A couple weeks back, we told you that the unveiling of the production Mini Countryman may be delayed from the Detroit Auto Show in January to the Geneva Motor Show in March. The reasoning behind the move was reportedly due to the fact that Countryman production couldn’t begin at Magna International’s Austrian assembly plant until assembly of the BMW X3 was moved from the Magna plant to Bimmer’s facility in South Carolina.

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Images of the next generation Nissan Micra have plopped onto the interwebs, and they have brought with them a revelation we are a little ashamed to have come to so late. First, let us say that we really, really dig the Nissan Micra as it is. Sure, we delight most in its hardcore version, but even the gutless four-door variants have that design going for them: the Micra is wonderfully visually compelling. (more…)

We have liftoff on the next Lotus Esprit. Finally. Scuttlebutt at the beginning of the year suggested it was taking so long because Lotus was pondering some sort of hybrid system for the car. More recently the talk has turned to three specimens from Toyota’s book of engines, including the Lexus LFA’s V10, and the word “hybrid” disappeared. (more…)