It's been three years since Kia pulled the wraps off its conceptual Soul'ster convertible truck at the 2009 Detroit Motor Show. Kia fueled some rumors at the time that it was considering a production version of the car but never followed up on it. Until today, that is. Unexpectedly, in the press statement on the Track'ster Concept that's scheduled to debut at the Chicago Auto Show next week, Kia dropped the ball saying that the Soul�ster convertible is "currently under final assessment for production". 
The Korean maker did not elaborate further but we assume that if it receives the green light, the Soul'ster should be on its way to the market very soon. The original concept is a two-door mixture of convertible and pickup models with seating for four passengers. It features a shortened windshield for a more hunkered down appearance and is equipped with a two-piece removable top residing on a roll bar that provides additional protections for the occupants.
Infiniti has been trickling out information on the new sports car concept it plans to reveal at the 2012 Geneva Salon bit by bit these past couple of months. Today we learn that the electric sports car model will be called the "Emerge E". "The INFINITI EMERG-E will be the first car from the brand to have not only a range-extender drivetrain offering vivid performance with zero emissions capability but also one mounted in a mid-ship package for optimal handling," the company said in a short statement.
On Wednesday, an official source from within the VW Group more or less confirmed the debut of a luxury SUV concept from Lamborghini at the Beijing Auto Show in China in April. Today we learn that the Sant'Agata sports car maker has yet another "surprise" in store for us, this time at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show in March. The news comes from an email statement from a Lamborghini spokesperson after the crew over at GT Spirit asked the company about the rumors circulating around the web. Here's what the press representative answered
This is the first official teaser rendering of Kia's latest concept based on the Soul crossover. It's called the Track'ster and it will make its first public appearance at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show next week. Penned in Kia's California design studio, the Track'ster shows how a more sporty, three-door version of the Soul could look like, though the South Korean automaker is quick to point out that currently, there are no plans for a production version.
After the presentation of the other three Chrysler Group vehicle customized by Mopar for its 75th anniversary, we bring you the first real life photos of the brand's fourth creation, named the Jeep Compass �True North�. Beginning with the exterior, the Compass has been customized with a matte black finish on the roof, wheel flares, lower fascia, door cladding and black grille, while it also features tinted lights, front and rear brush bars and custom rock rails.
You might remember talented Russian designer Krasnov Igor from two of his previous concept studies, a four-door Ferrari-badged sport saloon and the Marussia supercar. This time, Krasnov has come up with a conceptual proposal for a BMW sports coupe with an unusual, yet stylish asymmetrical design.
Francisco Costa from Calvin Klein, Diane von Furstenberg and Kenneth Cole will create three special Minis to raffle off at this year's edition of "Life Ball", the biggest HIV/AIDS charity event in Europe that will take place in Vienna on 17th July 2010.
On behalf of Calvin Klein, US fashion house's creative director Francisco Costa will be designing the new Mini Countryman crossover. US fashion designer with Belgian roots Diane von Furstenberg, will artistically enhance the MINI Hatch, while New York's Kenneth Cole apply his style on a Mini Convertible.
Approximately a year ago, Mercedes-Benz officially revealed plans to develop a fully-electric version of its SLS AMG supercar. Now, the German automaker has unveiled a prototype model of the car named "SLS AMG E-Cell".
On the E-Cell prototype, Stuttgart's engineers replaced the standard SLS AMG's 571HP 6.3-liter V8 petrol engine with four electric motors placed near the wheels effectively making it a four-wheel drive model. Mercedes notes that this solution substantially reduces the unsprung masses compared to wheel-hub motors.
The electric motors produce a combined output of 392kW or the equivalent of 526HP and a maximum torque of 880 Nm / 649 lb-ft, the latter available right from the start. One transmission per axle transmits the power.
Bo Zolland of Sweden's Viztech is at it again. This time, the talented designer has thrown together some spiffy computer generated photos of a vintage hot rod called the "33-34". If it were to become a reality, Bo Zolland says the two-seater hot rod would be powered by the Cadillac CTS-V's 6.2-liter supercharged V8 with 556 ponies. Check out the full photo gallery after the break.
What appear to be patent drawings of numerous SEAT models were found in a posting on a Spanish blog called Decoches. Unfortunately, no additional information is provided about the source of the pictures.
A quick research on the European patent office didn't return any results, so we're not going to brand the sketches genuine just yet - for all we know they might be the work of an independent designer / artist who has nothing to do with the VW Group-owned, Spanish carmaker.
In any case, you can check out all the drawings / proposals for a series of SEAT models in the gallery after the break.
Automotive designers find inspiration in all kinds of places. For independent designer Andrus Ciprian from Romania, it was Harley Earls' legendary GM Firebird concept cars of the 1950s. The thing is that he didn't use this inspiration on a GM product but on a futuristic Honda racing car design study that he named Pegasus.
The Romanian designer has dreamed up a small gas-turbine jet engine as the power source for the imaginary winged prototype, while other features include specially designed wheels that increase air-flow to the brakes. Full mage gallery after the break.
The Alfa Romeo Vittorio Jano concept sedan is the brainchild of independent Italian designer Marco Procaccini. Named after Vittorio Jano, an Italian race car designer of Hungarian descent that worked at Alfa Romeo from the 1920s through the 1930s, Procaccini's proposal is a sporty-looking saloon with a five-door fastback body style and seating for four.
Created as a direct replacement for Alfa Romeo's BMW 3-series-fighting 159 sedan, the Vittorio Jano measures 4,650mm in length, 1,830mm in width and 1,400mm in height. The designer said he plans to follow up the sedan with a Sport Wagon study. Gallery and video after the jump.
If you're looking to add a Lincoln concept model to your collection, here's your chance as a total of five design studies from the past decade will be offered for sale by Ford Motor Company at the RM's Sports & Classics of Monterey auction on August 12th. The proceeds raised through the sale will benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and The Children's Center, an organization that is based in Michigan, USA.
The five Lincoln concept models up for sale are the 2001 MK9 coupe; 2004 Aviator SUV; 2005 MKS sedan; 2003 Navicross coupe crossover and last but not least, the Mark X which was a hardtop-convertible proposal for Lincoln's version of the Ford Thunderbird.
Bear in mind that even though all cars except the Navicross have are drivable, none can be registered for highway use in the States. Follow the break for a short description (from RM) and pricing estimates for each concept model.
The five Lincoln concept models that we told you about on Friday will be joined by the 2003 Mercury Messenger concept at the RM's Sports & Classics of Monterey auction on August 12th.
The two-seater sports coupe prototype of the soon-to-be discontinued Mercury brand broke cover at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit back in 2003. It was supposed to herald a new and more stylish design language for the company while some had also suggested that it may inspire a production model - unfortunately for Mercury, that never happened.
Influenced by the Cougars of the late sixties with a rakish roofline that recalls Ford's GT supercar, the rear-wheel drive Messenger Coupe was designed to be powered by the Dearborn automaker's familiar 4.6 liter V8 engine (the study is not fitted with a powertrain). The folks over at RM Auctions estimate that the Messenger can fetch between US$75,000 and $100,000.
With Tesla�s long anticipated Model S sedan still more than six months away, designers from all over the world have begun to speculate what will be next for the Silicon Valley-based automaker. 
One such design study is the Current by Maxim Ostapenko, a graduate of Pasadena, California�s Art Center College of Design.Essentially a four-door all-electric saloon car to compete with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7-Series and Jaguar XF, the Tesla Current shares its design heritage with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz F800 Style and the Citroen Survolt concepts.
Recent rumors have suggested that Volkswagen may introduce a high-riding, faux-crossover Variant of its latest generation of the European market Passat, as early as at the forthcoming 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. And while we can�t confirm the rumormill, what we can do is show you a very well executed rendering of the VW Cross Passat made by a talented reader of Autoblog.nl.
Get excited DTM fans because there�s a new kid coming to town. We�re talking about Audi�s freshly revealed A5 Coupe racecar, internally named �R17,� that will replace the four-door A4 with which Audi has conquered the DTM title four times since 2004. Ingolstadt�s new touring model is based on the facelifted A5 Coupe that was presented earlier this week and it complies with the new technical and safety regulations that will come in effect in the German touring model championship next year.
�Despite Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo�s excellent assessment of the New Stratos after his test drive at Fiorano, Ferrari does not consent to construction of the planned limited run by either Pininfarina or any other Ferrari-dependent suppliers.� 
And with the above short statement, Ferrari announced to Michael Stoschek, the man behind the 21st century interpretation of the famous Lancia Stratos of the �70s, that it won�t let him use its chassis, engines nor allow any of its suppliers to participate in the build.
A lightly disguised concept version of Infiniti�s new JX luxury crossover will be shown to the public at the the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in August, but until then, the Japanese automaker plans to keep us on our toes with a string of teaser shots.
The Korean maker did not elaborate further but we assume that if it receives the green light, the Soul'ster should be on its way to the market very soon. 
