Tag Archives: Frankfurt Motor Show
Mitsubishi – Almost Ready with its Trio Concept
Japanese automaker Mitsubishi, after leaving all in awe with its vivacious concept of three all new green SUVs, is now materializing the ideas as the brand is ready to reveal the trio concept later this month in the Tokyo Motor Show 2013. While the firm remained silent and unseen at the Frankfurt Motor Show earlier this year, the Tokyo Motor Show this month is going to be an emphatic comeback for Mitsubishi. The company takes pride in its already hit line of SUVs with models like the 2014 Outlander and Mirage in its hands, yet hasn’t been much in the limelight recently. However, Mitsubishi managed to turn heads as soon as the trio concept of the green SUVs was announced and the surge of excitement surely created a great deal of possibility to spark things up for the automaker.
First up in the new series is the Mitsubishi Concept GC-PHEV or the “Grand Cruiser”. The next generation SUV is big or rather grand, as the name suggests. The GC-PHEV concept sports a plug-in hybrid electric system. Also, the Mitsubishi Grand Cruiser concept is anticipated to be a foretaste to the all new Mitsubishi Pajero that is all ready to set its best wheel forward in the limelight next year which will be almost 15 years after the current Pajero debuted in 1999. Second up is the Mitsubishi Concept XR-PHEV also called as the Cross (X) over runner that is again a next generation compact utility vehicle and is going to be powered by a “lightweight and super efficient” plug-in hybrid powertrain. Mitsubishi claims that this cross runner will offer the driver with “agile driving dynamics and sport-coupe like styling” and might be a preview to the second generation ASX crossover that is expected soon. Finally, the new series culminates with the Mitsubishi Concept AR or “Active Runabout”. The SUV concept suggests a future generation vehicle that is compact yet doesn’t limit its usability to one purpose. The multipurpose vehicle is a potent preview of an all new Grandis. The Mitsubishi AR is to be powered by a turbocharged small-capacity direct injection engine.
While there was not any official or complete disclosure of the three vehicles but the teaser images that were released revealed a new design approach of the brand. The new SUV concepts from Mitsubishi boast bold emphatic grilles and sweeping lines. Also, the new designs are to feature Mitsubishi’s newest safety features and driver support technologies that operate on mobile network connectivity. Mitsubishi adds that the new trio series concept emphasizes on the brands pursuit of “environmental responsibility, driving pleasure, off road performance and safety” for its coming generation of passenger vehicles.
Mitsubishi has come up with an impressive series of concepts for its new hybrid and green SUVs. Be it the full sized Grand Cruiser with all terrain driving capabilities or the Crossover Runner with amazing fuel efficiency and dexterous driving skills or the Active Runabout concept which combines the practicality of an SUV with the interior space and mobility of an MPV, the brand has left no stones unturned to offer a line of SUVs to please all kinds of car lovers and can prove to be a total game changer in the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show.
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.