Kia isn't wasn't planning on revealing its new Soul compact hatch until September at the Paris Auto Show. But alas, production pictures have mysteriously popped-up on the internet. Kia showed several embarrassingly named "tuned" versions of the car at the Geneva Auto Show, such as "Soul Burner" and "Soul Diva" and "Soul Searcher." The regular Soul looks more than a little bit like the unholy fruit of a union between a Scion xB and the Saab 9-X BioHybrid. Still, it's nice to see Kia try to inject some style into their cars, even if the business plan for Kia more realistically is "follow" instead of "lead." But why follow Scion into a land of not-so-hot sales? Whether or not this car is even destined for America is still an open question, apparently. But you can bet your milk money that Kia wants a piece of the new small car market with something more interesting than the Rio5.

The ever-increasing technological sophistication of cars is fast becoming a pet peeve of home mechanics and car tinkerers. But Linux Insider reports that the open-source operating system may just find a new home in automotive applications, improving the at-home tweakability of production vehicles. Open-source technology guru David Schlesinger: "The increasing value of [open-source software] will result in greater use of open-source software in automotive systems, largely in … communications, navigation and the like." This development could replace proprietary operating systems with a single open-source, Linux-based OS which could control everything from engine management to on-board navigation and computing. But we're not quite there yet. While Linux offers immediate options for on-board computing, it still needs to be optimized to handle real-time tasks like engine control. Still, the manufacturers' desire for broader management of services in cars and consumer's desire for greater tweakability may just add up to an open-source future for the industry.

Automotive News [sub] reports that the Pininfarina family is scaling back its 55 percent majority stake to raise cash for the famed but financially-troubled automotive designer and coach manufacturer. Last year, with revenues of €670.4 million ($1 billion) Pininfarina SpA reported a consolidated net loss of €114.9 million ($174.9 million). One investor, French battery maker Groupe Bolloré, will also partner with the Italian firm to build 15k electric vehicles (EVs) a year under the Pinifarina brand. Using Bolloré's lithium-metal-polymer (LMP) batteries, the four-seat Pininfarina EV promises a top speed of 81 mph, a range of up to 150 miles per charge and production in 2010. Betting the firm on a full-size EV with reliable batteries and a generous range is no sure thing. EV ventures are cropping up exponentially in response to legislation curbing CO2 emissions. So far only small, three-wheeled or low-speed vehicles have actually been offered for sale.

I suppose the biggest problem with naming a car "V8" is that the moniker becomes moot when you stuff a V12 beneath the bonnet. Other than that, the V12 Vantage RS looks to be perfect. The numbers are unclear, but as the engine is closer to the DBR9 racer than the DBS, power should be in the 600 horsepower neighborhood. Which means 60 mph happens in (about) four seconds and a top speed of oh, let's just say 190 mph. The price is equally bracing. Motor Authority claims the V12 Vantage RS will cost more than the $265k DBS. Stop the presses! The smaller car from a sportscar maker is the most powerful, fastest and most expensive? And all this time we thought Farago's pleas for a stonkin' Cayman motor have been falling on deaf Porsche ears. Turns-out our Aston Martin's been listening (as if). Those who are about to fly salute you. As a life long Astonphile, I'm salivating over this sucker. There are only two cars I routinely pine for: the Veyron and a Se7en. Make that three, assuming this car happens.

Thomson Financial [via Forbes] reports that BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer has raised the specter of an all-electric Bimmer (Beemer?) for the U.S. market by 2012. Reithofer may be yanking our schnitzels; he says production of the theoretical EV could be outsourced to a "major US automaker." Raising the weirdness stakes even further, Reithofer asserts that "BMW will be considered a so-called large vehicle manufacturer in the US from 2012, [obliging them] to offer an ecologically compatible car." The prospect of an eco-friendly BMW with outsourced production reminds us more than a bit of the Isetta. Does this mean that the Bavarian bubblecar will make a revamped comeback a la MINI? We're not sure, but an Avarvarii photochop would certainly be a giggle.

According to the American Automobile Association [via The New York Times], the average nationwide price for diesel has set records 18 of the past 19 days. It's currently sitting at $3.83 a gallon. (New York, California, Pennsylvania and Vermont averaged over $4 a gallon.)  The effects are being felt throughout industry. On the positive side, trucking companies are buying more fuel-efficient equipment, using electronic devices to slow driving speeds and installing auxiliary power units so truckers can sleep in their cabs without idling their rig's engine. Larger companies are looking to hybrid diesel-electric powerplants and better aerodynamics for fuel savings. On the negative side, paying for the new equipment could lead to layoffs. Smaller trucking firms and independents are putting off maintenance and generally struggling to make ends meet. “It’s killing us,” said Chad Beachler, co-owner of nine-truck Beachler Trucking. “Every day, I come in here and wonder if I have enough money to buy fuel.” 

The Register reports that MIT scientists have unveiled a new, "stacking vehicle" concept which will "reinvent urban mobility." The concept is based on stacks of small vehicles which fold up to stack together into small racks which would be located near subway stations or bus stops. The vehicles would be powered by "wheel robots:" tiny, self-contained, digitally controlled reconfigurable electric motors in each wheel. In theory, the system provides all-wheel power and steering, easy navigation of urban areas and best of all, sideways parking. The vehicles would charge while folded on their racks; the user would "simply take the first fully charged vehicle from the front of the stack." The concept's website states that "The City car is NOT a replacement for personal vehicles, taxis, buses, or trucks; it is a NEW vehicle type that promotes a socially responsible and more effective means of urban mobility." That doesn't conform to automotive safety standards. Never mind. Team leader architecture professor Bill Mitchell say he'd like to see the system in production in three to four years. Team member Christopher Borroni-Bird is a little more skeptical. "What we have is a very intriguing concept. It is certainly a very promising idea," GM's Director of the Advanced Technology Vehicle Concepts said. "but I don't want to say it is ready for production… there's still a lot of work yet to take it from concept to production." This from the people who champion E85, the Volt and two-mode hybrids.

Fiat is [still] planning on reintroducing its Alfa Romeo line to the United States "sometime after 2008." To ensure profitability in the face of a weak reputation for quality dollar and a strong Euro, Reuters reports the company will/would have to manufacture at least some of its cars outside Europe. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has indicated that Mexico is at the top of the list, although a Confederate tax break deal may be doable. Eventually. "We can think of producing [in the Americas] in the medium-long term," Marchionne opined. Which Alfa models would be produced or sold stateside remains equally unknown (unknowable?). The tasty 8C is likely to lead the charge; it's just about the only Alfa whose price premium can overcome the exchange rate. Meanwhile, big changes are in the air at Alfa. New CEO Luca De Meo says he hopes to "restore Alfa Romeo's place among premium brands by the time of its 100th anniversary on June 25, 2010." With new versions of Alfa mid- and full-sized sedans set to appear around that date, we reckon that's when we may see the Italian automaker's wares stateside. Or not. 

In his seminal work "The Origin of Competitive Strength," former Toyota chief of Product Planning Akira Kawahara claimed that platform-sharing was a main source of early strength for Toyota. As proof that Kawahara-san's strategy of multiple brands on similar platforms still holds favor at ToMoCo, According to Automotive News [sub], the Japanese automaker is considering launching a new Prius brand. Executive VP for R&D Kazuo Okamoto confirms that Toyota is developing plans for an entire Prius range, as "Prius recognition levels [are] rising." Calling the development "a reasonable direction," Okamoto admitted that Toyota may use the Prius platform for coupes, wagons and sedans. Having already invested in a Scion dealership network which is seeing sagging sales, Toyota could leverage some considerable synergy (pun intended) with the introduction of a Prius brand alongside its ostensibly "youth-market" brand. Then again, if Toyota marketers are to be believed, criminals with hearts of gold just want a Prius with a bigger trunk.

VW is planning to replace the Passat and Jetta with cheaper sedans "targeted at U.S. customers." At the Geneva Auto Show, VW Group CEO Martin Winterkorn said VeeDub's also contemplating small cars and perhaps a body-on-frame pickup for the American market. Automotive News [sub] reports the German automaker's pushing ahead with plans to build a factory in the States and have narrowed the site selection to North Carolina, South Carolina or Georgia. The plant will build a Passat replacement designed specifically for the U.S., with a new name and price around $20K. Winkerkorn also discussed other possibilities for the U.S. market: a small car based on the Polo, a family of small vehicles based on the up! concepts and a VW-built minivan to replace the Chrysler Town & Country clone Routan. Oh, and he wants to bring us a next-generation Phaeton, explaining "the Volkswagen brand needs a car like the Phaeton." What is it they say about those who don't learn from history?

I've always liked Pagani's Zonda, though for different reasons than Farago. He thinks it's a rear-wheel drive brute, with a killer 7.3-liter V12 and a classy interior. I think it looks like a bug (i.e. I like strange looking cars).Well friends, hopefully I haven't seen anything yet. Motor Authority reports that Sr. Pagani has just announced that AMG will soon stop making the aforementioned V12, so that's the end of the Zonda. A new car is on the horizon: the C9. Horacio's new carbon fiber supercar will lose four cylinders to pack some sort of monstrous (Mercedes?) V8. In the immortal words of Sgt. Schultz, other than that, we know nothing. Well, we hear that Pagani is moving into a new factory, where production will increase from the 16 cars a year to 60. So a U.S. street legal Pagani may finally be in the offing. Joy.

Though locked in a battle for worldwide sales domination, top executives at GM and Toyota agree on one thing: hydrogen fuel cell cars are a crock of shit (albeit an extremely cold one). Speaking separately to reporters at the Geneva Auto show, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz and Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe criticized the "zero-emissions" technology as too expensive, too dependent on non-existent infrastructure, not competitive with other alternative power sources, and an idea that just ain't done cookin'. The Wall Street Journal quotes ToMoCo's top dog as saying "it will be difficult to see the spread of fuel cells in 10 year's time." Meanwhile, the recipient of TTAC's inaugural Bob Lutz Award asks, "If we get lithium-ion to 300 miles… Why do you need fuel cells?" I guess this explains why The General didn't bother installing an actual fuel cell power train into the Cadillac Provoq hydrogen concept making the rounds at this season's auto shows.

Attention car companies who desperately want to beat Toyota at the green car game: start building diesel hybrids now. Accordingt to Automotive News [sub], Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe says his company has no plans to build a hybrid diesel car. Toyota leads worldwide sales of gas – electric hybrids, plans to offer diesels on the Tundra/Sequoia platform and sells a truck in Japan with a hybrid diesel powertrain. So what's the issue? Unlike other companies we could mention (cough, GM, cough), Toyota doesn't see the value in rushing prohibitively expensive green technology to market. "A diesel hybrid car would cost more than a gasoline hybrid," explains Watanabe, reminding the greenrush crowd that the car business is still a business. So what of diesel hybrid concepts from Mercedes and Volkswagen? We can only assume that consumers have long become accustomed to overpaying for German offerings. 

Leftlanenews.com reports that Pontiac will show a targa version of the Solstice at the New York Auto Show. A targa would be welcome; ridding the model of its fidgety folding canvas roof thingy. But will putting the panel in the trunk totally kill the Solstice's other bugbear: less storage space than the Bugatti Veyron's Hermes purse? I'm thinking yes. LLN also reports that GM is considering a Solstice coupe. Sometimes a new bodystyle can jump start sales of a car. Other times, it just adds to the 176-day supply of Solstii sitting on dealer lots. If you think that a sad stat– buyers were paying big ass premiums for this car just two years ago– consider the fact that GM hasn't even begun work on a second generation Solstice, or announced any improvements to the car's too much grip not enough fun driving dynamics. The GM's old next big thing ain't so big; it's just small, that's all. 

Yesterday GM CEO Rick Wagoner announced his employer's plans to offer at least 16 hybrid models by 2012. Speaking at the Geneva auto show, Wagoner said The General will introduce one hybrid model every four months until 2012. Automotive News [sub] reports the hybrids will use updated versions of the two hybrid systems GM currently offers: the two-mode hybrid for trucks and SUVs and the hybrid-lite belt-alternator system for passenger cars (no mention of a full hybrid high-mileage passenger car to compete directly with Prius and the other hybrid offerings from across the Pacific). You can bet GM'll game the numbers to achieve their goal, as spokesman Brian Corbett said the 16 hybrids would be launched in North America, Asia and possibly Europe. That means they can drop the drivetrain from the Saturn Vue Greenline into its Theta platform-mates around the world and instantly claim five new hybrids. Not bad for a company whose Vice Chairman of Global Product Development thinks hybrids "make no economic sense." Anyway, when it comes to greenwashing, GM is clearly set on becoming the industry leader.