Autoblog

Inside Line has the skinny on BMW's new product unveils for the upcoming show season. Paris and L.A. are the headliners, with the City of Light chosen as the backdrop for the official public debuts of the all-new 7 series (including an ActiveHybrid variant) and facelifted 3 Series. While those cars will get their fair share of attention, all eyes will likely to be on the concept X1, which will also make its world debut in Paris.

The baby ute should be to the X3 what the 1 Series is to the 3. As for its "concept" status, if Bimmer concepts in recent years are any indication (think M5, Z4 Coupe, and M3), the X1 show car and production vehicle should be essentially one and the same. The next major unveiling involving a roundel-wearing car will take place this November in Los Angeles, where the redesigned Z4 will be introduced. According to Inside Line, it'll go on sale in January. As for the X1? Time will tell. Details on if and/or when it'll be offered in the States aren't available yet.

[Source: Inside Line]

Not too many surprises lie under the camoflage, the next-generation GTI will be the Angry-Teut-Box version of Volkswagen's forthcoming Golf VI, which we've already seen. The overall milieu is an evolutionary step from our current fifth-generation Golf/Rabbit, though the detail changes to the GTI that KGP snagged add some sporty stylistic touches which will undoubtedly be backed up by hardware. The front end gets honeycomb grilles for every opening and eschews foglamps in favor of brake cooling, with bright red calipers now squeezing away. A dual exhaust setup might have you thinking R32 instead of GTI, but there are rumors floating around that the R32 will be kaput after the current generation. We hope that the MkVI keeps or even expands upon the current GTI's demeanor, which finally returned to some of the original hot-hatch magic after years of bloat. Rumors are that the GTI VI will show up at the Paris Motor Show as a "concept" - nudge,nudge,wink,wink.

[Source: golfmk6.com, Photo:KGP]

Click above for more new live shots of the 2011 Chevy Cruze

Yesterday's announcement by General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner that his company would invest $500 million in the U.S. to build the 2011 Chevy Cruze was perhaps most welcomed by the workers at GM's assembly plant in Lordstown, OH where the car will be built. That plant is getting a $350 million shot in the arm to gear up for the Cruze, which appeared on stage with Wagoner for the announcement. The car on hand was only a foam model, but it looks ready to drive away in (just don't lean on the doors), and these new images give us a few more views of the Cruze not afforded by the official images of a red car released by GM yesterday. Cruze news will probably be hard to come by until October when the car makes its official world debut at the Paris Motor Show, so until then we're left wondering how well it will match up against the likes of the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, next-gen Focus and the rest of the compact sedan segment.


[Source: GM, Photos by Bill Pugliano/Getty and David A. DeNoma]

Fiat is set to debut the high performance version of its fashionable 500 -- possibly in October at the Paris Motor Show -- and spy shots have revealed that development is well underway. If fans of the retro-mobile were let down by the Abarth model's relatively puny 133-horsepower and sub-eight-second run to 60, the SS model will improve those numbers considerably. For its range-topping city car, Fiat is likely to fit a revised turbocharged engine offering an estimated 160 horses along with the Q2 Torsen C limited slip differential from Alfa Romeo.

The latest round of spy shots for the expected SS prove that the Italians are masters of restraint. Despite looking very similar to the plain-jane 500, unique cues like dual exhausts and special wheels stand to differentiate the high-performance model. We also spotted some vents in the hood of the SS which are not present on the more pedestrian Abarth. This model should be able to hold its own with the other retro hot-hatch, the MINI Cooper S JCW. Speaking of which, has Fiat noticed how well the MINI brand has been selling in the States these days?

[Source: World Car Fans]

Never underestimate a car guy on holiday. That's the lesson to be learned by Maserati, which apparently left a Gran Turismo Spyder mule in a lot somewhere in Modena.

An eagle-eyed tourist snapped off a handful of pics showing the two-piece roof and articulating trunk in its earliest stages of development. Expect the Gran Turismo Spyder to make its debut in Paris later this year, with sales beginning in early 2009.

[Source: AutoGespot]

Click above to watch a video with slides of the production Chevy Volt

We got our first sneak peek at the production Chevy Volt last week, but a recent presentation by Bob Boniface, director of design for the Volt, has revealed a bit more. We've pasted a video of the presentation and slide show after the break, and in it Boniface notes how the concept's straight lines and tight corners have been smoothed over and rounded out in an effort to reduce turbulence. This streamlining improves the Volt's fuel mileage, range on electricity and the amount of regenerative braking that can be captured. Also seen for the first time is a rear shot of the Volt, showing a pronounced "vertical fin," and a new rear spoiler design. Likewise, the side-view mirrors' mounting arrangement was revised for reduced aerodynamic drag. These changes, along with countless others which have not been fully revealed, have allowed the Volt's engineers and designers to increase EV-only range by six to seven miles.

While we're salivating over all the little tidbits of information on the Volt, we look forward to its official debut expected in Paris at the Motor Show this October. However, recent rumors indicate that the extended-range electric-vehicle could be seen at GM's Centennial celebration on September 16. Thanks for the tip, Emil!


[Sources: GM-Volt, Green Fuels Forecast, The Detroit Free Press]

Click above for a gallery of the Citroen C6 Office

Citroën and Intersection magazine have integrated KITT-like visual style with a number of in-car distractions to create the C6 Office, a rolling style project aimed at European business overlords. It'll make its debut at the Cannes Film Festival, a favorite the yacht-and-helo set it's meant to appeal to. From there, it'll head to Paris Fashion Week for another go-round before the bourgeoisie, ultimately trickling down to the rabble at the Paris Motor Show in October.

The variety of partners involved in the creation include Blackberry and Kenwood on the technical side, while Krug champagne and swanky food store Fauchon ensure that backseat wheeler-dealers stay drunk and well-fed. Alcantara appears to adorn everything above the beltline inside and a "Black Shadow" finish covers the exterior surfaces, from the grillework down to the Parotech wheels. We'll bring you live shots of the C6 Office in October when we see it along with the rest of the filthy peasants in Paris.


[Source: Citroën via Zercustoms]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Ka in the movies

Ford's new Ka mini-car will be making its official debut at the Paris Motor Show in early October, but it already has a bit part in the next James Bond movie. Since the success of Casino Royale and the walk on part played by the then-new Mondeo, Ford has taken up the automotive product placement mantle in all Bond movies for the foreseeable future. Unlike the Mondeo, which Bond picked up from a Caribbean rental car counter, the Ka, which shares a platform with the Fiat 500, will apparently be tossed around by the super spy's feminine counterpart. Ford hasn't given any indication that it will bring the Ka to the US market, but given recent announcements about globalizing its products, a Stateside Ka certainly can't be counted out. In the meantime, we can see if the Ka can fly like an Aston Martin DBS when Quantum of Solace hits theaters in November.


[Source: Ford]

With spy shots already out in the open, so to speak, anticipation is running rampant on the upcoming convertible version of the Audi A5/S5 coupe. The cabrio is anticipated to replace the convertible version of the A4, and is tipped to make its debut at the upcoming Paris Motor Show.

The photoshop rendering you see above was skillfully executed by Quinty, and gives us a pretty good idea of what the sporty S5 cabrio could look like. While its competitors opt for retractable hard-tops, the convertible A5 and S5 are expected to use a simpler (and lighter-weight) soft-top, surrounded by a chrome strip to class it up a little. Power will likely carry over from the fixed-roof version when the new convertible hits the market early next year.

[Source: Autoblog.nl via CarScoop]

Click above for high-res gallery of the Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer

The all-new Insignia is about to go on sale as a Vauxhall in Britain and an Opel throughout the rest of Europe, thereby replacing the Vectra sedan. It's a marked improvement over its predecessor in style, and we're eager for it to arrive in the States as the next-gen Saturn Aura. Vauxhall had the honor today of announcing the next version of the Insignia that will makes its debut at the Paris Motor Show in October: the Insignia Sports Tourer. That's a fancy way of calling it a wagon, or estate as they like to say in the old country. Being that the sedan and hatch are quite handsome, it's fair to say the Sports Tourer is as well, though its rear end looks like a lowered Audi Q7. GM Europe says that all the bodywork aft of the B-pillar is unique to the Sports Tourer, and that while the length of the wheelbase hasn't changed, a little over three inches was added to the overall length. Vauxhall also announced a more power turbodiesel engine and smaller turbocharged four-cylinder will be joining the Insignia's engine lineup, but are saving any details, including the wagon's capacities, until the Paris Motor Show.


[Source: Vauxhall]