Right after the Soul’s world debut in Paris, Kia released a mega image gallery of its funky proposal in the subcompact segment that will be arriving on international markets early next year. In Europe the Soul will be offered with a 1.6L gasoline and a 1.6L turbo diesel, while in the U.S. the Soul will only be available with a 2.0L gasoline engine. Hit the jump for the photo gallery that includes pictures of the Soul customized with various accessories and decals that Kia has readied for its new model with which it hopes to attract a younger audience to the brand. Continued

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Citroen is to launch a new micro-hybrid system on the just revealed C3 Picasso. The system was previewed on the pearlescent white and orange C3 Picasso study at the Paris motorshow and will be offered in European in 2010, nearly a year after the launch of the vehicle. When the French say micro-hybrid system, what they actually mean is a new-generation Stop & Start system with a combined alternator-starter unit that allows the recovery of energy during braking and deceleration to recharge the vehicle’s battery without consuming fuel. Citroen claims that with this fairly simple system that will be available on both petrol and diesel models, the C3 Picasso can achieve a fuel economy of 4.0 lt/100km (58.3 mpg US or 70mpg UK) on the combined cycle as well as low CO2 emissions of just 110g/km. Continued

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Measuring in at just 3 meters in length, the Nuvu is Nissan’s vision of a future minicar powered by a zero-emissions electric drivetrain. The funky looking concept car with the 2+1 seating arrangement is more than a styling exercise though as according to Nissan officials it’s a fully working mobile test bed for much of the tech that will be used on Nissan’s forthcoming Electric-Vehicle that will be launched in 2010. Just to make it clear, the Nuvu is not that car. The concept is equipped with a rear mounted electric motor that drives the rear wheels offering the stubby minicar a driving range of 125 km or 77miles and top speed of 120 km/h or 75mph. The electric motor is powered from a set of laminated lithium-ion-type batteries mounted under the seats.

Unlike a conventional lithium-ion battery with bulky cylindrical cells, the laminated Li-Ion battery as used in Nuvu has thin laminated cells and fewer components overall. Nissan says that this boosts its power by a factor of 1.5 at the same time as halving its physical size. It also remains twice as efficient as a conventional cylindrical Li-Ion battery even after five years or 100,000 km of continuous usage.

The Japanese automaker supports that a quick charge from empty to full should take between 10 to 20 minutes while a full charge should take between three to four hours from a domestic 220V socket. Continued

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The best description we could think of for Renault’s Paris Show Z.E. concept car is a Kangoo of the not-so distant future. And truly enough, the Z.E., which by the way stands for Zero Emissions, is indeed based on the new Kangoo Be-Bop that also made its world premiere at the Paris Motor Show. The concept study utilizes the Renault-Nissan Group’s new electric drivetrain that will be massed produced in the beginning of the next decade.  More specifically, the Z.E. is equipped with a 70kW (95hp) electric motor which delivers torque of 226Nm with energy being provided by a latest generation set of lithium-ion type batteries.

Other notable features on the Z.E. Concept is include the use of heat-reflective paint and insulating bodywork that limits variations in temperature between the exterior and the interior of the car and the roof top solar panels that power a temperature regulation system. Continued

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Unless you have some twisted automotive fetish for vehicles like the Rodius and Actyon, the C200 Concept study that made its world premiere at the Paris Salon is by far the best looking product in SsangYong’s current line-up. Even though we do detect a hint… of Kia Forte (see here) in the C200’s fascia, overall not a bad attempt from the Chinese owned Korean automaker. The production version of the C200 which should arrive in the market in late 2009 will be virtually unchanged from the concept. Notably, the C200 is the first SsangYong to feature a monocoque construction as existing SsangYong models sold in Europe feature separate body/chassis construction. Although this platform can also be used with a front-wheel drivetrain, the C200 employs SsangYong’s full-time four-wheel-drive system. Power is provided by a new 175HP 2.0-liter turbo diesel engine that’s mated to a latest generation 6-speed manual gearbox.

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Attempting to reach out to customers that like to really stand out from the crowd, Ford performed the debut of three special factory-fitted packs called Digital, Tatoo and Grand Prix for its all-new Ka minicar at the Paris motorshow. The most vibrant package of them all is without doubt the ‘Digital’ that uses a high-contrast green as the base color for the interior and exterior of the car.

If you’re looking to add o sportier touch there’s the Grand Prix theme with a chequered flag motif based on either a red or white exterior colour scheme while the less funky Tatoo package adds tribal-style tattoo designs (with a heart in the center…) on various parts of the outer body as wells as in the interior. Ford said that all three option packs are available only on the standard Zetec trim and that prices will be announced closer to the Ka’s official launch date. Read more about the new 2009 Ka by clicking here. Continued

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Who needs a complicated and apparently expensive, hybrid drivetrain when you can achieve an average fuel consumption of 7.6 lt/100 km (31 mpg US) in a fully equipped large saloon like the S-Class simply by using a diesel engine and a few supplementary measures? Even Merc’s own S400 Hybrid isn’t that good sipping an average of 7.9 liters of petrol for every 100 km (29.8 mpg US). And even if the S320 CDi is a tad slower than the S400 Hybrid completing the 0 to 100 km/h (62mph) sprint in 7.8 sec instead of 7.2 sec (top speed for both models is 250 km/h), the difference is insignificant for your typical S-Class owner that that will most likely use the vehicle as a highway cruiser and not a highway racer

The latest variant of Merc’s luxury saloon, which is due to take over from the S 320 CDI from the end of this year, is equipped with the same V6 turbo diesel powerplant as before delivering an output of 235 HP and 540 Nm. But thanks to the BluEFFICIENCY package that includes on-demand power steering, a 7G-TRONIC seven-speed automatic transmission with standstill decoupling, as well as 17-inch light-alloy wheels shod with reduced rolling resistance tires, the German automaker has managed to reduce the standard S320 CDI’s average consumption by 0.2 lt /100 km.

Adding to its allure, pricing for the BlueEFFICIENCY S-Class model in Germany remains the same as the S320 CDI at €70,864.50 (incl. VAT) and at €78,718.50 for the long-wheelbase version. Continued

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