While Brabus digs deep for ideas to keep its tuning business relevant in the EV era, Nissan has a less sophisticated approach to electric car tuning: the bodykit. According to Nissan, the Nissan Leaf Aero Style Concept includes new wheels, skirts, mirrors, front bumper and LED daytime driving lights. Because, in the words of the firm’s press release:

Equipped with an aero body kit that accentuates Nissan LEAF’s distinctive silhouette and character lines, this concept car expresses an image of futuristic sport EV driving.

Emphasis on “image.” The rest of the EV tuning equation is still largely a mystery.

Kia has been targeting Scion for some time now, having built a better xD with the Soul, and taking on the tC with its Forte Koup. Now Kia seems to be going after Scion’s last (relatively) uncontested model, the xB, with this NAIAS-bound concept called KV7. And though there are clearly some concept elements to the design which won’t make production (hello Gullwing), Kia’s statement accompanying this teaser image notes

For the past several years Kia Motors’ design-led transformation has been delivering production vehicles – such as the Soul, Forte Koup and Sportage – that bear a very close resemblance to the original concept designs that preceded them. At the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Kia will make another dramatic design statement with the world debut of an all-new, convention-challenging concept vehicle named “KV7.”

European auto executives have been freaking out about a possible Chinese invasion for some time. In fact, Fiat’s Sergio Marchionne has even admitted that he “bought” into Chrysler in hopes of forming a company capable of selling five million units per year globally, the number he felt an automaker needed to hold off the Chinese. And though Chinese production certainly has its advantages, Chinese brands haven’t had much luck in mature markets. Brilliance left Germany under a cloud after its cars failed crash tests, the Jiangling LandWind became infamous after its run-in with the ADAC crash test crew. But, as Bertel has noted, no Chinese automaker can give up on the idea of attacking Europe. Great Wall, which has already been banned from Italy for copyright infringement, has committed $130m to a Bulgarian plant from which it plans to build knock-downs of its suspiciously-familiar vehicles for the European market. But, as these Great Wall promotional images prove, even if GW’s low-cost (€5,000) Chinese cars are up to snuff, the brand still has a long way to go on the marketing front.

The team running Lotus’s turnaround doesn’t seem to mind being perceived as overambitious. The British outfit is developing an IndyCar engine, a family of V6 and V8 engines for its road car, and is considering building an engine for F1… and that’s in addition to developing a modular platform (and everything else) for five different world-class performance luxury cars. And on a certain level, there’s nothing wrong with a little brashness, especially if the goal is to turn a tiny specialty marque into a Porsche-beater. But when it comes to announcing product, Lotus’s over-eagerness does real harm to the firm’s prospects. [Gallery after the jump]

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There’s a strange rumor afoot, which traces back to mibz.com, and it goes a little something like this:

Fiat plans to introduce a European version of the Chrysler 200. But the model will be sold by Lancia, with the Fiat logo on the front grille.

It looks like Fiat is not sticking to their initial plans, saying they will sell the Chrysler models under the name of Lancia. Unofficial sources say that the New Chrysler 200C will be sold on the Old Continent under the Fiat logo and not Lancia, as was anticipated. The reason is relatively simple, but a fair one: the American brand is not able to match the quality and luxury level of Lancia, a brand seen by many as a premium competitor.

We’re not yet completely convinced by this rumor, which flies in the face of Fiat’s plans for a Lancia-Chrysler co-branding experiment. Still, if the facelifted Sebring, pardon, 200 isn’t “premium” enough to be a Lancia, is the 300 up to the task? To help you formulate an answer we present Chrysler’s latest dump of high-resolution pictures of the new Chrysler flagship.

When BMW relaunched the Mini brand in 2001 with a modern interpretation of Alex Issigonis’s classic, it made a big splash by proving that high-end customers would pay top dollar for a well-branded subcompact car. The only problem was that not everyone could live with the Cooper’s size limitations, so BMW extended its wheelbase and added an third suicide door, creating the Clubman. The Clubman did not make the kind of impact that BMW hoped, as it turned out that four doors were as important as the Clubman’s extra space. Accordingly, BMW developed a four-door “SUV” for the MINI brand, giving it a potential brand boost in the size-obsessed US market. Now, for reasons that are difficult to fathom, MINI is previewing a two-door concept version of the Countryman known as the “Paceman.” Because customers have been clamoring for the (relative) inefficiency of the Countryman paired with the (relative) impracticality of the Clubman? Or because Land Rover just debuted its own “Sports Activity Coupe” and MINI can’t help but chase the pointless niche with its own me-too offering? No prizes for guessing…

The appropriately-named website Familycarreview.com recently got some seat time in the forthcoming 2011 Nissan Quest, and they’ve found an unusual feature for a family-oriented minivan: an “Adult Entertainment” category in its navigation system. Wildly inappropriate for a family-oriented minivan, or the key to to putting some real swagger in Nissan’s wagon? We report, you decide… [Hat Tip: our strip club-loving pals at AutoSpies]

The Compass has long been Jeep’s answer to the Cadillac Cimarron, failing to live up to the brand’s ideals while simultaneously cannibalizing its platform-mate(s). But apparently the refreshed anti-Jeep is about to get a dose of Jeep’s signature marketing: Trail-Rated status. According to the rarely-wrong-about-these-kinds-of-things Allpar.com

the 2011 Jeep Compass with Freedom Drive II will be Trail-Rated, the first time a Compass has achieved that designation. To accomplish this, the Compass moved the rebound springs to the same architecture as the Grand Cherokee, and raised the height by one inch for models with Freedom Drive II.

And if a Patriot can be “Trail-Rated,” why not a Compass? On second thought, why invest in a new Compass at all, Trail-Rated or not? Either way, we’re tits-deep in irony considering Dodge’s Ralph Gilles recently “revealed” that Dodge’s outgoing models all rode higher than the competition, and that

Lowering the car looks better. It looks a little bit smarter. It handles better. And more important is the fuel economy

Or, as Ripley doubtless said with his dying breath, not.

In love with the 2011 VW Jetta? It’s tough to imagine, but I’ll certainly concede that it’s possible. Anyway, if you love the new Jetta, you won’t be able to stop yourself falling for its big brother, the forthcoming Passat-replacement. On the other hand, if you think the new Jetta looks like a stock photograph of a vanilla ice cream cone, or if it inspires you as much as an insurance firm’s mission statement, this New Midsize Sedan might leave you a bit cold. On the other hand, there is a silver lining to the Passat’s blandification: Volkswagen has finally figured out how to make the Phaeton look like a distinctive, innovative, upscale design.

In the wild, panthers are endangered. In the automotive world, Panthers will go extinct sometime in the third quarter of 2011, when the last Lincoln Town Car Executive L rolls off the line. If you think Panthers get a lot of lovin’ around these here parts, you should attend a convention of folks for whom those LTCELs are tools of the trade. Chances are that if you’ve used a limousine or livery service in the past 20 years, you’ve sat in the back seat of a Lincoln Town Car Executive L. That’s why it was big news at Limousine Charter & Tour magazine’s LCT Leadership Summit a couple of months ago when Ford’s fleet marketing manager, Gerry Koss, announced that replacing the soon to be dearly departed Town Car in Ford’s livery fleet fleet will be livery and stretched limo versions of the Lincoln MKT.

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For the last several years the 300C has been Chrysler’s band of Spartans, fighting off the apathy and irrelevance that has threatened to overwhelm the brand. And it didn’t just keep Chrysler clawing onto relevance, but it also revived an art form that was also circling the drain: the large, RWD American car. As Cadillac moved towards a sharply-tailored, Euro-fighter positioning, the 300 became the ride of choice for everyone from traditionalist suburbanites to ghetto CEOs. And now it’s back, and like its Charger cousin, the new 300 is a subtle, delicate thing compared to its rough-hewn, unabashedly Bentley-aping predecessor. But has a more sophisticated look actually improved the 300’s appeal? Will concessions to aerodynamics and originality inspire fans of the 300, or is progress a fundamental problem for a car that seems to live in the past? One thing is certain: Chrysler needs its 300 now as badly as it ever did. [Please surf over to Motor Trend for more non-official pictures]

How lazy are automotive journalists? Well, it appears that some of them just can’t resist putting their feet up. More details and a close-up after the jump.

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Opel has let it slip to the European media that it will build a new Calibra coupe based on the Opel Insignia (Buick Regal)… and that a convertible is in the works as well. The hardtop will hit German dealers in 2012, with a convertible coming in 2013 alongside a planned OPC/VXR version with 325 HP and AWD. We definitely won’t get that version because GM won’t let Buick play with its 2.8T V6, but a big Buick coupe and an accompanying convertible would sure be a good way to cap off the brand’s recent renaissance (provided the Epsilon II platform feels renaissance-quality in three years). Since GM’s Nick Reilly says the coupe will be inspired by the Opel OPC concept, we’ve included a few images for the Buick faithful to photoshop the Trishield onto. Then there’s just the small issue of whether this midsized FWD coupe is worthy of becoming the next Riviera….

Well, now we know why Audi let VW have its trademark LED headlight “mascara”… it had even crazier headlights warming up in the bullpen. Here they are attached to some car that will reportedly be sold as the next Audi A6.

You’re shopping for a new Acura TSX, and you’re the kind of young go-getter who demands to shift it yourself. Naturally you’ll want to check it out online… but something’s wrong here…

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