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Lada XRAY Concept – it’s the Lada Evoque

Lada has revealed an appealing looking compact SUV concept at the Moscow Motor Show – the Lada XRAY Concept For those of us who grew up on Lada skips – and even for younger readers who only really know Lada for the Niva 4×4 or the Granta – the appearance of a good-looking Lada Concept - the Lada XRAY – at the Moscow Motor Show is a bit of a surprise. But if we look at who’s behind the XRAY, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised. Steve Mattin, formerly with Mercedes and Volvo, penned the new Lada, and a very convincing job he’s done.

Crunch watch August 09: the auto industry

By Tim Pollard, Alex Michaelides, Ben Pulman and Freddie Fulton Motor Industry 31 August 2009 10:00 Welcome to CAR's news aggregator as we round up the seismic change in the auto industry. Top tip: news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hour  Monday 31 August 2009• Bank holiday today in UK; staff on a well earned break from Crunchwatch!Friday 28 August 2009• Toyota will stop producing vehicles at the New United Moor Manufacturing plant in California next March. Company officials and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the decision, which comes in the wake of factory partner GM’s announced that it would abandon the venture back in June (Detroit News)• Tengzhong may finalise its deal to buy Hummer from GM next week, well placed sources told AN (Automotive News, subscription required)• German economics minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg says it is 'hardly realistic' for GM to keep hold of its European outfit Opel and Vauxhall (Automotive News Europe, subscription required)• Ford's US cop car favourite, the Crown Victoria, is going to cease production in 2011 (Detroit News)Thursday 27 August 2009• Nissan and Chrysler have abandoned plans to build cars for each other in the wake of Chrysler’s alliance with Fiat.

Lexus IS Coupe arriving in 2014 & IS F V8 on the way

Now it looks like Lexus is going to bring the LF-CC to production life in 2014 as the Lexus IS Coupe (although there are rumours it could be the RC, but that may be for a production version of the even more appealing LF-LC as a range-topping Lexus Coupe) and equip it with the same petrol engine and hybrid options as the IS saloon. What is also in prospect is a return of the IS F – complete with sizeable V8 power – which, if it does arrive, will see the IS Coupe coming with the F engine option and making a very promising foray in to the powerful V8 Coupe market. What doesn’t seem likely is that Lexus are going to bother with a diesel option for the IS or Coupe, despite conventional wisdom saying they need a diesel option to compete in Europe because - as they’ve already demonstrated with the IS 300h – they can deliver an appealing and competitive hybrid with decent performance and price, and bring it in with under 100g/km emissions – perfect for the business market.