By Ben Oliver
First Official Pictures
15 January 2008 20:57
The Hummer HX concept was one of the surprise hits of this year’s Detroit show. Penned by three young designers, it is pure concept-car madness. But it is also an admission by General Motors that Hummer needs to downsize if it is to survive.
Kia has added a new model at the top of the Sportage range – the Kia Sportage KX-4 – with plenty of toys, a 181bhp 2.0 litre CRDi and 4WD. Just like sister company Hyundai, Kia no longer looks to be the cheapest on the block and is instead looking to offer the best it can, including range-topping cars with decent levels of power and plenty of toys. So step forward the new Kia Sportage KX-4 with a 181bhp version of the 2.0 litre CRDi diesel engine, 4WD and plenty of toys making it the most powerful Sportage on sale – and the best equipped.
It's a month before the Geneva motor show and amongst the usual pre Motor Show commotion I receive a string of cryptic emails about an Infiniti electric sports car concept. The name Emerg-e is only revealed as I drive to the secret preview at Park Royal Studios in West London to meet the big three in design – global design director Shiro Nakamura, Francois Bancon of advanced design and head of Nissan Design Europe Victor Nacif. This is clearly a critical car for Infiniti.