Future products: Coupe in Subaru's pipeline will be an image booster

Subaru plans to extend its lineup in late 2011 or early 2012 by adding a sporty coupe developed with Toyota. Also, an Impreza hybrid that uses technology from Toyota is expected in 2012. Toyota now owns about 17 percent of Subaru.

Bentley SUV to get W12 engine

The Bentley SUV will get a W12 engine option Back in July we had the talkative Bentley boss Wolfgang Dürheimer musing that Bentley will produce the ultimate luxury SUV, with plans to take the underpinnings from sister company Porsche’s Cayenne and make the most opulent SUV on the planet. The plan for a Bentley SUV has been around for a while, but the perception by car makers that big SUVs were unpalatable to the general public in these eco-obsessed times meant plans by many car makers to build an SUV were left to gather dust on the shelves. But those car makers who chose to ignore the brickbats directed at big SUVs have proved that there is big demand for luxury monsters (the Cayenne has turned in to Porsche’s biggest cash cow) and that the anti-SUV lobby was simply a very small bunch of eco-mentalists making headlines.

Karmann-Ghia launches contest for Brazilian design students

Karmann-Ghia has launched a competition for Brazilian students to design a modern interpretation of its classic Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia Coupé. Students will be competing for a top prize of R$100,000 (US$49,750) with the possibility that the winning design will be developed into a prototype. The student awarded second place will earn themselves R$60,000 (US$29,800) while the third placed entry is worth R$14,884 (US$7,350).