SEMA 2008 show report: Volkswagen Passat CC

By Ben Whitworth Motor Shows 07 November 2008 09:00 Volkswagen’s sobriety took a back seat at the SEMA show in Las Vegas this week – it pulled the covers off a pair of muscle-bound Passat CCs, a racy 295bhp Tiguan and a grunty diesel Jetta aimed at cajoling the American market into turning its back on gasoline. The unambiguously named Performance CC – designed by Volkswagen’s California-based design centre – gets a shot in the arm from a three-stage turbo boost to its 2.0-litre TSI engine. In Eco mode you get a modest 222bhp and 236 lb ft of torque, GT mode hikes those outputs to 252bhp and 268 lbs ft, while the Full Power stage unleashes 311bhp and 313 lb ft.

Toyota Hybrid X concept (2007): first official pictures

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 16 February 2007 09:47 Toyota Hybrid X: the lowdown Toyota's love affair with the hybrid continues: it'll show this Hybrid X at the Geneva Motor Show next month, hinting at a second Toyota hybrid to sell alongside the Prius. It's designed to showcase Toyota's new hybrid design language - a fresh look for its high-tech petrol-electric models, to differentiate them from its more conventional-fueled models. More excitement, less prosaic ordinariness, is the order of the day.

Nissan shows off Resonance SUV concept teaser (2013)

Tease, tease, tease. Ahead of the 2013 Detroit motor show, Nissan is the latest manufacturer to release a shady teasing image of its new concept car: the Resonance concept. It'll be unveiled on 15 January 2013 at the NAIAS.