurations, driven by how customers use the existing cover in ways the automaker did not even consider. “I’m really curious to see what our owners do with it. We added a lot of hooks to the side. How are they going to reconfigure things? We just keep influencing each other until we get to a really cool place,” Reidel expressed. “Those hook points, the possibilities are endless. As soon as we launch a car, we are working on improvements for the next iteration.”
