SPIED: Subaru BRZ Coupe Shows its Face

Upon viewing these pictures of the Subaru BRZ prototype we can hear some of you shouting, "just come out with it already", and we couldn't agree more. The same can be said about for the BRZ's twin sisters, the much-teased global Toyota FT-86 and the North American Scion FR-S.

Anyway, if the current buzz is to be believed, then we should catch our first glimpse of the BRZ in concept form at the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show in mid-November with the final production model to make its world premiere alongside the FT-86 at the Tokyo Motor Show in December.

If you're having a hard time figuring out the differences between the swirly covered BRZ test car and the FT-86 prototypes, that's because the two models will be almost identical minus some extremely subtle cosmetic differences.

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Japanese Carmakers' Production Back on Track, But it May not be Enough

For the first time after the March 11 earthquake and Tsunami, Japanese automakers have returned to their normal production levels. In fact, they are superseding last year’s numbers in an effort to make up for the lost time.

Toyota and Nissan, Japan’s two biggest car manufacturers are leading the pack, reporting increased production for the first time since March, with Mazda, Suzuki, Honda, Subaru and Mitsubishi following their lead.

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Subaru Doesn't Want Toyota's Help on Hybrid Tech, will Develop its Own System

When Toyota acquired an 8.7% stake in Fuji Heavy Industries [FHI] from GM in 2005, everyone expected that FHI-owned Subaru would not only benefit from Toyota’s experience and economies of scale, but also utilize its new partner’s expertise on hybrid propulsion systems.

This, however, does not seem to be the case as sources within Subaru have revealed that the company has decided to develop its own system and not adapt Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive to work with its boxer engines.

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Land Rover Scores 54% of the Vote in MSN Cars’ Poll of Best 4x4 Brands

In a recent online poll, MSN Cars asked its readers a simple question: “Which firm makes the best '4x4' type cars?” The winner, with an astonishing 54% of the 39,663 votes is Indian British automaker Land Rover.

The brand’s winning combination of aggressive yet attractive styling, “go anywhere” off-road ability, ruggedness and comfort have made Land Rover the powerhouse brand it is today – and a deserved winner. Land Rover UK managing director Colin Green is understandably over the moon:

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Subaru BRZ Concept Rumored to Debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show

If we are to believe to a new report from Car&Driver - and we have no reason not to, Subaru will finally lift the veil off a concept version of the BRZ sports coupe with actual sheetmetal at the upcoming 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show in mid-November.

And unlike the BRZ's sister model from Toyota, Subaru won't be showing another concept as both the BRZ and FT-86 (we're still not sure about the name), will be making their world premiere in final production trim at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show in December.

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Good News Everyone: Subaru's See-Through BRZ Concept gets a Lime Tint…

If you were expecting Subaru to shed some light on its upcoming rear-wheel drive coupe with its BRZ Prologue concept, get ready to be disappointed.

The study shown in Frankfurt is the same clear-bodied display model we saw at the Geneva Salon this past March with the only difference being in the different tint on the plastic body.

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IAA 2011: Subaru Launches Impreza-Based XV Crossover

Subaru lifted the wraps off its new competitor in the small crossover segment at this week's Frankfurt Motor Show. The Japanese firm's Nissan Qashqai rival is based on the Impreza, but comes with a different body style and a jacked up suspension that provides close to 220mm or more than 8.5 inches of ground clearance.

The compact sized model measures 4,450mm in length, 1,780mm in width and 1,570mm in height and will launch in Europe with a choice of three boxer engines, including 1.6-liter and 2.0-liter gasoline units, and a 2.0-liter turbo diesel.

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