Those of us on this side of the pond in the market for a luxury crossover should be familiar with the gargantuan Audi Q7 and its little brother, the Q5. Overseas the German automaker also offers an even more compact Q3. Today on the floor of the Detroit Auto Show, Audi announced it will be bringing the Q3 to the North American market, and this is the show car with which they broke the news.

Called the Q3 Vail, what we have here is a concept version of the overseas-market crossover with some added off-road trim. Named for the Colorado ski resort, the Q3 Vail has lower body cladding similar to the treatment on Audi’s Allroad wagons, in matte grey to contrast with the glossy red paint job. The theme is further accented by aluminum underbody guard plates and extra lighting, with 20-inch wheels to round out the package. The red, black and grey color theme carries into the cabin, and there’s a 314-horsepower, 2.5-liter turbo five-cylinder powering all four wheels through a seven-speed automatic for an impressive 5.5-second sprint to 62 mph.

There’s more to digest in the press release after the jump, and both stock and live images in the dual galleries. But what interested customers need to know now is that Audi is targeting a U.S. market launch for the existing production Q3,which will continue to be built by Seat in Spain, sometime next year.

Continue reading Audi lifts veil on Q3 Vail concept, confirms production Q3 for North America

Audi lifts veil on Q3 Vail concept, confirms production Q3 for North America originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mazda’s current Nagare design language starts with smiling faces and moves back into wavy body panels. It’s hit and miss on the automaker’s existing lineup of cars. The Mazda Shinari Concept, which we previously saw in Milan and now makes its North American Debut here at the 2010 LA Auto Show, aims to change that.

The flowing lines are present, but they appear to be more organic, almost as if they were shaped by the wind itself flowing over the body of the car. The Shinari is the brainchild of Mazda’s Global Head of Design, Ikuo Maeda and it represents an entire new design philosophy known as KODO.

Described by Mazda with terms such as speed, tension and alluring, the KODO design language shows us a future filled with much more stoically aggressive vehicles. Gone is the O HAI THERE! happy face, and in it’s place is a visage that appears ready to tackle the road while the wind flows over the swoops, creases and curves.

Unfortunately, as you might expect, we will never see the Shinari enter production. However, if Mazda can glean some new designs from Maeda’s gorgeous styling exercise, then we could be in for some very good looking vehicles from the Japanese automaker.

Photos copyright (C)2010 Drew Phillips / AOL

LA 2010: Mazda Shinari Concept makes North American debut originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 18 Nov 2010 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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