Audi A1 Sportback gets the Tuning Treatment from ABT Sportsline

After the three-door Audi A1, it's time for ABT Sportsline to show some tuning love to the five-door Sportback variant of Ingolstadt's premium supermini.
The German tuner offers a complete mix of cosmetic and performance enhancements, including a lite styling package as seen on the model in these pictures and which includes vents on the front fenders, side skirt décor parts, chrome tailpipes and a choice of 17- and 18-inch alloy wheels.
There are more parts available such as front lips, rear skirt inserts, a larger spoiler, and even a selection of wraps aptly named 'Aloha', 'Klecks' and 'High-voltage'.
Power upgrades include performance kits for the 1.4-liter TFSI, boosting the 120hp (122PS) version to 158hp (160PS), and the 182hp (185PS) model to 207hp (210PS) for a top speed close to 240km/h (149mph) and a 0-100km/h (62mph) sprint time of 6.6 seconds.

Peugeot Releases a Handful of New Photos of 301 Compact Sedan

Looking at the (evidently photoshoped) image posted above, you would be inclined to believe that Peugeot is marketing some sort of crossover model, which wouldn't hold true as the car you see here is nothing more than the French firm's mainstream 301 compact saloon.
Then why go into all that trouble to paste the 301 on a gravel path? Well, the answer to this question is Peugeot wants to convey the message that its new sedan is built tough and can handle the roughest of roads.

"From the start of the project, when the specification for the car was being drawn up, Peugeot’s engineers went out on long driving missions to build up mileage on the different sorts of roads that would be taken by the future 301 customers," says Peugeot.

"Roads with poor surfaces, hot climates, cold climates, humid climates… all of the possible situations have been tested and sometimes even with a customer at the wheel. In total, many tens of thousands of kilometres have been run in several continents," the French carmaker added.

Official: Volkswagen Presents Redesigned Gol Hatchback and Gol Voyage Sedan

While Volkswagen's European division is gearing up for the all-important world premiere of the brand-new Golf Mk7 at the Paris Motor Show, half way around the globe, the company's South American arm lifted the covers of the redesigned Gol hatchback and its sedan sibling named Voyage.
The Gol, which is the Portuguese and Spanish word for 'goal', is the best-selling car in South America since the mid-1980s, with more than 5 million units produced and sold in Brazil alone.

The mid-life facelift for both body styles brings Volkswagen's corporate face as seen on the latest Polo, Jetta and Passat models with a new grille, bumper and headlamp designs. At the back, there are new tail lamps and a restyled tail gate for the hatchback.

Changes inside are limited to the lighting and trim décor on the dashboard such as the chrome rings on the vents, the controls with improved feel and ergonomics plus upgrades to the car's equipment features.

Suzuki Freshens Up Japanese Market Grand Vitara for the 2013MY

Along with the Toyota RAV4, the Suzuki Grand Vitara is one of the oldest mainstream models in the compact SUV segment having been in production in its current form since 2005.
In order to keep customer interest high, Suzuki has launched a new model year version of the domestic market Grand Vitara, which is called Escudo in Japan.
On the outside, the subtle facelift brings a newly designed front grille with twin-bars in the shape of wings, a tweaked bumper that gains black trim, black headlamp bezels and new alloy wheel styles, while Suzuki also discarded the spare rear wheel on the tailgate and moved the license plate holder.
The only changes to the interior are the new materials and colors for the seats and door panels.
There's also a new special edition model named "X-Adventure" that comes in a bespoke 'Bison Brown Pearl Metallic' finish, 18-inch wheels, a chrome front grille, privacy glass, a rear spoiler, additional standard equipment such as the sunroof and a suede interior with red accents on the seats, steering wheel and gear shifter.
Suzuki did not say if these changes will be applied on the Grand Vitara sold in markets outside of Japan.

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Volkswagen Announces New California Special Edition

At next month's Caravan Salon in the German city of Düsseldorf, Volkswagen will debut a new special edition version of its California camper van with the retractable canvas top inspired by the Multivan Edition25.
The cosmetic flourishes include a matte black finish for select trim pieces such as the new stripes on the doors, the lower part of the front bumper, the grille, the door handles and the roof, plus black headlamp bezels, and new alloy wheels.
Inside, the furniture for the stove, sink, and storage space is finished in white, while among other new additions is a sleeping pad.

New Mitsubishi Proudia and Dignity Luxury Sedans Are…Proud Doppelgangers of the Infiniti M

After many years of absence from the luxury car segment, Mitsubishi is going to give it another try with the revival of the Proudia and Dignity nameplates for the Japanese market.
In a strange turn of fate, whereas the original Proudia and Dignity from the late 1990s - early 2000s were designed by Mitsubishi and co-manufactured with Hyundai, which marketed its own versions as the rebadged Centennial and Equus (not to be confused with the current Equus), Mitsubishi is now the one to rebrand the two models.
To explain, the Proudia and the more luxurious, long wheelbase Dignity are the products of an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) deal with the Nissan Group and are based on the Infiniti M and the China-market Infiniti M35hL LWB (sold as the new Nissan Cima in Japan) respectively.
Mitsubishi tells us that the Proudia moniker is coined from the English words "Proud" and "Diamond" (referring to the company's logo), while the Dignity took its name from "the English word that describes the peerless grandeur and majestic stateliness of the model".
Mitsubishi's contributions to the Proudia and Dignity are limited to the waterfall front grille, the re-sculptured front bumper and the addition of badges.
The Proudia is offered with a choice of two engines, a 3.7-liter V6 delivering 328hp (333PS) in RWD or AWD versions and a 2.5-liter V6 with 222hp (225PS) exclusively with RWD.