BMW’s X6 is an oddity, but it’s a successful oddity: the coupe-like crossover will survive to a brand new generation, and we’ll see the brand new version of the SUV with new looks and a lighter curb weight early in 2014. The X6′s distinctive body-BMW calls it a Sports Activity Coupe-makes it something of a spot product within the Usa (BMW sold nearly seven X5s to each X6 last year), but it’s enough of successful in international markets like China and Russia to warrant a brand new version. Autocar reports that some big changes are afoot, starting with the X6′s look: it’ll be more aggressive, perhaps borrowing some visual cues from the 4 Series coupe concept from earlier this year. It’ll sit atop the X5 platform as usual, albeit a...

Your next new car may need windows produced from high-strength plastic. That allows you to shed as much weight as possible to assist boost fuel economy, vehicles just like the new Ford Transit Connect may soon use the plastics to switch the rear window, and the 2014 Fiat 500L already does, The Detroit News reports. The large benefits to using the high-strength (polycarbonate) plastic in automotive windows is its light weight and skill to be molded into almost any shape – proof of which are present in current automotive headlights, 95 percent of which might be fabricated from the high-strength plastic. Though glass windows reportedly only make up about 100 pounds of a vehicle’s weight, polycarbonate windows have the capability to shed half that weight. The ability for the high-strength...

Subaru has teased an idea vehicle dubbed the VIZIV, before the 2013 Geneva Motor Show in March. Though the automaker says it’s a crossover, information about its size, powertrain, and place within the Subaru range are omitted. Does the VIZIV preview a better Tribeca or its three-row replacement Is it a small, sub-Forester model geared toward the Mini Countryman and Paceman, or is it simply a preview of Subaru’s future design language We’ll must wait a month to determine, but until then, we will speculate. Subaru says the VIZIV’s name is encouraged by the phrase “vision for innovation,” and that the subsequent-gen concept embodies the brand’s values of “enjoyment and peace of mind.” Unfortunately, that tells us nothing in regards to the upcoming concept. All we’re given to work with...

Call it a primary for Volkswagen: the 2014 Golf R Cabriolet you spot this is the primary time that the automaker has lopped the head off one in all its high-performance R models. However the results are impressive: the Golf R Cabriolet is actually a 261-hp, 155-mph GTI with a roof made up of cloth. The VW Golf R Cabriolet is strictly find it irresistible sounds — it’s a convertible version of the VW Golf R, that’s in turn a hopped-up version of the GTI hatchback. The Golf R Cabriolet uses the automaker’s 2.0-liter turbocharged I-4 (the EA113, for the VW fanatics at home) to provide 261 horsepower. Unlike the U.S.-market Golf R, however, the european-market Golf R Cabriolet sends all that power and torque to front wheels through an average...

The growing commercial vehicle segment will see another contender in April when the 2013 Nissan NV200 arrives in showrooms with a base price of $20,835 (including destination). Nissan released all of the details on its newest commercial van on the 2013 Chicago auto show. The 2013 NV200 is cheaper and lots smaller than the Titan-based NV2500 and NV3500 commercial vans that entered the U.S. market over a year ago. Nissan says the smaller van will delay to 122.7 cubic feet of cargo, and a low floor height of just 19.5 inches should make it relatively easy to load and unload the products. The sole powertrain is a 2.0-liter, naturally aspirated I-4 rated at 131 hp and 139 lb-ft of torque; Power is shipped to front wheels via Nissan’s latest continuously...