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Hyundai has been responsible for some pretty cute little vehicles. The renderings of this one — a concept known as the ix-Metro — were just recently made available not to long ago, and the actual concept got its unveiling at the IAA that took place in Frankfurt.

Namyang, Korea’s Global Design Team has created a whole series of new concept cars, of which this is the fifth. It is designed as a showcase vehicle for the “Blue Drive” eco initiative Hyundai is pushing.

The ix-Metro is a CUV — a sub-B segment hybrid electric one, to be exact. Hyundai promises that the concept will give out CO2 emissions that are only eighty grams per kilometer. The vehicle uses an petrol engine, an inline three cylinder, that displaces a mere liter.

Subaru has recently released the very first renderings of their new concept — the Subaru Hybrid Tourer concept, to be precise. It is set to be unveiled at the motor show in Tokyo next month, which will be the forty first year of the event.

The concept is a proposal for a grand touring vehicle. It is designed to integrate three important factors: safety, driving performance, and eco friendliness.

On the outside, the vehicle is said to be inspired by actual wings, in order to evoke a sense of freedom and a sense of confidence. The design is an aerodynamic one, emphasized by the vehicle’s gullwing doows and its areas of open glass.

Inside, the vehicle can seat up to four passengers and manages to feel quite open. The dashboard, for instance, can be moved either up or down, so the driving environment is optimized.

The Environmental Protection Agency or EPA gave the new Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan Hybrids a fuel rating of 36 mpg on the highway and an excellent 41 mpg on the city.

The figures make these Ford sedans the best of its class in terms of fuel economy. Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan hybrids best the hybrid variant of the Toyota Camry by a convincing 2 mpg on city highway driving and 8 mpg while cruising on city streets. According to company officials, the cars also edged the Honda Civic hybrid by 1 mpg on city driving.

The ratings were disclosed after the December testing of the vehicles in its grounds in Allen Park, Michigan.

The new hybrid cars from Ford can go as fast as 47 mph utilizing its pure electric power. It can travel as far as 700 miles if it will use up a single load of its gas tank.

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2006 was a good year for the Ford Fusion family sedan, bagging several awards for quality and beating the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry in the reliability index released by Consumer Reports. However, the Ford Fusion has yet to win the North American Car of the Year award, because it was previously given to the Saturn Aura in the same year that Ford launched the Fusion. Ford also needs to revamp Fusion if they want to be a worthy player in the market for mid-size sedan vehicles.

In 2009, the Ford Fusion is due to have its mid-term facelift, after which it will be re-launched into the market as a 2010 model. J.D. Shanahan, the one in charge of model production, knows that it’s going to take more than just minor sheet metal changes and hardware upgrades if Ford wants Fusion to get back on top of the game. Shanahan says that even though Fusion beat Accord and Camry in 2006, they stilll have a lot of model upgrading and redesigning to do because Toyota and Honda will also be coming out with mid-term updates on their own models.

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