Spy photos: BMW i8 hits Swedish test track

Spy photographers caught the new BMW i8 testing on a secret track wearing the company’s familiar psychedelic camouflage. The test car pictured is a preproduction model rather than a concept BMW i8, similar to what should appear in 2013. As reported earlier, we’re expecting BMW’s 2014 i8 hybrid coupe to get a 1.5-liter, three-cylinder direct-injection gasoline engine--essentially the same unit earmarked to head into the next-generation Mini and the front-wheel-drive BMW 1-series due out in 2014.

Aston Martin configurator for the Cygnet and the Virage hits the Web

The few times a year that Aston Martin graces AutoWeek with a press car, our joy is short-lived. There's never enough seat time to go around. Luckily, we can all dream together with the new Aston Martin configurator at the company's Web site, www.astonmartin.com.

Volvo Concept XC Coupe at Detroit Auto Show – previews the new Volvo XC90 (+ video)

The Volvo Concept XC Coupe (pictured) will debut at Detroit next month Volvo are heading to the Detroit Auto Show next month with the second of three concepts planned utilising their new scalable platform architecture which will underpin almost all future models – the Volvo Concept XC Coupe. The first of the three new concepts from Volvo came at the Frankfurt Motor Show back in September as the Volvo Concept Coupe – a new take on Volvo’s iconic P1800 – but this time we get a concept that points firmly at the new Volvo XC90, due in a year’s time as a 2015 model. We’ve already got some idea of what Volvo’s designers think the new XC90 should look like, but the styling cues on the Concept Coupe – and the teaser photos of the Concept XC Coupe (above) – give us a much clearer view of what Volvo are planning for one of their most successful cars.