CAR scoop: BMW and Toyota's joint sports car plot

BMW is buddying up with Toyota on an all-new sports car platform, set to underpin the replacements for the Z4, 6-series and GT86. The unlikely collaboration stems from an alliance that began in 2011, where BMW and Toyota agreed to co-develop next-generation lithium ion batteries, and for Toyota to use BMW’s fourpot diesels in its European cars. An engineering team is beavering away on the project, with the clock ticking: the suits want to outline the car’s specification before the end of 2013. What does BMW get out of the bargain?

2013 Mazda CX-9 debuts before Australian show

Mazda will fully reveal the 2013 CX-9 SUV at the Australian International motor show in October. It appears that Mazda couldn't wait that long, as the company just released a few images of the redesigned people carrier, which now looks like the big brother to the CX-5. It features the Kodo design language that we've seen at several auto shows, which lends it a sportier look than previous models.

Lexus GS-F coming. Says Lexus. Apparently

Lexus GS from SEMA. The Lexus GS-F won't be so OTT You’ll forgive us for the less than assertive headline, we hope. Because we’ve been hearing from lots of places – our sources and the sources of others – that Lexus are going to endow its GS with a serious amount of V8 grunt (actually, the last report we ran was that Lexus were giving the GS a V10) to take on the uber-exec expresses from the Germans (and the XFR) and create a Lexus GS-F.