The Infiniti brand is coming to Europe. The first car they will be showing is the Infiniti EX37, what they call “the world’s first coupé crossover”: a sporty SUV with a coupè-like exterior and a luxurious interior.

The Infiniti EX37 will thus be part of a trend inaugurated by its bigger brother, the FX35/45 and taken further by the BMW X6.

The specs on the EX37 are quite attractive: the VQ37 engine is a 3.7 litre V6 engines with 24 valves, double overhead cams and variable valve timing and lift that produces more than 310 ps and 350 Nm of torque. The engine is mated to a 7-speed automatic transmission and an “intelligent” all-whell drive system. No word yet on performance or fuel consumption.

Equipment levels appear to be quite rich, but we’ll have to wait for information about the prices to know how competitive this EX37 will be on the market. You can find below the full text of the Infiniti press release.

Infiniti EX37

Continue reading: Geneva 2008 - Infiniti EX37

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Kia gives us a preview of the Soul concept trio that will debut next month in Geneva. What we see here il the Soul Burner concept, the “evil” one, with satin black finish and dragon tatoos. More information about the Kia Soul will be coming soon.

Via | Kia Buzz

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Today Auto Motor und Sport published the first official images of the Land Rover LRX Concept that will be shown for the first time at the 2008 NAIAS in Detroit.

The LRX is a two-door crossover with a coupè-like body that previews the future small Land Rover, which will be positioned under the Freelander. The production version is expected to make its debut in spring 2009.

The car measures 435 cm in length and 155 in height, being shorter but, above all, quite a bit lower than the Freelander. The concept has aggressive air intakes, 20″ rims and narrow head lights. In the side view there is a notably high belt line which creates along with the sloping roof profile a small glass surface, similar to a sports car one.

Continue reading: Land Rover LRX Concept: first official images

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Ford will be showing the Kuga crossover concept next week in Frankfurt. The Kuga is the offroad version of the Ford Focus, based on the same platform.

The production version of the Kuga should be pretty similar to the concept that was shown in Frankfurt: the Kuga is already an evolution of the Iosis X concept that was shown last year in Paris.

The Kuga will be available both in FWD and 4WD versions. The engine of the Kuga being previewed in Paris will be the 2.0 TDCi turbodiesel unit with 136 ps already mounted on the Focus. The production version should also get other engines from the Focus range.

Production of the Kuga will start early next year. Prices are not known at the moment.

Continue reading: Ford Kuga - official images of the preview

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Ford will show its Kuga 4WD crossover at the next Frankfurt auto show. The Kuga will be the production version of the Iosis-X concept.

The Ford Kuga will not be a full-blown Suv, but rather a 4×4 crossover with good road-going qualities and adequate allroad competence. Production will start from january 2008, in the Saarlouis factory in Germany. Sales will start by spring 2008 (in Europe).

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Our reader Piso sends us these two spy videos of the BMW X6, shot on an Italian motorway. The X6 is the upcoming SUV-coupè from BMW: it will be based on the same platform as the X5 E70, but it will be lower on the ground and it will have a sloping rear. It is supposed to be both sportier and more luxurious than the X5 (and, obviously, pricier!).

See this spyshot to get an idea of the true form of the rear of the X6.

Continue reading: BMW X6 - spy videos

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Fiat is having its Analyst Day at the Lingotto in Turin. Antonio Baravalle, brand manager of Alfa Romeo, did a presentation (pdf), which had some interesting information about new models, besides the slow but sure take-up in sales at Alfa and the climb upmarket from the 156 to the 159. There are also some sketches of upcoming models (Junior, crossover and 169 below the fold).

The model most eagerly awaited by young buyers is the Junior, which is finally confirmed by an official roadmap. The Junior is a small three-door hatchback, probably based on the Grande Punto, a little bit less than 4 meters long, which will be on the market starting from Q2 2008, with a starting price of 16,000 €.

Next is the future C-Segment hatchback, the 149. Sadly its debut has been postponed to Q1 2009. Another novelty is the official entry in the roadmap of the Alfa Crossover, expected by Q1 2010, a sporty 5 door “SUV-coupè”, about 4.6 meters long with prices going from 28,000 to 45,000 €.

Finally, news on the Alfa Romeo flagship, the 169, which should be on the market by the second quarter of 2009 and which should spearhead the Alfa Romeo return to the United States. More than 4.9 meters long, with front engine and rear wheel drive with a transaxle transmission. Prices between 40,000 and 55,000 €.

Continue reading: Fiat Analyst Day - future Alfa Romeo models

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The web pages of the Centro Stile Alfa show a sketch of a crossover seen from above: will the production version of the middle sized Kamal SUV look like this ?

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BMW’s MPV plans appears to be quite unsettled. First, it was two “space-functional concept” vehicles, the V3 (based on the 3-series) and the V5 (based on the 5-series).

The first to be eliminated was the V3 (”the 3-series platform’s dimensions are incompatible with the Space-functional concept”). Then there was the problem that V might be interpreted as a three-letter word (”BMW doesn’t build Vans!”).

In the end, it seems that the Space-Functional concept has been abandoned, in favor of two cars with low development costs that will occupy two different niches: the X6, a coupè-suv that will appeal to people who desire a sportier SUV than the X5 and who don’t need as muchspace; second will be the BMW Super-Touring or “Luxury Sports Cruiser” (LSC), a long and sporty estate with four indipendent seats, based on the next generation of the 5-Series Touring (expected in 2009).

The LSC should be on the market in 2010, it will be longer than the Touring (almost 5 meters), it will have a 3 meters-long wheelbase and it will be about 1.55 meters high. It should be sportier than the Mercedes R-Class and more spacious than the 5-Series Touring (4 independent seats, with a fold-down seat for an eventual fifth passenger).

There’ll be no risk of anyone thinking of the LSC as a “van”, but I sure hope that BMW’s designers will choose a different rear than the one depicted in Huckfeldt’s sketch..

Continue reading: BMW Luxury Sports Cruiser

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Skoda has released the first official photos of the Roomster. The main changes of the production version over the concept seem to be the “normal” rear doors, and the fact that the production version has a symmetrical body.

The Roomster is an MPV that uses the Fabia platform with the rear axle from the Octavia, it is 4.21 meters long and 1.61 meters high, the wheelbase is 2.62 meters long. The rear seat has a flexible configuration: the cargo capacity varies from 460 liters to 1,780 liters.

Continue reading: Skoda Roomster

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