News: Is Kia going to do a Range Rover rival?

Kia could be about to launch a new range-topping 4x4 that would rival the likes of the VW Touareg, Land Rover Discovery and even the mighty Range Rover. The Cross GT (pictured above) is a concept car for the moment, but it will be shown at the Chicago Motor Show and Kia has a habit of putting its concept cars into production.

News: Is this Honda's next Jazz?

This is the Honda Gear, a concept small car introduced, with no small amount of surprise, at the Montreal motor show this week.

With all eyes across the lake on Detroit (where Honda was showing off its NSX and Urban SUV concepts) the Gear kinda snuck in under the radar a little.

Now, so far, Honda has not made any official comment about the concept's production chances, nor whether or not it's even meant to be viewed as styling signpost for the next Jazz, but what we do know is that it's about Fiesta-sized, and designed to be both simple and functional and yet customisable with lots of options.

Explaining the Gear's purpose in Montreal, Dave Marek, Design Director at Honda R&D Americas said “Subcompact cars are usually either utilitarian, but uninspiring or they’re fun, zippy cars that are impractical and too expensive for the Gen-Y buyer. GEAR Concept tears down those walls – it’s practical but fun, customizable, connected and affordable. Everything that young, discerning urban buyers would want in a car.”

Well, what do you think? A welcome return to funky design at Honda? A hint of original Civic in that recessed grille and headlights? Would you chop your Jazz in for one? 

 

News: VW getting serious about performance Passat?

 

There hasn't been a high-performance Passat since the slightly nutty W8 engined version went out of production close to a decade ago, but it seems that VW is now intent on producing a more sporty version of its four-door saloon, at least for the US market.

It may not look like much on the outside, but this is the Passat Performance Concept, bound for the Detroit Motor Show next week and you can pretty much forget the concept bit and assume that this very car will go into production for the US, and just possibly Europe, next year.

There's not many giveaways on the outside; even those ritzy 19" wheels look quite subtle, but underneath this Passat is packing lower, stiffer suspension and VW's EA888 2.0-litree turbo petrol engine cranked up to a hefty 247bhp.

Apparently the interior has been suitably gussied up too, with carbon and leather trim elements. Will such a Passat make it to Europe? Well, the market for hot saloons is pretty tiny, but given VW's sprawling interests and profit margins, they might just decide to do it for a laugh...

News: First pic of the new Toyota Corolla?

Is this the first image of the new Toyota Corolla? It could be...

Actually, what this definitely is is the first image of the Furia concept car, which Toyota will be showing off at next week's Detroit motor show. The speculation is (judging from what we can see under the dust-sheet in the other photo) that it's a compact four-door saloon that will replace the current Corolla in the American market first before making its way over here.

Frustratingly, Toyota is staying tight-lipped on the subject, admitting only that "it will be revealed using a custom-built structure housing thirty of Samsung Display’s new 46-inch transparent LCD screens. Toyota will be the first automotive company to use this technology to reveal a vehicle at a major international auto show."

News: Suzuki's S-Cross Concept kicks off new model rush

The S-Cross concept (above) as shown at the Paris Motor Show will kick off a bit of a busy period for Suzuki, and at least one new model due every year over the next five years. OK, so maybe that's nothing compared to Audi's one-a-month launch schedule, but for conservative Suzuki, that's a positive rush.

The S-Cross is a forerunner of next summer's all new Suzuki crossover, which will kinda replace the existing SX4 hatchback (although the S-Cross is bigger, leaving room for a possible smaller, Swift-based crossover beneath...).

Suzuki plans to launch models which exceed the environmental performance ceiling in their segments. The production model of the S-Cross concept will be amongst the lowest CO2 emitting cars in the crossover C-segment.

Since launching the Jimny (originally the LJ series) in 1970, Suzuki has expanded its line-up of off-road vehicles to include models such as the Vitara and Grand Vitara; earning the company a reputation as the pioneer of compact sport utility vehicles. Meanwhile, Suzuki has gained incomparable know-how in the development of compact passenger cars. Since the latter half of the 1980s, the company has been refining its performance technologies in the field of motor sport. In 2006, Suzuki united its advanced technologies in the form of the SX4 sport crossover – a car that was well ahead of the herd in the crossover category in Europe and has driven its growth.

The S-Cross concept, in its specially created Crystal Green Metallic body colour, looks pretty groovy and also pretty close to being production-ready, although it's likely that the cool wraparound, pillarless windscreen won't make it through to showrooms. Sales will start in Ireland next summer.

In the meantime, Suzuki will be launching an updated version of the Splash hatchback and a new GLX+ Swift that will include Bluetooth, rear spoiler, cruise control and privacy glass.