Small crossovers are all the rage in Europe, so it’s not exactly too surprising to learn that Ford may be readying such a vehicle, based largely upon the mechanicals of its (new to the U.S.) Fiesta.

The folks at Motor Trend recently managed to snap photos of a development mule undergoing testing. Although the modified Fiesta body is not indicative of the finished product, it does give some insight into what’s up Ford’s sleeves. It’s readily apparent that the suspension has been raised and larger wheels fitted, and the weights bolted to the top of the hatch will likely help replicate a taller roofline.

This isn’t the first time Ford’s crafted mini-SUVs from its global B-segment wonder. Currently, the fifth-generation Fiesta platform underpins the European Fusion crossover (not to be confused with the North American sedan), along with the Brazilian EcoSport model. Both vehicles are offered in both front- and all-wheel-drive forms; we wouldn’t be surprised if Ford is wrenching on a front-wheel-drive variant of the current platform.

Given the age of both the Fusion (eight years) and EcoSport (six years), Ford could be moving to replace both models, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the crossover spied here is destined only for Europe. Ford may have an easier time selling the extra cost and content tied to the sixth-generation crossover in Europe than in Brazil, where it continues to offer facelifted variants of the last car as an affordable alternative.

Source: Motor Trend

Small crossovers are all the rage in Europe, so it’s not exactly too surprising to learn that Ford may be readying such a vehicle, based largely upon the mechanicals of its (new to the U.S.) Fiesta.

The folks at Motor Trend recently managed to snap photos of a development mule undergoing testing. Although the modified Fiesta body is not indicative of the finished product, it does give some insight into what’s up Ford’s sleeves. It’s readily apparent that the suspension has been raised and larger wheels fitted, and the weights bolted to the top of the hatch will likely help replicate a taller roofline.

This isn’t the first time Ford’s crafted mini-SUVs from its global B-segment wonder. Currently, the fifth-generation Fiesta platform underpins the European Fusion crossover (not to be confused with the North American sedan), along with the Brazilian EcoSport model. Both vehicles are offered in both front- and all-wheel-drive forms; we wouldn’t be surprised if Ford is wrenching on a front-wheel-drive variant of the current platform.

Given the age of both the Fusion (eight years) and EcoSport (six years), Ford could be moving to replace both models, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the crossover spied here is destined only for Europe. Ford may have an easier time selling the extra cost and content tied to the sixth-generation crossover in Europe than in Brazil, where it continues to offer facelifted variants of the last car as an affordable alternative.

Source: Motor Trend

Hallelujah!  It’s been absent from dealer showrooms for more than a decade, but Toyota is supposedly ready to begin development on a fifth-generation Supra.

Toyota hasn’t offered a sports-derived vehicle since the 2007 MR-2, as it stopped selling the Celica in 2006, and the Supra has been absent from the automaker’s lineup since 1998. At last year’s Tokyo Motor Show, Toyota revealed the FT-86 sports coupe — a glimmer of hope, but the joint project with Subaru might be delayed until 2013, according to some reports.

But as of last Friday, Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda announced that he had given engineers the go-ahead to begin development of an all-new, fifth-generation Supra. And according to a recent statement, the development process for the proposed Supra successor might be faster than that of a normal project, and Toyoda acknowledged the project’s relative importance to the brand.

“Even if one president says that we want to have a Supra again, the whole company is not going to be responding to that request,” Toyoda said.

Reports suggest that the next Supra may indeed be ready to launch in the 2013 or 2014 model year, which corresponds to the timeline of the proposed FT-86 coupe. If the production Supra is anything like the FT-HS concept of 2007, it will employ a 3.5-liter V-6 coupled with an electric motor. The concept car was said to make 400 horsepower and accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds.

The Japanese automaker may be taking a slightly different route, if plans for a collaborative effort with Tesla push forward. Were Toyota to utilize Tesla’s drivetrain in its next-generation Supra, the finished product could deliver performance figures close to that of the Silicon Valley automaker’s roadster. Featuring several thousand lithium-ion cells, the Tesla Roadster’s electric motor produces 288 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, rocketing the car from 0 to 60 in just 3.7 seconds. Although Toyota announced today that two prototype SUVs will be fitted with Tesla battery powertrain, there’s still promise for an electrified supercar.

Would the Supra be successful with an electric powertrain? Let us know what you think in the comments section.

Source: Autocar, Motor Trend (1,2)