2012 Subaru Impreza revealed!

The next Impreza is getting a dramatic new look. This is the first official picture of Subaru’s Impreza Design Concept, which debuted at the LA Motor Show. 

The Japanese firm has already backtracked over its decision in 2007 to reinvent the Impreza as a hatch – it introduced the WRX STi saloon last month – and this concept reinforces its move.

Marking out the newcomer is a completely new design language, called Confidence in Motion – and it’s a big departure from previous versions, as our Impreza timeline (below) shows. The aggressive new front end – with hawk-eye headlights, 3D grille and wing-like foglamps – previews a fresh family face that could grace the new Subaru coupé.

The Impreza has a low and wide stance, while bosses say the prominent wheelarches put the emphasis on the car’s famous symmetrical all-wheel-drive system. The rims also get carbon fins to help cool the brakes. 

The interior is as attractive and different as the exterior. 

Double stitching and dark blue piping contrast with platinum leather, while a large central touchscreen combines functions for the navigation, audio and vehicle information systems. 

Under the bonnet, the Impreza show car features a 2.0-litre boxer engine hooked up to a CVT box. A final production version isn’t due to appear until 2012.

VW Design Vision GTI

The Design Vision GTI has been revealed at the Worthersee VW event in Austria. Designed to please the 200,000 fans who are expected to attend the event, which runs from 8-12 May, the Design Vision GTI is intended to show a vision of what a GTI built specifically for racing could look like.

The one-off concept is built on the familiar MQB modular platform, but measures 4,253mm long, 1,442 high and 1,870mm wide, making it 15mm shorter, 57mm lower and 71mm wider than the current VW Golf GTI, giving a more aggressive stance.

Instead of the 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine used by the GTI, the concept features a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6. As a result, power jumps from 217bhp and 350Nm of torque to 496bhp and 560Nm.

The engine drives all four wheels via a twin-clutch gearbox, while the brakes now feature ceramic discs.

The Vision GTI completes the 0-62mph sprint in 3.9 seconds – down from the 6.5 seconds that a DSG-equipped GTI can manage – while its top speed climbs from 152mph to 186mph.

The Design Vision GTI has been styled by Marc Lichte, Andreas Mindt and Philipp Romers, the same team that penned the latest Golf and GTI models.

Finished in white, with piano black trim, the Design Vision GTI takes the subtle but striking design features of the standard car and exaggerates them.

For example, the curvy C-pillar now sticks out, almost like a flying buttress that's separate from the car bodyside, while the rear diffuser has grown significantly. Likewise, the front wheelarches are much more aggressive, and now flare out with vents in front of and behind them, and 20-inch wheels closely fill the arches.

Inside, the controls on the dash have been minimised, so the buttons for the three driving modes – street, sport and track – are now on the steering wheel, while the dashboard itself is now more angled towards the driver.

The interior is constructed from carbon fibre and alcantara, and features the same red fabric loop door closers as used in Porsche Cup cars.

As it’s designed as a racer, the Vision GTI has an X-shaped cross brace instead of rear seats, and built-in helmet storage. The car also has a display of the current racetrack you’re driving on, along with split times of other cars.

Sadly there are no plans to build a production version of the concept. Much like VW's previous Worthersee Golfs - such as the mid-engined Bentley-W12-powered Golf W12-650 - the Vision is more an excuse to let the firm's designers let off some steam.

SMART electrically-powered scooter

According to inside sources, smart will premiere a concept of a full-electric drive plug-in scooter, that could probably go into series in 2011 or in 2012, at the upcoming Paris Motor Show. 

Besides these design sketches that were issued by the media department of the smart brand, no other details or photos have leaked out up to the moment.