Sport Cars i8 Concept

OVERVIEW
Nissan's compact SUV, the X-TRAIL, has been sold in Australia for some years now. With the recent migration to the T31 series of X-TRAIL, the importer was roundly questioned by local media as to whether there would be a diesel model coming to Australia.

Nissan, part of an 'alliance' with French parent company Renault, could draw upon the diesel expertise and existing resource to find a suitable powerplant for the SUV, but the problem lay not so much with finding the resource to make it all happen as much as ensuring the notoriously diesel-shy Australian market would accept such a vehicle.

The signs have been there, though. When European vehicle importers the likes of Peugeot and Volkswagen are selling a majority of their small passenger cars with diesel power, it's clear that there's a groundswell of opinion in favour of the oilers.

And if you can't sell diesel engines in SUVs, you might as well pack up and go home. Just ask Holden about that company's diesel Captiva, which now accounts for roughly 50 per cent of sales.

So we come to the X-TRAIL. While the company has high hopes for the diesel model, Nissan still regards this vehicle as a leap into the great unknown. In July, Suzuki sold 302 units of the Grand Vitara compact SUV, but Nissan reckons that typically, only about 50 units a month of the Suzuki model are diesels -- hardly the sort of sales performance to instill confidence in a competitor planning to enter the same market segment.

These are the first official photos of Honda's Paris Motor Show-bound, Fit / Jazz Hybrid. Until recently, it was not clear if the subcompact hybrid model would be launched in markets outside Japan. And while now we know that the hybrid model will make its way to Europe with sales starting in early 2011, Honda officials have yet to announce any plans to offer the car in North America.

The newest member of the Japanese firm's hybrid family employs the same 1.3-liter gasoline engine and a continuously-variable automatic transmission with an electric motor sandwiched between them as the Insight. We don't have output figures yet, but don't expect any significant differences over Honda's dedicated hybrid model.

To differentiate the hybrid version from the standard Jazz / Fit models, there is a new grille and front bumper design, while the head lamp and tail light crystals have been re-trimmed. The hybrid model also gets what appears to be a panoramic glass top plus an optional bespoke Lime Green metallic exterior color.

Along with the pictures of the European market model, we also have some leaked brochure shots of the JDM version which is scheduled to arrive in Japanese showrooms in October with prices rumored to begin at around 1.6 million yen, or about US$19,000 / €15,100 at the current exchange rates.