Concept Cars

Renault Laguna Coupé Concept

By Noel McKeegan

19:09 September 10, 2007 PDT

September 11, 2007 Described as embodying Renault’s vision of a top-of-the-range grand tourer Coupé, the Laguna Coupé Concept strives to exude a mix of power and refinement through its flowing profile, long-nose and very short rear overhang backed by a newly developed 170-195kW (230-265hp) V6 dCi powertrain and Four-wheel Active Drive chassis. Read More

Peugeot's Second Life showcase

By Kyle Sherer

20:52 September 9, 2007 PDT

September 10, 2007 Second Life hosts 7000 businesses and boasts a GDP of $64 million (as of September 2006) and with estimates of this year's GDP running as high as $600 million, it's no surprise that the corporate world is making its presence felt. The latest foray by car manufacturer Peugeot, will see the company presenting a virtual showcase of its new 308 RC Z concept car on September 11. Read More

Mitsubishi’s innovative i MiEV SPORT electric vehicle

By Mike Hanlon

12:40 September 7, 2007 PDT

The Tokyo Motor Show is seven weeks away, but as the home of the all-powerful Japanese industry it is where the most advanced technologies go on display first. Accordingly, Mitsubishi has announced a show car for Tokyo we won’t see in Frankfurt next week. The i MiEV Sport looks like a 21st century Goggomobile but promises genuine sporting capabilities with a whopping 680 Nm of torque pushing a small lightweight electric vehicle. Based on the i MiEV (Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle), the car features a 20 kW motor inside each front wheel another 47 kW at the rear, plus the company's S-AWC (Super All Wheel Control) vehicle dynamics system, all in a lightweight, rigid aluminium space frame with the batteries and inverter tucked underneath for a low centre of gravity and plenty of interior space. Read More

i-Blue – Hyundai’s third generation Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle

By Mike Hanlon

23:57 September 4, 2007 PDT

September 5, 2007 The Frankfurt Motor Show is the premier European show of the year this year and not surprisingly, the manufacturers are all putting their best environmental foot forward. For relatively new international auto companies such as Hyundai which don’t have a history of premium design to fall back on, they have to work much harder to make waves in an international showcase and from the photos at least, this work appears to have paid off. Three new cars will be unveiled by Hyundai at Frankfurt, and the two concept cars are beauties. Read More

Ford Verve supermini concept

By Mike Hanlon

16:28 August 23, 2007 PDT

August 25, 2007 UPDATED NEW IMAGES Ford will show its vision for the future of small cars at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show in the form of the Verve. The new concept car hints at the new design direction for future compact cars and the company plans to closely gauge public reaction while their designers work behind the scenes creating Ford's next supermini generation. Read More

Drop-top Citroen C5 Airscape on show in Frankfurt

By Noel McKeegan

01:14 August 21, 2007 PDT

August 21, 2007 Citroën will reveal the new C5 Airscape concept car at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show (13th-27th September). At first glance the eye-catching, automatically folding carbon-fibre roof is the striking feature of the executive cabriolet, which also aims to showcase innovative, environmentally friendly technology including an “UrbanHybrid” management system and enhanced traction control. Read More

Kia preview upcoming 2+2 Sports Coupe Concept

By Noel McKeegan

21:36 August 15, 2007 PDT

August 16, 2007 Kia Motors Corporation has released a second “preview image” of the new 2+2 Sports Coupe concept car it will premiere at the Frankfurt International Motor Show next month. Read More

Audi Cross Coupe quattro - compact performance SUV concept

By Mike Hanlon

April 26, 2007 One of the stars of the Shanghai Motor Show is a new Audi Cross Coupé quattro concept that defines a new segment in the field of crossover vehicles. The Audi Cross Coupé quattro combines the design and dynamism of a compact premium sports car with the spaciousness and versatility of a four-seat sport utility vehicle (SUV). Innovative technical solutions show new ways of achieving efficiency, driving pleasure and comfort, on all roads, under all conditions. Read More

Honda shows Small Hybrid Sports Concept Car

By Mike Hanlon

March 9, 2007 Honda has unveiled a new hybrid sports concept car with a potent blend of sports performance and low emissions at the Geneva Motor Show. The Small Hybrid Sports Concept is a compact sports car that features advanced hybrid technology – proving stylish design and driving enjoyment can be combined with low environmental impact. It was designed by Honda R&D Europe, based in Offenbach, Germany. Read More

Toyota Hybrid X Concept

By Mike Hanlon

March 7, 2007 Toyota ripped the covers off its Hybrid X at the Geneva Motor Show overnight with the reveal of a concept car that proposes a new design language for hybrid models, while also acting as an innovative technology showcase for future generation hybrid cars. Hybrid X is designed as a four-door, four-seat open-space concept and further extends the use of its Hybrid Synergy Drive. Read More

The BMW M3 Concept Car

By Mike Hanlon

March 7, 2007 For two decades, the BMW M3 has embodied the athletic heart of the brand in its most fundamental and succinct form. Now BMW has given us an inkling of the future of this lineage with the presentation of the new BMW M3 Concept Car. The concept study being presented to the public for the first time at the 77th International Motor Show in Geneva (8th to 18th of March, 2007) gives a first impression of what a future BMW M3 might look like. At the core of this concept study is an M3-typical V8 engine tuned to the high revving M concept. Read More

Citroen’s six wheel cruise crosser concept

By Mike Hanlon

March 7, 2007 Citroen has teamed up with the world famous Espera Sbarro School to develop the Cruise Crosser all-terrain concept car. Based on Citroen’s first SUV, the C-Crosser, also making its world debut at Geneva, the new concept features three axles and six wheels to provide outstanding traction to tackle even the harshest of off-road conditions. The vehicle is designed to tackle the roughest possible road and weather conditions. Read More

The EDAG LUV - a modular vehicle concept with maritime flair

By Mike Hanlon

March 2, 2007 As we previewed last month, EDAG’s latest concept car will be making its first appearance on March 6 in Geneva – the “EDAG LUV”. The design concept of the “LUV” is based on an luxury-class SUV and incorporates a maritime look from bow to stern: oiled teakwood on the hood, as the flooring on the interior, and on the elegant cargo area conveys a maritime flair. But the “EDAG LUV” is a real eye-catcher in other respects as well: the cargo area, behind the two rows of seats with plenty of room for 5 passengers, has been outfitted with teakwood and distinctly resembles a quarterdeck – in keeping with the maritime look of the concept car. Read More

Kia ex_cee’d Cabrio Concept

By Mike Hanlon

February 23, 2007 Kia will debut an all-new ex_cee’d cabrio concept car at the 77th Salon de l’Automobiles in Geneva in March. Based on the new three-door cee’d hatchback, due to go into production at the Zilina factory in Slovakia from December, the ex_cee’d shares the same platform, but features all-new exterior panels and a powered folding fabric roof. By adopting a fabric roof, the ex_cee’d deliberately goes its own retro way rather than following the trend towards cabrios with folding metal roofs. Kia’s new Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer paid special attention to designing a classic cabrio with a traditional soft-top roof: “I’m convinced that the fabric roof will have a renaissance. We’ve all lived with the romantic idea of open-air driving for a long time and for me, the fabric roof is the quintessential element of a truly rewarding cabrio.” Read More

Rinspeed eXasis Concept Car: glass-free transparency

By Mike Hanlon

February 16, 2007 Swiss company Rinspeed’s innovation in automotive design has graced our pages many times, each concept car seeking to break the mould, explore new technologies and expand thinking about out primary conveyance, the automobile. His latest concept car designed and built in conjunction with Bayer MaterialScience, is drivable "glass" car with a completely transparent body and floor made of Makrolon. To be shown for the first time at the Geneva Motor Show, 40 years after Bayer presented the first "all-plastic car" in 1967 at the K67 Plastics Fair in Germany, the eXasis is a real eye-catcher with nothing to hide. The outer Makrolon shell, moulded by the Swiss firm Mecaplex and coated with a tinge of yellow by the German hard coatings specialist, KRD, reveals the vehicle's load-bearing aluminium chassis. The chassis looks as if it has been cut from a solid piece of material, and in fact the bulkheads are. Read More

Dodge Demon Roadster Concept

By Mike Hanlon

February 14, 2007 To be shown for the first time at the 77th International Motor Show in Geneva next month, the Dodge Demon concept is a compact, nimble “roadster with an attitude,” a balance of classic sports car proportion and simplicity blended with modern design and performance. Pitched as an attainable dream car, the Dodge Demon is powered by a 2.4 litre 172 bhp engine driving through a six-speed manual transmission. Read More

Mazda Hakaze Concept Car: 4-seat coupe-style compact crossover SUV

By Mike Hanlon

February 8, 2007 Mazda will showcase its new Hakaze design concept at the 77th annual Geneva International Motor Show (Salon International de l’Auto de Geneve) next month, continuing its ‘Nagare’ design language lineage onwards from the Mazda Nagare and Mazda Ryuga which were revealed earlier this motor show season. Even when standing still, Hakaze seems to be effortlessly cutting through the air. The Hakaze is a four-seat coupe-style compact crossover SUV designed at Mazda’s European Design Centre and aimed at people in their thirties and forties who lead active, adventurous lifestyles. Read More

The EDAG Luxury Utility Vehicle (LUV) concept car for Geneva Motor Show

By Mike Hanlon

January 25, 2007 The latest concept car from EDAG Engineering + Design AG, has a distinct nautical flair, with oiled teak used on the bonnet, inside as the floor covering , and again on the elegant loading platform behind the five seat cabin which gives it the air of a quarterdeck. Conceived as a niche vehicle, the Luxury Utility Vehicle (LUV) presents a maritime appearance from its bows to its stern, and is targeted at customers who are not looking for just an ordinary car, and who appreciate something more distinctive. The dimensions of the vehcile are also imposing - an impressive overall length of 5.7 metres, over 2 metres wide and 1.8 metres high, the EDAG LUV is a real eye-catcher which will be seen for the first time in public at the Geneva Motor Show on March 7, 2007. Read More

Suzuki’s Flix Concept - Movie-theater-style concept vehicle

By Mike Hanlon

January 19, 2007 One of the concept vehicles at NAIAS which somehow seemed to slip below the radar was the silver-screen-inspired XL7 Flix concept. The Flix concept offers film enthusiasts the ultimate mobile movie experience, being outfitted with an in-vehicle movie system. After parking at the optimal film-viewing destination, Flix’s clamshell roof can be opened, revealing a maximum-size moonroof that serves as a 40-inch movie screen. Additionally, the XL7 concept’s front roof panel vents, giving way to a high-density digital projection system to display a family’s movie of choice. For those who prefer the traditional drive-in movie experience, Flix’s projection system can be positioned to display movies nearly anywhere – the side of a building, a billboard or almost any wall. Read More

Kia Kue crossover concept vehicle

By Mike Hanlon

January 10, 2007 Kia showed a new concept, the Kue crossover concept vehicle, at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit yesterday. The all-wheel drive Kue is designed to deliver an exhilarating drive, both on- and off-road and is powered by a 400 hp 4.6-litre, supercharged V8 petrol engine producing 400 lbft (542 Nm) of torque. A technology-driven interface designed to adjust to driver and passenger preference is the focus of the interior functions. Touch pad and motion-sensing controls are used to adjust systems such as audio and climate control. The entire touch-pad set up is programmable so that one surface may activate the stereo for one driver and temperature for another. Rear passengers have their own, separate interface. Read More

Jeep Trailhawk open-air concept

By Mike Hanlon

January 9, 2007 The Jeep Trailhawk concept, unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show overnight, merges the spectrum of the Jeep brand by combining the core off-road features of the four-door Jeep Wrangler Unlimited with the refined sophistication of an all-new on-road open-air concept vehicle, providing a unique and fresh expression for Jeep. Built off the new Wrangler platform, the Jeep Trailhawk is a more refined highway cruiser without sacrificing any of Jeep’s legendary off-road capabilities. Read More

Mazda Ryuga Concept captures the spirit of motion

By Mike Hanlon

January 9, 2007 As we’ve previously mentioned, Mazda does great show cars, and the promise of the Nagare concept was more than fulfilled when the metallic manifestation of those sketches we previewed became a reality. The word Nagare is one of a hundred or more Japanese words that describe the embodiment of motion – such as how wind shapes desert sand, the way currents stir the ocean’s floor or the way waves lap at the shores of a lake. van den Acker explains, “Nagare is purposely emotional and expressive. Anyone who sees it is drawn for a closer look; they’re moved to caress surfaces inspired by nature, to understand how they could work on an automobile. Read More

Acura “Advanced Sports Car Concept” - Next Generation Exotic

By Mike Hanlon

January 7, 2007 Honda’s next generation exotic sports car was previewed for the first time last night, when the Japanese giant showed the Acura Advanced Sports Car Concept at the 2007 North American International Auto Show. The concept provides a preview of the design direction for the successor to the Acura NSX and some quite granular detail, with a front-mounted V-10 engine and a new high-performance, rear-wheel-drive based version of Acura’s Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD). Read More

Ford Airstream Concept – the Crossover model of the future

By Mike Hanlon

January 7, 2007 The crossover vehicle is growing rapidly in popularity in most world markets, particularly in the United States where the market segment is projected to top three million units annually by the end of the decade. Accordingly, Ford staked a claim for market leadership in the green end of the segment today at NAIAS when it showed its plug-in hydrogen hybrid fuel cell Airstream Concept. The drivetrain – called HySeries Drive – operates under electric power at all times. This advanced fuel cell system is half the weight and cost of today’s fuel cells and can even operate when the mercury dips below freezing. Read More

Chevrolet Volt Concept Electric Vehicle

By Mike Hanlon

January 7, 2007 The Chevrolet Volt concept sedan, powered by the E-flex System – GM’s next-generation electric propulsion system – could nearly eliminate trips to the gas station. The Chevrolet Volt is a battery-powered, four-passenger electric vehicle that uses a gas engine to create additional electricity to extend its range. The Volt draws from GM’s previous experience in the form of the EV1 in 1996. The Volt can be fully charged by plugging it into a 110-volt outlet for approximately six hours a day. When the lithium-ion battery is fully charged, the Volt can deliver 40 city miles of pure electric vehicle range. When the battery is depleted, a 1.0 litre, three-cylinder turbocharged engine spins at constant rpm to create electricity and replenish the battery. Read More