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Filed under: Spy Photos , Crossovers/CUVs , Cadillac Click above for high-res gallery of 2010 Cadillac SRX spy shots Our inside sources tell us Cadillac is very close to officially debuting its 2010 SRX crossover, but they can take their sweet time now that we have these new spy shots of the Wreath and Crest CUV in nothing but some checkered tape. With all the baggy covering gone from this prototype, we can clearly see its styling closely mimics that of the Provoq Concept , which Rick Wagoner introduced at CES last January. There are a couple of areas where the realities of production have toned down the concept's flair, but the vehicle's overall shape and detail remains. Built on GM's Theta Premium platform, the new SRX replaces the old model that was larger and a surprisingly poor seller. It was surprising because the old SRX was an athletic CUV that seemed to offer on paper what buyers wanted. This new model appears to be a smidge smaller and will likely offer more fuel efficient...
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Filed under: Spy Photos , Crossovers/CUVs , Acura , Honda Click above for high-res gallery of spy shots Honda/Acura engineers were recently caught testing a new sport crossover in the dead of night around the deserts of California, and while they came wielding flashlights to blind our spy photographer's lens, we got these pictures of what the luxury brand is up to in the quickly softening market for crossovers. The vehicle appears to be similar in shape to the BMW X6 despite the heavy camouflaging obscuring its profile. The windshield is very steeply raked and the shape of the cutout allowing the grille to breathe is reminiscent of Acura's new Superman-shaped grilles. Indeed, even the wheel and tire combination suggests that this is a crossover with sporting intentions. It may be a big brother to the RDX with more athletic moves than the MDX. Still, we can't help but wonder why Acura would be working on yet another crossover with those two already in its lineup, especially considering...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , Wagons/Estates , Crossovers/CUVs , Buick , Cadillac , Chevrolet , GM , Saab Click any image for a slightly larger shot. Earlier in the week, a handful of tiny images from General Motor's presentation to employees leaked onto the Web, providing a glimpse into the future of Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick and Saab. As the General's spin-meisters try to console both Wall Street investors and tepid consumers after Black Tuesday's depressing announcements , they've finally released these all-too-small pics into the wild. Aside from GM's plans to reduce white-collar expenditures by 20-percent, eliminate salaried employee's health care after age 65 and a cut its way to liquidity to the tune of $15 billion by the end of 2009, Bob Lutz dropped the bomb that the current iteration of the Beat isn't coming to the U.S. and that the 40+ mpg Chevrolet Cruze won't be immediately available to North American consumers after it debuts at the Paris Motor...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Economy , Sedans/Saloons , Plants/Manufacturing , Crossovers/CUVs , Chevrolet , GM , GMC , HUMMER , Pontiac , Saturn , Opel , Vauxhall General Motor's car czar, Bob Lutz, sat down with the little people of the blogosphere after GM's announcement that it would be reducing white collar expenditures by 20-percent, cutting truck production and eliminating retired health care for salaried workers over 65, all in an effort to boost its liquidity by $15 billion by the end of 2009. Maximum Bob addressed questions about GM's entire brand portfolio, saying, "Pontiac will be nourished with products" and confirming that GM is in talks with financial institutions about HUMMER, and that, "If we could sell the brand, we'd be interested in doing that." Predictably, much of the conversation centered on fuel efficiency and the General's plans to address the growing demand for miserly transport in the U.S. Lutz made it clear that "as...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , SUVs , Trucks/Pickups , Hirings/Firings/Layoffs , Plants/Manufacturing , Crossovers/CUVs , Toyota Toyota's got some changes and rearranges underway with its North American facilities to better serve the demands of the market. The biggest news is that Prius production will be coming Stateside, which will help unkink the supply pipeline, if not also lower costs. A new facility in Blue Springs, Mississippi is being readied for the battery-pack-mobile, though the location was initially meant to turn out Highlanders. With consumer desires shifting with the rise of fuel prices, cranking out more Priuses is a higher priority, and beginning in fall 2009, the Highlander will shuffle off to Princeton, Indiana. With the Highlander elbowing its way into the Princeton plant, the vehicle currently produced there, the Tundra, will see its production move under a single roof in San Antonio, Texas. The big-truck moves are of little consequence when the plants are scheduled...
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Filed under: Spy Photos , Crossovers/CUVs , Saab Click above for high-res gallery of Saab 9-4X spy shots Yes, even crossovers need their suspensions tuned, and what better place for Saab to stretch the legs of its upcoming 9-4X crossover than the Nurburgring in Germany? The 9-4X was, of course, already previewed by the Saab 9-4X Biopower concept revealed last January at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show , and then we also saw our first spy shots of the covered crossover back in April. Here we see the sloped roof 9-4X being thrown around the 'Ring during its development process. The engineers are no doubt striving to instill the 9-4X with that certain bit of Saabness the brand's current off-roader, the 9-7X, is completely missing. You should consider the 9-4X a cross between the late Subaru Impreza-based 9-2X and Chevy Trailblazer-based 9-7X, as its got enough ground clearance to go soft roading but should show off some deft moves on a flat surface. The 9-4X will be built on a unique version...
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Filed under: Paris Motor Show , Crossovers/CUVs , Kia Click above to enlarge Kia has released the first official image of the production Soul. And that's pretty much it. The press release accompanying it is several paragraphs of filler that tells you exactly nothing of value, other than that the car keeps "it's" concept forebear's name and will be formally unveiled in October at the Paris Motor Show (which we knew). Kia also says that the Soul "defies classification," which is elaborate automaker code for, "it's a small crossover that's our answer to the Scion xB." Yes, but this is better-looking. [Source: Kia] Continue reading 2009 Kia Soul bares itself ahead of Paris Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Spy Photos , SUVs , Crossovers/CUVs , Porsche Click above for high-res gallery of Baby Cayenne spy shots Porsche almost slid a fast one by spy photographers recently when it began testing a new baby Cayenne SUV prototype at the famed Nurburgring race track in Germany. The thing looks for all the world like an actual Cayenne SUV, but photographers first noticed its diminutive proportions, then its sharply raked D-pillar, and then the different cut lines around its door. Soon it became apparent that this was no Cayenne, but rather a prototype for a new, smaller Porsche SUV that's likely based on the upcoming Audi Q5 . Like most people, we've always thought the idea of a Porsche SUV is kind of silly, but make it smaller and lighter and we get commensurately more interested. Click after the jump for more analysis from the spy photographers themselves. Gallery: Porsche Baby Cayenne - spy shots [Source: KGP Photography] Continue reading Spy Shots: Baby Cayenne caught on 'Ring...
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Filed under: SUVs , Crossovers/CUVs , Audi , Misc. Auto Shows Click above for a high-res gallery of the Audi Q5 For months now we've seen spy photos and heard speculation about Audi's new Q5 CUV. Now, we finally have the official news on the latest entry from Ingolstadt. Unlike its big brother the Q7, the Q5 doesn't share an architecture with a VW model. The Q5 utilizes the same underpinnings as the A5 coupe and A4 sedan/wagon. That means the Q5 has a longitudinally mounted engine rather than the transverse powerplant found in the smaller VW Tiguan. While we were in Germany to drive the new A4, Audi invited us into their design center in Ingolstadt to check out their new virtual reality design system and have a look at the Q5 in the metal, prior to its official coming out party in Beijing. Compared to the Q7, the Q5 looks substantially more compact than its hefty sibling and is much tidier design overall, keeping with Audi's current pretensions of being a premium sporting...
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Filed under: Geneva Motor Show , Crossovers/CUVs , Infiniti Click above image for a high-res gallery of the unveiling of the 2009 FX from Geneva Last week we showed you a teaser shot of the headlight of the all-new 2009 Infiniti FX . Tonight in Geneva we saw the whole thing. Carlos Ghosn himself introduced the new FX at a club-like venue just down the road from the Palexpo. Accompanied by some choreographed theatrics, the new FX dropped from the ceiling and landed front and center ahead of its EX37 and G37 siblings, which will join it in the new Infiniti dealerships starting up in Europe this year. The redesigned 2009 FX will come in three different flavors, topping out with the FX50 we saw here. As the name tells us, it features a new 5.0L V8, said to be good for 390HP and more than 500nM of torque. Fairly stout numbers compared to the outgoing 4.5. The 2009 FX should start appearing at North American Infiniti dealers by June. You can read about the rest of the changes to this fairly highly...
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Filed under: Geneva Motor Show , Crossovers/CUVs , Volvo Click above for new high-res gallery of the 2009 Volvo XC60 After a series of leaks that has already revealed the look of Volvo's new XC60 CUV, the Swedish automaker has released the real deal, including some official specs for its smallest soft-roader. Volvo believes the design of the XC60 is the best interpretation yet of the brand's essence, saying that its clean lines and clear identity "radiate a clear Volvo presence" from at least twice the distance of any current model. In the U.S., power will be ample thanks to the company's turbocharged T6 motor producing 281 horsepower and all-wheel-drive is also standard. Like all cars from Volvo, safety is a top priority, so in addition to the normal smattering of active and passive safety systems, the XC60 is fitted with City Safety, a new system that will automatically apply the brakes if a low-speed impact is imminent. Volvo also wants the XC60 to be an aspirational...
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Filed under: Chicago Auto Show , Crossovers/CUVs , Chevrolet click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Chevy Traverse Let's cut right to the chase. Everything about the 2009 Chevy Traverse that will be unveiled later today in Chicago is stuff we pretty much already know. As the fourth Lambda-platform crossover from General Motors, the basics have been introduced already in the GMC Acadia, Saturn Outlook and Buick Enclave. The Traverse is a roomy seven (or eight)-passenger crossover with a well-organized cockpit, whose details differ only slightly from its platform sibs. That's been GM's M.O. thus far, so why should the Traverse be any different? Power, like the other Lambdas, comes from the 3.6L V6, which makes 281 or 286 horsepower in the Bowtie version depending on whether the vehicle is equipped with a single or dual exhaust. GM promises "best in class" fuel economy (final numbers are still TBD), but our experience with the other Lambdas has been that they average...
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Filed under: Spy Photos , Crossovers/CUVs , Cadillac click above to view more spy shots of the Cadillac BRX With the introduction of the Cadillac Provoq Concept at CES last week, we believe the design of Cadillac's upcoming little CUV is quite out of the bag. Compare these spy shots of what is believed to be a Cadillac BRX prototype to our shots of the Provoq Concept from this week's Detroit Auto Show. Pretty similar, right? This leads us to the conclusion that the Provoq Concept essentially is the BRX. While the Provoq is technically an E-Flex concept that uses a series hybrid drivetrain in conjunction with a hydrogen fuel cell, the production version would most likely share engines with its Theta platform-mate, the Saturn Vue. Cadillac's CUV, however, may be available with the direct-inject version of GM's 3.6L V6 with over 300 hp, though that could be wishful thinking on our part. Otherwise, expect the non-direct-inject version of the same engine to be offered, and possibly...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Detroit Auto Show , Crossovers/CUVs , Ford , Lincoln click above for more high-res images of the Lincoln MKT We first saw spy photos of the Lincoln MKT concept only a week ago, and it's now here as a concept at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. Based on the fact that a development mule was spotted already, you can ignore Lincoln when it says the MKT is a potential new vehicle for the brand. It is a new vehicle for the brand. The new premium CUV is believed to be based on the platform of the Ford Flex and follows the Explorer America concept in being powered by one of Ford's new EcoBoost engines. Like its sedan sibling, the MKS, this one gets a turbocharged 3.5L V6 that allows you to choose between either E85 or premium grade petroleum-based gasoline. The premium requirement is the result of the engine being optimized for the higher octane ratings of the biofuel. The upside is that output jumps from 340 hp/340 lb-ft to 415hp and 400 lb-ft. All of that twisting...
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Filed under: Detroit Auto Show , Hybrids/Alternative , CES , Green , Tech , Crossovers/CUVs , Cadillac Click on the Cadillac Provoq concept for a high-res image gallery var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/autos/Cadillac_Provoq_Concept_debuts_at_CES_2008'; Following the introductions of the Chevrolet Volt and Opel Flextreme during 2007 auto show season, Cadillac is bringing forth a third design based on the E-Flex architecture. The Cadillac Provoq concept is intended to help give the brand an image of premium sustainability by updating the fuel cell E-Flex powertrain that was shown in a Chevy Volt at the Shanghai Motor Show last year . The Provoq is a luxury crossover design that's considerably larger than the Volt. With updated Cadillac styling cues on a 180-inch long CUV body, it's stretched 10 inches longer than a Volt to allow comfortable seating for five passengers. The Provoq is built around GM's fifth-generation fuel cell stack combined with a 9kWh lithium ion battery...
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