Here’s un peu de inside dope from France’s L’Automobile mag. Bottom line: the on-again off-again on-again off-again Toyota – Subaru rear wheel-drive car is . . . on again. And it’ll be called a Celica. Or not.

Chez Toyota, les bons et loyaux services ne sont pas toujours récompensés : après sept générations et six titres de champion du monde des rallyes, le coupé Celica a été remercié, en 2006, faute de ventes suffisantes (ci-contre, la septième et dernière génération). Mais le géant japonais s’apprête à lui donner une seconde chance. En 2010, Toyota lancera à nouveau un coupé sportif abordable, étudié par Subaru. Une information confirmée par Thierry Dombreval, vice-président des ventes et du marketing de Toyota France, dans le numéro 755 de L’Automobile Magazine.

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The fellas at Autoexpress are saying it’s the “new MR2,” although there’s no indication yet that the planned hybrid coupe will rock the nameplate’s trademark mid-engine architecture. Toyota’s CR-Z fighter will be RWD though, making it the second rumored RWD Toyota coupe in the last year. The first, a joint Toyota-Subaru may or may not be on hold. “We have set a tough price point (expected to be around £20,000 ($28K)), as it will be easier to sell if it is affordable,” says Toyota VP Masatami Takimoto. “It has to be fun to drive, too, which means the hybrid set-up must be different to the Prius’s, with greater responsiveness.” If the hybrid coupe is “done right,” reckons Autoexpress, it will do 0-60 mph in seven seconds, while getting over 50 mpg. Looks like Honda isn’t the only firm trying to mate green with fun these days.

And with the Phaeton rumored to be coming back like déjà vu, why would Audi mess with the A8’s lean, mean luxo-niche? Motorauthority reports that the new A8’s curb weight will top out at 4,180 lb, down from the current 4.2 Quattro’s 4,409 lb. Even crazier? There’s serious consideration being given to a front-wheel drive, turbocharged-four base model with 230 hp pulling a meager 3,630 lb. But this brand blemish is being built to satisfy European emissions standards, not the MKS “crowd” in the US market. A three-liter V6 with 290 hp could make it to the US, complimenting the 372 hp 4.2 V8, with the W12 a solid “maybe”. Crazies and one-uppers will have to wait for a 620 hp 5-liter V10 exclusive to the S8. The new Quattro system features a “torque vectoring SportDifferential,” and styling will be . . . different. “The first generation was very dogmatic and product-design-like. With the second generation, the theme was ‘elegance’—softer, flowing lines. The upcoming third generation will be stronger, sharper, and more precise,” says Audi design boss Stefan Sielaff.

Those of you who predicted that taxpayer bailouts for the auto industry would lead to a Pelosi-mobile (a.k.a. direct government interference in the types of product built) now have a poster child: the Land Rover LRX. Land Rover has just announced that Her Majesty’s Government will bestow upon the automaker a £27M grant to build “the smallest, lightest and most efficient vehicle it has ever produced.” That is, of course, ignoring the fact that Land Rover is owned by Tata Motors, a company that builds millions of vehicles that are smaller, lighter and more fuel efficient than anything Land Rover builds. And for those of you who thought the grant replaces bailout bucks . . . “The grant offer will be made available under the Government’s Grant for Business Investment scheme and is an important contribution towards the overall £400 million cost of the project. This is separate from the broader automotive support package currently being unveiled by the Government.” Still, you know, Halewood, which, the press release reminds us, employs 2000 people. By that measure, the grant represents a “downpayment” of £13,500 per worker. In the UK, these are the good old days!

Automotive News [sub] reports that even as GM seeks to spin Opel off to anyone who has the cash to save it, it’s raiding its German subsidiary for competitive product. Specifically, Opel’s much-vaunted Insignia sedan is set to become the 2010 Buick Regal, rather than the 2010 Saturn Aura as previously planned according to anonymous sources. Which is not completely surprising considering that Saturn as we know it has shuffled off the mortal coil, and the Insignia is, by many reports, a great car. But it’s still a horrible idea. Buick has already debuted another 2010 Epsilon II-based model, the LaCrosse, making for some instant cannibal action. “We’re looking at a bunch of stuff from a sedan standpoint,” says BPG VP Susan Docherty. “We’re going to add some more sedans, so stay tuned.” Docherty declined to comment specifically on the Buick Insignia fandango, but tells AN that “as GM works to cut Pontiac’s product offerings, the company can offer new Buick vehicles to keep the Buick-Pontiac-GMC channel well-rounded.” Well-rounded? Seriously? Besides revealing that GM is light-years away from whipping its perennial cannibalism problems, this story also suggests that Opel will continue to share architecture and platforms with the corporate mothership. Whether they need them or not.

We at TTAC are aware of the strain we’ve been placing on attention spans today, what with the six (!) full-length pieces we’ve published today and all. In honor of your noble sacrifice at the altar of literacy we present a gallery of photos from our photographer in Geneva, Tim Sutton. Without comment. Enjoy.

Appearing in front of the Wall Street Journal’s typographically-challenged ECO:nomics conference in Santa Barbara, California (where else), Ford CEO Alan Mulally predicted that electric vehicles will represent a “major portion” of FoMoCo’s lineup by 2019. OK, maybe 2021. I know what you’re thinking: big NSFWing deal. GM was predicting flying cars for its next model year less than a year ago. And Big Al will be sucking down Stoli martinis in Aruba by then. So what about, you know, now? How can The Blue Oval Boyz warm-up the AGW crowd (so to speak)? Automotive News provides the answer, such as it is. “Mulally said Ford was committed to shifting away from its recent reliance on light trucks for 60 percent or more of its sales so that more fuel-efficient passenger cars dominate. ‘We can now make cars in the United States and we can do it profitably.'” Question: does the United States include Mexico?

For the past few car shows, Hyundai has been displaying mock-ups of a future Tuscon light-SUV. Boring enough one might say, except that the concepts have been so swoopy/gorgeous that even my SUV-hating girlfriend gets wanna-have pangs for what she calls the J-Lomobile. Here in Geneva, Hyundai is showing what they now call the ix-onic, a lower-case technical whiz kid. It has a 1.6L turbo gasoline engine, 170 hp, but emmissions of only 149 g CO₂, a DSG transmission and all kinds of other technical gobbledygookery. We can expect it for 2010 with few changes to the highly atractive concept except for the usual smaller wheels and lower chrome content. But what about the name? A Hyundai spokeman said all future 4WD models will use the ix-nomenclature, as in “ix-1”, “ix-2”, etc. That’s a relief—I was almost expecting something along the line of an upcoming Hyundai ix-otic, Hyundai er-otic and Hyundai ex-tatic (the latter being a sports car, of course). Tu-tonic plays with words, I know . . . .

Last year, here in Geneva, the Tata Nano was the sensation, and not only for those who thought a two thousand dollar car for the developing-country masses was world-changing. This year, the sensation is that the Nano is for the rest of us, too—at least for those of us with empty pockets and miniscule automotive requirements.

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One of the things buzzing here at the Geneva Salon is Kia’s No. 3, which, although a concept, is close to what will be marketed in 2010. No. 3 is a mini-minivan built upon the Soul platform, but has an unminivan-strong stance, recognizable personality and some pretty nifty details, such as gold Barbie-leather seats. You could tell Peter Schreyer is proud of this first Kia that is 100% his own design. Pistonheads know Schreyer as the Kraut who was responsible for the first Audi TT and the Audi A2. No 3 is also notable for the new Kia corporate grille, which will intend to make Kias instantly recognizable to one and all. Even to the overtaxed motor-show eye, it works without being ostentatious in an Audi sort of way, so one looks forward to the Schreyer treatment on the upcoming mid-class Kia Magentis. All very nice, but what about the oddtastic name? As the PR lady explained to me, Kia will overhaul all its names around the idea of Number One for the smallest, Number Two for the second smallest . . . . “Gasp, you don’t really intend to call them that, do you?” “No, it’s just an idea”, she replied, “we might call them K1, K2, K3 etc, or something else—we’ll see”. Well, that’s a relief.

In Peter DeLorenzo’s last column, the self-styled AutoExtremist prescribed nichedom as an “elixir” for Pontiac. Reader reaction was so positive (apparently) that Sweet Pete has jumped off the deep end. People love the “excitement brand, whether it be for nostalgia reasons or because the attitude and spirit exemplified by Pontiac in its heyday.” In short, for nostalgia reasons. “But,” reckons DeLorenzo, “warm feelings of nostalgia won’t be enough to save Pontiac – or GM, for that matter.” Fast forward through some vintage bashing of “grim-reaping, hand-wringing, self-flagellating purveyors of doom in California and Washington,” and other “green-tinged” coastal elites, and what does DeLorenzo prescribe for the broken brand? Yup, “warm feelings of nostalgia.” Specifically, the return of the Firebird Trans-Am. The screaming chicken. Strap on the mullet, folks, this is going to get interesting.

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Mercedes has revealed their one-letter-more-advanced-than-the-SLR McLaren at the Geneva Auto Show. Well, not AT the auto show. At the same TIME as the Geneva Auto Show. Which is a smart move, really. Why bother spending a million bucks or so bring the SLS to Switzerland when you can get almost as much publicity by attaching a file and pressing “send”? Pistonheads re-writes the press release, so we don’t have to. Oh, and here’s hoping the SLS’ brakes are a touch more feelsome than Paris Hilton’s bitch—I mean, previous whip.

Roughly the same size as the SLR McLaren at 4640mm × 1939mm × 1255mm, the new SLS will also be 130 kg lighter at 1620 kg.

Power from a significantly updated version of AMG’s 6.2-V8 will be fed through a seven-speed double-clutch transaxle, positioned to help optimise weight distribution.

Revving to 6,800 rpm and making 479 lb·ft of torque, performance will be suitably staggering. Mercedes claims 0-62 mph in 3.8 s and a top-speed of 196 mph, while acceleration off the line will be aided by a race-style launch control system. Stopping power will be courtesy of 15.4 in front and 14.2 in rear discs, with optional carbon ceramic upgrades.

In times of crisis folks tend to look for radical change rather than steady improvement. Before you know it, Steve Jobs is being (wrongly) touted as the saviour of the auto industry, recent authors are expounding on the Googlification of the industry, and GM is staking everything on the Volt. And I’m not even going to get into the theological implications. But like the old fable of the rabbit and the hare, the steady improvements will be what saves the industry. A study by Carnegie Mellon at Green Car Congress shows that plug-ins with smaller capacity than the Volt’s 40-mile EV range are a more cost effective strategy than the Volt moonshot. Go figure.

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This is a concept for now, but glass roof aside it’s the near-production look of a new Kia mini MPV in the continental style. And now I’m curious what it would take for this Kia to sell, say 50k units per year in the US. I’m talking MSRP, gas prices, Kia’s new stop-start system (euro only, 15 percent better efficiency), suicide doors, whatever. Keep in mind, Honda sold nearly 80k Fits last year. Kia 2008 sales are here for comparison.

With BMW’s newest Z4 hiking the roadster’s size and weight, Auto Motor und Sport says the Bangle-less Bavarians are planning a downsized Z2 Roadster for 2011 (planned European release). And they waste no time making Mazda Miata comparisons. The Z2 will be built on a downsized Z4 platform, but don’t expect a trademark straight six. It seems that nothing larger than a two liter four-banger will make it into this lightweight roadster. This translates into about 150 hp from a 1.8 liter four cylinder engine at the entry level, and up to 300 hp from a possible turbocharged M version of the two liter four. There’s even talk of a hybrid version. Active steering and suspension and dual-clutch transmissions will be standard, but despite all the techno-frippery the top will be fabric. Interestingly, Auto Motor und Sport lists the price in dollars rather than euros. And they say fewer than 30k of them will make a Z2 yours. Look for an auto show debut sometime in late 2010.