Mercedes has announced another new vehicle for the Geneva auto show. Since they're too cool for the word "concept," it's called the "Vision GLK BLUETEC HYBRID." In caps lock. So remember it. It's a diesel electric hybrid, pairing Benz's well-reviewed 2.2-liter straight four oil burner with an electric motor. The numbers we care about: 224, 400, 40 and 7.3. That's horses, ft.-lbs. of torque, miles per gallon and 0 – 60. All in all, them's some impressive stats– especially when you consider that this is a big, heavy, boxy SUV (it's also noxiously fugly). The powertrain might yield truly earth shattering data in the C-Class sedan, but hey, this hybrid SUV doubles the mileage of the equivalent gas-fed V6, without any impact on performance. Diesel electric is also a nice idea because it minimizes particulate emissions when you start the car and while driving at slow speeds around town. The GLK goes on sale here in 2008. As for the powertrain, Benz specifically mentions that it meets America's "stringent" BIN5 standard. But not, perhaps, our aesthetic sensibilities…

[View the GLK BLUETEC HYBRID Pixamo Gallery here.] 

Do you know how many Matrices Toyota sold in the United States last year? That's not a rhetorical question; I have no idea. Toyota rolls the number into Corolla sales. No surprise there. The Matrix shares its underpinnings with the Corolla– and the Pontiac Vibe (same car, different wrapper). Even if the Matrix accounts for a fraction of Corolla sales, a fraction of a lot is a lot. And so, just as Toyota is bringing out the new Corolla, they’re unleashing the sequel to the Matrix. Let’s call it The Matrix: Rebloated.

Much to the sorrow of Jeremy Clarkson, the English automobile manufacturing industry is limited to small firms producing limited volume, home grown sports cars. Firms like Caterham, Noble, Morgan (wood you in a car?), Ariel and [the Emperor's new] Bristol. Caterham continues to make the 40-year-old 7 roadster– a great summer Sunday car (for the South of France). And Ariel Atom roadster is a kick in the proverbial pants. Which just became a big ass boot. Both Caterham and Atom are now offering their maniacal machines with a eight cylinder engine: a 2.4-liter V8, supercharging its way to a staggering 500 horsepower, breaching the mythical 1000 bhp/ton ratio. (Caterham plans to offer a naturally-aspirated 380 horsepower model, and it's a safe bet Ariel would do the same if you asked nicely and paid them generously.) Caterham's claims the front-engined RS V8 will teleport customers to sixty in under three seconds. That'll do pig, that'll do.

Embargo – over. Pictures – out. And the 2008 Volkswagen Scirocco looks like… a Golf with a sleeker nose. Seriously, this is it? So they say over at Motor Authority, where these "official" pictures have been posted. It looks good, but mainly like a Golf with a sleeker nose. The rear end is somewhat different, but the back window is still about as vertical as it is on the GTI. I was expecting more of a coupe, but this is a Golf with a sleeker nose. To be frank (or Robert), without a horizontal-slatted grill and the big VW logo, it doesn't even resemble the rest of the VW lineup. Apparently, this is the beginning of a new styling direction from VW called "put a better front end on existing bodies." We'll bring you the details as they come in… and complain about them.

Since Mercedes is making product announcements on the scale of Coca-Cola changing the cap on its 20 oz bottles, they get rolled into a double pointed post. First, for the first time in recent years, Benz will be selling a 4Matic coupe. Although the sedans are all available with all wheel drive, the 2 door range has been left in in the cold. To begin with, only the CL550 will get 4Matic, which from a marketing standpoint is questionable since owners of such an expensive car frequently maintain a separate all weather vehicle. My choice would have been to give it to the CLK, which tends to be more of a daily driver and competes directly with the BMW 3-Series coupes already available with four wheeled propulsion. Second, Benz has priced out the new C63 AMG sedan at $53,800. And at first blush, that sure does sound like a lot of money. But it's actually only $1,775 more than a basic run of the mill base E350. At that point, it's the 450 horsepower AMG-ICBM sounds like a damn fine deal. Benz also released pictures of the C63 plutonium powered wagon, but Benz PR Manager Robert Moran tells me "there are no plans" to bring the wagon Stateside. So we'll have to make do with the sedan. Will 5,380 people loan me ten bucks each please?

Remember back in January 2005 when we saw the Ford Fairlane concept at the Detroit Auto Show? After that proto-debut, Ford started flashing around pre-production Flex at various events here and there. In January 2007, Ford brought the production version of the Flex to the Detroit Auto Show again. On sale date? Summer 2008, as a 2009 model year car. Three-and-a-half years between concept and production ain't bad. But the fact that Ford has been trotting around production-ready versions of this vehicle roughly 18 months ahead of its on-sale date, well that's just asinine. But not as bad as the price, which Ford announced today. The three-row tall wagon will start at an almost reasonable $28,200. Want all wheel drive? Want a white roof? Leather? Gadgets? It'll cost you, all the way up to $37k or more. At least it's got the 3.5 liter V6 engine standard, and eventually an optional turbocharged EcoBoost engine. I'd still prefer an S-Max or Galaxy, but that's just Eurosnobbery. If this thing was on sale two years ago for $4k less…

At Chicago, Hyundai showed us the Elantra Touring, which is their marketing-friendly term for hatchback or wagon or five-door. It's not just an Elantra with a hatchback though (thank goodness); it's more closely related to Hyundai's European offering in the hot C-segment category (Golf, Astra, Focus). That means the Touring has cop shocks, a cop engine… wait, wrong movie. It means it has Hyundai's firmer European suspension (about 30 percent stiffer than the U.S.-spec Elantra sedan), better springs, larger front and rear stabilizer bars, and a much more rigid body. We can only hope Hyundai improved the steering feedback from the Elantra sedan– which is so light you can steer it just by staring at the wheel and yelling "LEFT." Anyway, the Touring's exterior looks good. Check out the microsite for yourself (stupid welcome screen, lousy music alert) and tell me they're not– even a little— cribbing MINI's cheekiness.

This season the blokes over at BMW have blessed us with two relatively diMINuative product announcements. First, they showed us the MINI Clubman. It's antithetical to the MINI brand, it's ugly, it's impractical, the micro suicide door is only on one side, the barn doors obscure vision and it's ugly. You should hate the Clubman as if it had slept with your ex-girlfriend. And she liked it. As if that wasn't too much, this week MINI previewed the John Cooper Works (JCW) performance packages that will officially be unveiled at Geneva. Though hideously overpriced, the JCW pack gets 'er done, We're talking a horsepower boost (to 207hp), upgraded suspension, a new performance exhaust and some crass alloys. But the JCW's real coup: how it transforms the already ugly Clubman into the ugliest car currently on sale in the United States. MINI says the Clubman is a more practical MINI; with the JCW package it really is da bomb [paraphrasing]. I reckon it's so vile that it may, in ten years, have all the reverse appeal of the Pontiac Aztek.

[Pixamo gallery of the Gorgonesque Clubman here.] 

Officially, the GM embargo on G8 reviews (how quaint is that?) ends today. But since this is the internet, it means the embargo is over for everyone as soon as anyone decides to break it. [NB: any buff book or news source looking for a point man, here we are.] This time 'round, Motor Trend broke GM's embargo cherry; posting its homage de G8 on its site. Edmunds' Inside Line followed suit. And Popular Mechanics and Car and Driver joined the e-fray. In short, the G8 scoots from zero to sixty mph in about 5.4 seconds and… everyone likes the car a whole lot. As for TTAC, GM's press car ban remains the one embargo GM rigidly protects and enforces. Never mind. As soon as the G8s hit the dealers, my personal rear-drive savior has set one aside for a day for TTAC to evaluate. In the interim, enjoy the fluff!

[Pixamo gallery of new G8 here.] 

Are you in the market for an Aston Martin V8 Vantage, but find the fact that it's got less horsepower than a Chevy Corvette more than slightly annoying? Plump for the new N400 special edition Vantage, and voila! Power is upgraded to 400hp. Which is still less than a base Corvette (430). Oh well. What's with the N400 moniker you ask? It's named after the U.S. immigration form N-400. No, seriously, Wikidpedia reports that the N400 "is an event-related potential (ERP) component typically elicited by unexpected linguistic stimuli." Kidding again (I think). The name commemorates Aston Martin's entry into the Nurburgring 24-hour race. Anyway, the special edition Aston (as opposed to?) tops-out at a paltry 177mph. More encouragingly, the car features upgraded springs and Bilstein damper and a new rear anti-roll bar (the suspension upgrade is available as a $5k option on regular Vantages). Aston hopes to build 480 examples of the N400, split evenly between roadsters and coupe, all in obnoxious "Simpsons Family Orange." You too can have a piece of history for only $20k over the price of a regular V8 Vantage. I didn't think it was possible to make an Aston Martin look vulgar, but they've pulled it off.

Like man of The Big 2.8, Renault has worked the "everything to everyone" mantra for some time. French manufacturers generally do two– and only two— things well: small, cheap sporty cars and MPVs (Google "Renault Scenic"). In the past 15 years, their large car sales have been unimpressive, regardless of how bad (Peugeot 607) or good (Citroen C6) the models involved. Add BMW's 3-Series and Audi's A4 slicing into the midsize sedan market, and big ass sales of vehicles like the Ford Moneo and Renault Laguna, and Renault's mid-sizers are looking green around the gills. That's why Renault is trying to spice things up with the Laguna GT which has more powerful engines, a sport suspension and four-wheel steering. Buyers can opt for either a 180hp 2.0-liter diesel or a 20 hp 2.0- liter gas engine (I vote diesel). Cool as it sounds, it's a shrinking market segment. Like Ford, Peugeot and Opel, Renault's going to be left without a chair when the music stops.

Good news! Alfa Romeo has done the most modest of facelifts and revisions on the 159 sedan and wagon, as well as their siblings, the Brera coupe and Spider. This gives us an excuse to talk about Alfa Romeos and post a pornographic gallery of cars that come from an unacceptable tree in the Garden of Eden. Mechanical refinements to this fantastic car that isn't on sale in North America include "new engines include 140hp and 185hp petrol units displacing 1.8L and 2.2L" which comes as a surprise to me, as engines with these displacements and power outputs have been on sale in the 159 for quite some time. Until now, buyers could only opt for the sonorous 260 horsepower V6 along with Alfa's heavy (and expensive) all wheel-drive. To add lightness, Alfa offer the V6 with a new Q2 torque splitting system that works well (they claim) with front wheel-drive (i.e. without much torque steer). The 159 also drops 100 lbs with lighter alloy wheels, aluminum suspension pieces and new aluminum monoblock brake calipers. Will these cars ever be on sale in the U.S.? I think so maybe yes– after the recession.

[For more Alfa porn, click to Pixamo gallery here.]

"We will build one car in three different sizes."  It's good to know that Audi, the world leader in design, subscribes to SDP (sausage design philosophy). As we can see from the first press shots of the new Audi A4 wagon, the new A4 wagon looks a lot like the sedan with extra space in the back. (Although Audi hasn't officially announced it, rumors has it that the second row of seats will fold down to enhance cargo space.) Audi is also pleased to announce the arrival of its new "Audi Music Interface." As you might expect (nobody expects the unexpected from Audi), AMI owners can connect their iPods to the car's stereo system. This puts Audi's entertainment options on a par with the Ford Focus (does it have voice control like the Focus? I don't think so). Other "news:" Audi will be building the A4 wagon with a torquey 3.0-liter diesel stumping-up 240 horses and 370ft.-lbs.of torque. Is that engine coming to the U.S.? Let's put it this way: if there had been any such announcement, you'd have heard me proclaiming it from my house in New York. Which you can't, because I'm asleep from boredom with the new A4 wagon.

Saab is releasing teaser pictures of a new car. But it's not a production model. They're teasing you about a concept car skedded for Geneva. The images have drummed-up a fair bit of attention and press (ahem, Blog about Autos). Considering Saab's lack of credibility on concepts, that's amazing. Do you remember the 9-4X crossover? How about the Aero X sports car? What about the 9-3X concept? And earlier there was the 9X crossover coupe. Now Saab is trumpeting another all new concept car, a new model, a new direction, and a new change of socks. "Insider sources" tell some auto pubs that the concept previews an upcoming Saab 9-1X model (a VW Golf sized car). I'll believe it when I see it. In the interim, maybe Saab wouldn't be in so much trouble today if they had actually built all three of the aforementioned beautiful concepts (and made them AWD) rather than just grafting the grille onto Ye Olde 9-3.

[Pixamo slide show of past Saab concepts here.] 

Alfa Romeo's press corps have sent out three high resolution photos of the second most beautiful car currently in production. The Alfa 8C Spider is the convertible version of the presently released 8C Competizione coupe (with the 450-horse, 4.7-liter V8). As always with Alfas, it's not about stats. It's about how I-need-a-box-of-tissues gorgeous. And since Alfa 8C Spider isn't a track car, there's no shame in lopping the roof off so can revel in its aural sex appeal (you must click here). The 8C coupe version was a run of 500 cars (84 going to the U.S.). You can expect a similarly limited production for the Spider. Which is just as well; if there was a remote possibility of owning one, I'd be contacting the Devil to sell my soul, again. [ED: Justin's studying for the bar.]

[Pixamo slide show of the 8C Spider and Coupe here.]