A Citroën commercial without robots or an NRJ radio station soundtrack? We might have thought it impossible, but here it is. Promoting the new C3 hatchbach and its zenith windscreen meant to give you all kinds of panoramic views, the kids take this car on a joyride unlike any you're likely to see outside of a Top Gear episode.

Follow the jump for more information on the C3 and to see the swingin' commercial along with a special "making of" video.

[Source: Citroën via YouTube]

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ATT-TEC has been busy this end of the year, and here they are presenting yet another softly tuned German car, this time an E Class sedan. Called "a car of extra class – no doubt!" and "flawless everywhere," it wears a comprehensive aero kit and 20-inch wheels. Intriguingly, it also sports a round void where the grille emblem once lived, and a matching void in the vents aft the front wheels.

ATT didn't mention the engine at all, so we figure they left it alone. The remaining mods will run you €10,321 ($14,757 U.S.). A press release after the jump will tell you about a car that could be ticketed for "stiring [sic] the blood of every real man," and there's the gallery of high-res photos below to get you even more worked up.



[Source: ATT-TEC]

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Infiniti has turned over its cards and revealed pricing for two of its 2010 G37 models, and there is barely a bump in MSRP for the base models: the sedan's price remains the same at $33,250, while the coupe goes up by $150 to $36,050 – for which you get the revamped outside and upgraded materials and electronics inside.

As usual, traveling higher up the food chain requires more dosh, but it's interesting to see how much of a hit the more enthusiast-oriented models are taking. For the sedan, the Journey trim is upped by $750, the all-wheel drive model by $350, and the Sport 6MT surges by $2,750. The coupe increases by $850 for the Journey, $450 for the AWD, and a whopping $3,400 has been tacked onto the Sport 6MT. It isn't immediately clear why the 6MT models have been targeted for comparatively large increases in price (we're guessing it's a volume thing), but you can get more details on both models in the press release after the jump.

UPDATE: Just got word from Infiniti that the reason for the significant price increase on the 6MT model is the substantial amount of additional kit, including Bose stereo, power moonroof, iPod interface, heated front seats, power tilt/telescopic steering wheel, anti-glare mirror with Homelink and Bluetooth -- all standard.



[Source: Infiniti]

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Kia wants you to consider its 2010 Soul a template ripe for customization, and if you can't think of funky things to do with it, Kia will be glad to help you. This is the Kia Ignition Soul – the second special edition after the 1,200 Denim Souls released earlier this year – in "scorching" Ignition Orange, with offset black striping and blacked-out 18-inch rims, an alloy gas cap, and a rear spoiler.

It starts at $17,500 for the manual, making it $200 more than the Denim. But you won't complain about equipment: upgraded stereo, moon roof, keyless remote entry, tinted windows, cruise control, Bluetooth, and then some. Kia hasn't indicated yet if the Ignition Soul will be limited in number like the Denim was. You can get all the details in the press release after the jump, and check out all that orangeness in the high-res gallery below.



[Source: Kia]

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Ford's victory with Sync isn't contestable – the connectivity system has a 70-percent uptake rate, and 32 percent of people list it as one of the reasons they bought a Ford. Over one million Sync-equipped vehicles have been sold in three years. The Blue Oval's exclusive deal with Microsoft ended last year and other Microsoft-powered in-car competitors will be arriving soon, so Ford has been busy working on new elements that it hopes will keep Sync in front of the challengers.

Ford has updated Sync a couple of times this year with things like traffic and directions, and a contacts download app. According to The Detroit News, the next big update is scheduled to be announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next month. Ford isn't giving away details, but it's called "mobile apps," and it will enable Sync functionality with any app on a cellphone or personal music player. That would likely mean Pandora on-the-go and Twitter out loud.

It could also mean a price: rumors suggest that Ford will be charging for the upgrade, and that it will come on 2010 vehicles and be available to any previous Sync-fitted vehicle. Stay tuned for coverage from CES for more.

[Source: The Detroit News]

There are roughly 4,000 GM employees working at the company's Renaissance Center headquarters in Detroit. During the restructuring, GM has been working out how many employees to let go and where to put the remainder, and that, for the state of Michigan, meant another few thousand workers unemployed.

To lessen the damage, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority (MEGA) has been in talks with GM to limit the number of retrenched employees. The General had committed to maintaining a workforce of 2,500 at the RenCen in exchange for a $50 million tax break over twenty years, but the number was recently reduced to 2,000. GM simply needs to do all it can to get itself back in contention.

The company will still receive the tax break and talks are continuing, yet while there aren't many details it's an intriguing deal to strike. This could be cynical of us, but GM has white-collar workers in numerous locations in Michigan, and we wonder if the company wouldn't simply shuffle people around to keep the required number at the RenCen but get rid of all the employees it feels it needs to. And when the company gets its new CEO, well, as we've seen before, he or she might plot a very different course than the one being charted now.

[Source: Detroit News | Image: Bill Pugliano/Getty]

Slavche Tanevski had a project to complete at the Munich University of Applied Sciences, and the result is the stacked, vented, and char-blackened concept you see above. In keeping with Lamborghini nomenclature, an Ankonian is a kind of bull, and if you took a Lamborghini Reventon and asked the question, "Does it blend?", the Ankonian concept is what you might pour out of your glassware.

It doesn't have any hypothetical specs, nor, we suppose, does it really need them. The car is long, low, and narrow, and darkly hostile enough to go as quickly or as slowly as it wishes. What it does have is flames that shoot out of the exhaust, and frankly, that's enough for us. You can have various looks at it in the gallery of high-res photos below, but please, don't make it angry. You wouldn't like it when it's angry.



[Source: CarDesign.ru (translated)]

Interim Opel CEO Nick Reilly has been overseeing the German firm for all of six weeks. And over that scant month and a half, he's conjured the way forward for Opel and Vauxhall and seems determined to leave nothing undone. Chatting with Auto Motor und Sport, Reilly intends to give Opel a little SUV on the Corsa platform, an Opel version of the Mini, a continuation of the Agila and an all-new electric car.

Opel would also be greater master of its own fate: Opel's tie with Suzuki will continue even with VW's recent move, but other Opels like the next Corsa would be developed in Germany. Such a vision, along with his already avowed hybrid push, would keep Opel exceedingly busy over the next five years. If his plans are achieved, it could put them in a very good spot come 2013. But there's a long way to go before all of that happens -- in the short-term GM first has to sort out the funds to keep the company running properly at all.

[Source: Autocar | Image: Thomas Lohnes/Getty]

In the beginning, there was a yellow Yugo GV. And when the folks at Vprache Racing cast their eyes over it, they thought it was missing something. So they gave it an 3.5-liter BMW inline six-cylinder transplant and added a turbo besides. And an intercooler mounted on the grille. And a high-rise lift job. Then they took it hooning. And that was the end of the first day.

When that wasn't enough, they added another turbo and fashioned arches to cover the exposed rubber. And then they took it drag racing. And that was the end of the second day. You can check out videos of the car in both iterations after the jump. It's fast. And in a yellow Yugo, you'd want to be.

[Sources: Tampa Sports Car Examiner; YouTube]

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Pricing for the 2011 Kia Sorento has popped up unannounced on the automaker's consumer website, and as it turns out, you can drive a base model off the lot with money to spare for a Subway footlong – minus taxes and all that. At $19,995 for the starter model (*plus $795 in destination charges), you'll get a five-seat unibody crossover with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder and a manual transmission standard. That engine puts out 175 horsepower and 169 pound-feet of torque and is also standard fitment for the uplevel LX and EX models, but the latter two get automatic transmissions.

The top tier model is the EX V6, with a 3.5-liter V6 proffering 276 hp and 248 ft-lb. All of the variants except the base also come in either front-drive or all-wheel drive variants, and there is also a seven-seat version. By the time you get to the grips-at-all-fours EX V6, you're looking at $28,895.

The Sorento is meant to "significantly increase [Kia's] share of the utility vehicle market," and with pricing like that, a good ride and healthy tech specs, it's got a good shot.



Gallery photos by Jeremy Korzeniewski/ Copyright ©2009 Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Kia]