Daily Archives: October 25, 2013
Kia Cross GT Concept
Strengthening the brand-exceeding standard set by the Kia GT which was unveiled in 2011 at Frankfurt, the brand raised the curtains from the Cross GT crossover concept in Chicago. The earlier GT concept made a strong hint about the brand offering a full sized luxury car in near future. Now, the Cross GT concept is a clear indicator that Kia is making up its mind to step into the big and bold premium-crossover market.
Kia’s Design Center America takes pride in their group of California-based designers who presented the market with the 2014 Forte sedan along with the Track’ster and Soul’ster concept. The same group of designers has designed the Kia Cross GT and it looks a little bit like an Infiniti at the first sight. But that ought to be a great thing since Infiniti managed to capture sights and hearts at its revelation. As is the GT sedan’s armature, the Cross GT sports a similar 122 inch long wheelbase. 192.8 inches long and 79.1 inches wide clubbed with a 65.3 inch overall height makes Cross GT look fun and chunky. With comparatively shorter rear and front overhangs, the ride still manages to show off the brands familial resemblance especially though the C-pillar and the nose.
While the brand strictly claimed that the hybrid powertrain Cross GT concept boasts is “strictly a concept”, the probability of the crossover to actually go hybrid when it reaches production is close to one. A 3.8 liter V6 powerful engine mated to an eight speed automatic transmission will be seen working in conjunction with an evolution of Kia’s parallel hybrid system. This translates to a system providing torque-vectoring all-wheel drive that, the brand claims, will be able to produce a whopping 500 pound feet of torque and massive 400 horsepower with an all-electric range of 20 miles.
The four-passenger vehicle sports rear hinged suicide doors that allow easy access to the rear buckets. The interior materials exude harmony with nature. Selected from re-harvested stock, the American walnut stunningly compliments the instrument panel while the Almond-Terra colored leather seats are tanned with chemical free dyes. A fun element to the interiors is the saddle-inspired seats affixed to a central tunnel that almost appear to be floating within the cabin.
A touch screen and central mouse control help access the entertainment functions, climate controls and the telematics. The infotainment and the internet are not denied from the rear passengers for the head-rests of the front seat feature flat-panel screens to allow the access. The flat load floor in the cargo area efficiently hides beneath it, a large storage compartment.
Kia’s executive vice president of marketing and communications, Michael Sprague said, “Our customers are looking to the Kia brand to offer relevant vehicle in the premium segment that take value to new levels of sophistication. The Cross GT is the next logical step in that evolution. And while only a concept today, it signals one possible design direction we may explore for the future.” It is easy to read between the lines and make out what the Kia Cross GT will be if/when it sees the production lights.
Jaguar’s first crossover – The Jaguar C-X16
Jaguar SUV and Land Rover no longer remain synonyms to each other. What marks the Jaguar’s brave new future is the revelation of the C-X17 crossover concept car at the 2013 Frankfurt motor show. The Jaguar branded crossover is a stunning display of the Jaguar’s new ‘iQ Al’ modular aluminum platform. While the luxury crossover market is in overdrive and armed with some amazing vehicles, Jaguar’s C-X17 crossover concept is a contender that looks emphatic and sharp enough to make a statement.
Jaguar is a British brand that has been a purist and is known well for its traditional sporting vehicles. The very fact has been a big reason to create blasphemy among many since the brand has taken a brave step to launch a posh-roader. However, potential rewards are many. For instance, Cayenne worked wonders for Porsche and the upcoming super-SUVs from the brands Lamborghini, Bentley and Rolls-Royce have already made much news and anticipators for them. This makes the new C-X17 concept from Jaguar an equally potential idea to anticipate for. And the sensational looks of the car only strengthen the point! Jaguar’s acclaimed designer Ian Callum, who also admitted that at first he was reluctant to design such car and is only doing it for the love of SUVs people are mad about these days, told, that though his team already knew what a great success was the sister brand Land Rover’s Range Rover SDV8 and its little sister Evoque was, they still carried their pursuit to give the C-x17 its own personality, intending to create a silhouette that emphasize on the sporty design of the vehicle.
With slim glasshouse and 23 inch alloy wheel that were added as a necessity to boost the C-X17s ability to make heads turn around while it rolls, Ian Callum also claims that none of the features, the bodywork is so out of the box that it hampers the production feasibility. The car has even got proper door and mirrors. However, the car’s cabin looks a wee bit outlandish but on a closer take it comes out to be a minimalist tae on the current Jaguar interior design. What makes the C-X17 look like a sporty beast ready to roll is a large single frame grille and two gigantic nostrils lit by diffused LEDs. And these sinister looking LED flashlights with a prominent upright black mesh grille mated with grey plastic skirting beneath the bumper while a muscular contoured bonnet stands above all, give the Jaguar c-X17 all the brawn it needs to take over the market of SUVs.
The jaguar C-X17 crossover concept is 4.7 meter long, 1.6 meter high and 1.9 meter wide. What the brand calls as a way to “introduce Jaguar’s new, high advanced, modular architecture” is a straight target to the Audi Q5 and BMW X3. The cars have been great newsmakers in the premium market of SUVs and it’s not much to think why Jaguar took aim at these cars. The first crossover from the company is highly awaited and has enough reasons to be waited for.
Infiniti Q30 Concept
The new Infiniti Q30 debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show last month. Nissan’s luxury subdivision, Infiniti is amidst a crucial re-branding effort that concentrates on elevating the brand’s image to the level that is pleasured by German luxury competitors such as BMW, Mercedes Benz and Audi. Henceforth, the Infiniti Q30 prefigures an upcoming design from the brand that targets on the Mercedes Benz CLA- Class sedan (A-class Hatch in Europe) and the Audi A3. The brand has not yet revealed much about the car but based on how the concept looks it won’t be wrong to say that it resembles the Infiniti’s 2011 Etherea concept, just more production feasible and more attractive.
This car is to be loved at the very first sight, and at the first sight it looks like a crossover. Infiniti says that the new Q30 is only one third of a crossover. The other two thirds of the design inspiration are a hatchback and a coupe. That’s like a treat of three car designs at the price of one, cheering up a lot of contemporary SUV lovers. The design brief of the car might create ambiguity about the Q30’s vehicle type but the name clears the fact that the Infiniti Q30 is follows the Q-based convention that the brand recently switched all of its line over to. The Q30 is anticipated to be smaller than the three series sized Q50 sedan by the brand. A more certain fact is the Infiniti Q30 will be a front-wheel drive. The Infiniti Q30 amazingly resembles the Mazda 3 five door. But working more corporeally, Infiniti parent firms Nissan/Renault announced a partnership recently with Daimler, which is parent conglomerate to Mercedes – Benz. The front drive based Mercedes A-Class which also serves as the basis for the CLA Class sedan. With the partnership in hand, and the Q30’s taller stance, it won’t be a surprise if the new model from Infiniti also offers four driven wheels.
The powertrain choices offered by the Infiniti Q30 might put a question in front of the buyers. Reason being that the Q30 comes with style in droves, mixing the aggressive front end of the Q50 with a stunning pair of straight sculpted body creases running down the each side of the body that are flowing and complex. As said earlier that this car hints about being a more practical version of the Etherea concept but interestingly the Q30, unlike the next generation supercharged four cylinder/electric motor hybrid system powered Etherea, is likely to be powered by a less exotic gas-only setup. Probably a turbocharged four-cylinder engine! Borrowing for the lower-output Q50, the car is guessed to be running with 210-240 horsepower.
The brand hopes the Q30 will prove to be a magnet for young buyers in global markets including China and Europe, while firming its roots in the U.S. After the slight success in the niche of luxury compacts with the Sentra related G20 sedan of the 1990s and early 2000s, the half-car half-crossover compact Q30 is believed by the firm to be a game changer.