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First Sight: Mercedes-Benz SL

The new high-tech, low weight Mercedes SL roadster receives its official global unveil next week in Detroit but Car Design News got an early peek of the final production car and had a chat with its designers at Mercedes' US advanced design studio in Carlsbad, California back in November. "We want to get back to clean, long-lasting design," director of Mercedes global advanced design and SL project leader, Steffen Kohl told CDN at the exclusive preview of the sixth-generation model. "So the new SL is long, sleek and still full of tension in the feature lines but less wedgy." In a short presentation Kohl felt all SLs became successfully iconic in their times because they followed two key rules – ‘sensuality' and ‘cleanness' – but alluded that the first rule may have been lost in more recent eras.

New Images: Subaru Hybrid Tourer

Subaru has released additional images of its Hybrid Tourer concept, which the company will reveal at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show next week. The environmentally friendly design study is claimed to be a grand touring car with enhanced performance and safety attributes. Click on the link below to see our previous news story, and be sure to check out our forthcoming highlight articles on this and all the other concept cars being unveiled at the show.

Hyundai i30

Hyundai has released the first rendering of the next generation i30 set to be officially revealed at the Frankfurt motor show next month. Designed in the Korean automaker's European Design Center in Rüsselsheim, Germany, under the direction of Chief Designer Thomas Buerkle, the new C-segment hatchback is an evolution of Hyundai's ‘fluidic sculpture' design language, initiated on the HED-6 ix-onic concept shown at the 2009 Geneva motor show. "When designing the new i30, we used strong, fluid lines to sculpt a car which looks athletic while exuding a sense of constant motion," said Buerkle.