Mazda Kusabi concept

Talking to Yoichi Sato, Chief Designer Mazda Advanced Design Studio, the concept for the Kusabi became clear. It is a compact, cheap to run, urban car based on the platform of the small Mazda 2 (Demio in Japan). And it is an 'everyday sports sub-compact', a 2+2 seat, sporty car for young singles and couples.

It's junior coupe profile combines with a particularly innovative rear tailgate system that opens like a conventional hatchback by pivoting at the rearmost edge of the roof, or by opening from either side (in a similar way to gull wing doors) and pivoting through its centre running front to back. This provides easy access to the boot as does the similarly innovative swivelling front seat backs that facilitate easy access to the rear seats.

The cheap to run aspect of this sporty car is underlined by its frugal choice of 1.6 litre litre diesel engine, which also makes it the first sporty Japanese concept car to be diesel powered. SL

SEAT Altea Prototipo

Somehow Seat have created with the Altea an MPV, albeit a low roofed one with only two rows of seats, that has panache and doesn’t shout “family car”. Beyond its conceptual design the car shows a mature development of recent Seat design signifiers such as the feature line that delineates the bonnet and rear tailgate via the A pillars and roof. And inside a centrally positioned (aka the 911) speedometer and driver focused instrument panel design signpost the brand’s sporting intent.

The Altea wows as a conspicuously practical car with a strong design lead and emotional appeal in a similar way to the Skoda Roomster, albeit with a more sporting identity and monospace form. Maybe the remote control toy car fitted into the compartment below the boot floor won’t make
it to production, but lets hope as much as possible of the rest does. SL

Saab 9-3 Sport-Hatch concept

The 9-3 Sport-Hatch is a crossover hatchback and wagon concept which Saab plan to bring to the market within the next two years. Based on the recently launched 9-3, the styling follows themes from last year’s 9-3X concept including the short rear overhang, steeply raked backlight and glass roof with integrated bike carrier. As a unique Scandinavian touch, the vertical LED taillamps, masked by clear covers, are said to resemble frosted blocks of ice.

Inside, the design is based on 9-3 architecture but introduces a new 'clear zone' transparent material through the centre of the cabin, covering the instrument panel, console and between the two separate rear seats. Concluding this ‘transparency’ theme, the trunk features a see-through stowage floor. NH

Mercedes Vision CLS concept

The Vision CLS concept aims to combine the elegance and dynamism of a coupe with the comfort and practicality of a four-door saloon. The design features a low arched roofline which flows almost unbroken into the dropping rear deck and the side view is characterised by an undercut feature line which runs from front wheelarch to the taillamps which visually stretches the car. The low nose ends in a familiar Mercedes three-bar grille but the new headlamps create a fresh and powerful face for the Vision CLS.

The four doors open conventionally and feature shallow frameless windows to underscore the coupe look. Previous Mercedes ‘Vision’ concepts have led directly to a production model, so expectations are high…

Dimensions for the Vision CLS are: length 4910mm, width 1851mm, height 1391mm and wheelbase 2854mm. NH

Maserati Quattroporte

Maserati make a return to the full-size luxury sedan market with this new incarnation of the Quattroporte. Designed by Pininfarina rather than Gandini as was the previous version, the car adopts a surprisingly undynamic body language for such an illustrious parentage. The side view reveals this to be a long car with a simple body side section and ‘coke bottle’ waistline but the basic form and detailing could hardly be described as fresh.

The prominent snout leads into a large rounded grille flanked by quite small headlamps, while the rear view is conventional – although the four exhausts hint at the performance potential. And performance for the Quattroporte should be impressive: power comes from a beautiful 4.2 litre V8 with 400ps while the rear transaxle ensures near-perfect weight distribution. NH

BMW 6 Series

Based on the platform of the new E60 5 Series, the 6-Series is a large 4-seat flagship coupe that takes styling cues from the 5-Series, 7-Series and Z4 but develops the ‘flame surfacing’ styling in a more coherent and balanced way than previously.

With a shorter wheelbase than the new 5, the 6-Series offers a luxurious cabin that features a head up display and active cruise control. Other new technology includes active steering and Dynamic Drive suspension system, which almost eliminates body roll in bends.

Launched initially as the 645i with 4.4 litre V8 and 333ps, other engines will be offered later – a 3.0 litre 231ps unit and a 3.6 litre 272ps. BMW also confirmed that a 2+2 cabrio will follow. NH

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