The LA Auto Show is still a couple months away, but images of vehicles set to be unveiled in the land of fruits and nuts are already leaking onto the web. GM’s Chilean website had the above photo of the production Saab 9-4X available for all to see earlier today, so now we know the production model looks almost identical to the 9-4X Biopower concept from last year’s Detroit Auto Show. We’d be interested to see if the concept’s integrated tail pipes and large front/side air dams make it to production but, judging from spy photos we’ve seen, probably not. The 9-4X will be built on the same platform as the upcoming front- or all-wheel-drive Cadillac SRX, which will also be unveiled this auto show season.

We don’t have many details on the 9-4X just yet, but it will have a turbocharged 2.0L engine with 245 hp and 265 lb-ft mated to a six-speed automatic. The concept also ran on ethanol, which is also likely for the production vehicle considering that two thirds of all vehicles in Sweden are of the flex fuel variety. Other engine choices could include GM’s 3.6L V6, which is likely to be found under hood of the SRX at launch, and an upcoming 250-hp 2.9L diesel. Either way, European customers will likely have an engine lineup twice as large as what we’ll be offered in the U.S.

If you want an SUV that looks like what a really cool Saab 9-4 might potentially look like, but you want it to have a Mercedes model name and be from Korea, then you’re looking for the Ssangyong C200. Known outside the U.S. for its 4-wheel drives like the Ssangyong Musso, which means “double dragon rhinoceros”, the C200 is a four-wheel-drive, unibody CUV meant to grow Ssangyong’s product range. It is packaged with a 2.0-liter engine and a 6-speed transmission, claimed to put out low emissions and be EURO V emissions-approved. Depending on how many horses they can squeeze out, it could be a nice little ride for Ssangyong money. That’s all we know about it for the moment, but we’ll bring you the full story when it’s launched at the Paris Motor Show next month.

We’ve just gotten confirmation that Infiniti will equip its European FX series crossover with the 330 hp, 3.7-liter V6 (VQ37VHR) and it’s slated to make its world debut at the Paris Motor Show next month.

Infiniti has decided to only offer the 3.7-liter V6 on its range of vehicles abroad, and there are no plans to bring the FX37 Stateside.

Infiniti’s crossover will be available in both FX37 GT and FX37S versions, with 0-60 times in the 6.8-second range and a top speed of 145 mph. Standard equipment includes 20-inch alloys, Scratch Shield paint, all-wheel-drive, xenon headlamps and a seven-speed automatic gearbox controlled via steering wheel-mounted paddles. The FX37S comes equipped with 21-inch wheels, sports seats and Continuous Damping Control.

Mark Fields, Ford’s president of the Americas, has confirmed that the Lincoln MKT crossover is due to be reveal this January at the Detroit Auto Show, while a refreshed MKZ will be unveiled at the Los Angeles Show in November.

We already knew the Ford Flex-based CUV was headed to Detroit, with power provided by either a 3.7-liter or a 3.5-liter Ecoboost V6. Both six- and seven-passenger seating arrangements will be offered, along with Blind Spot Monitoring and a Cross Traffic Alert system which utilizes two sonar modules to notify drivers that a vehicle has moved into their blind spot by shining a light on the corresponding outside mirror. Sales are expected to begin later in 2009 and Ford is insistent that the MKT won’t share any body panels with its platform sibling.

The facelifted MKZ sedan will sport the new split-wing grille originally found on the MKR concept. New taillights are also rumored to be part of the package and sales should begin later this year or early in 2009.

The LR2 gives Land Rover a semi-affordable entry model that is much more fuel efficient than the rest of the luxury SUV-maker’s lineup. To help keep LR2 sales strong in a car market that is increasingly tougher for crossovers and SUVs, Land Rover is reportedly looking at adding a third row of seats by 2010. So the question is, how does Land Rover differentiate the seven-seat LR2 from the five-seater? Sometimes an automaker will just increase the number in the model’s name by one, but that apparently doesn’t work well with the luxury automaker’s brilliantly simple naming convention.

One idea is to shuffle names around to differentiate the two LR2 models. The seven-seat LR2 could be called the LR3, while the current LR3, a different model entirely, would then get bumped up to LR4 status. We understand there aren’t many options for Land Rover, but shuffling around model names with which customers are already familiar seems extreme. Why not make the seven-seat model the LR2 L or LR2 XL or LR2 ES? There is, after all, already an LR2 HSE.

Subaru debuted its new 2.0L diesel boxer engine earlier this year in the Legacy and Outback, and soon it will also be offered in the Forester and Impreza, though only in Europe. These two latest models to feature the unique horizontally opposed oil-burning engines will debut at the Paris Motor Show next month. The Forester 2.0D will offer 147 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque while returning 44.8 combined mpg in the European cycle, which is class-leading for a small CUV over there, while the Impreza 2.0D offers 148 hp and 258 lb-ft (fuel economy for the Impreza 2.0D was not released for some reason). The diesel Forester will hit showrooms later this month while Euro shoppers will have to wait until January for the diesel Impreza. While we certainly hope Subaru is tweaking its 2.0L diesel boxer engine to meet emissions standards in all 50 U.S. states, we haven’t heard one word about it.

Citroen looks content to carry on in its quirky ways with its latest concept, the Hypnos hybrid utility vehicle. Residing squarely in the same vein as new coupe-like crossovers like the BMW X6 and Infiniti FX models, the French machine goes that extra step towards the crazy house. From the renderings in our gallery below, the front doors appear so long and exagerated that the rear portals bottom-half is taken up entirely by the wheel wells. Things get even stranger from there with jewel-like seats and a DNA-style double-helix center section adorning the interior.

Under the hood will be a hybrid powertrain with an engine producing 200-horsepower plus an undetermined amount of force from the electric half of the drivetrain. This 50-mpg powertrain is one part of the concept that we hope is based in reality. Fortunately, we’re pretty sure that these renderings are just conceptual while the real vehicle will debut in concept form at the upcoming Paris Motor Show in October.

We’ve observed lots the first part of pictures of the following Kia Soul, but clearly a few in any of the to be had creation colors. No longer. Kia-World has try to snag how looks like it’s to be particular leaked official shots of the coming mini ‘ute in all its creation hues. We bet there is a decent probability too the Soul plans to fill a boxy void left when the last-gen Scion xB was lost as Toyota’s entry-level type headed upmarket. Take a gander at the gallery underneath as Kia bares its Soul in Green Tea Latte, Cocktail Orange, Java Brown, Tomato Red, Moonlight Blue, Black Soul, and Clear White. Also available, even though not lawfully confirmed as of yet, could be Blue Stone, Titanium Silver, Vanilla Shake and Bright Silver. That’s a lot of choices, that is a fantastic happening as of consumers in the segment historically desire to individualize such a whips. The creation perfect will debut at the Paris Motor Show in October and go on sell in the U.S. then April in all of its technicolor glory.

The 2009 Dodge Journey carries the size and condition of a common crossover, and it has seating for seven and all the luxuries you am able to probably ask for at $30,000. On paper, the Journey has a heaps of Times in its favor, yet we had our doubts.

First off, it appears a lot as if the Dodge Caravan, that operates against the Journey when getting ready to so most crossover homeowners would like to prevent the minivan stigma. It’s as well centered on the dwindled as opposed to amazing Chrysler Sebring platform, that we own discovered to be merely awful. Then there is Chrysler’s corporate 3.5L engine, that is lessened powerful, refined and compact as opposed to similarly sized engines from what i read in its competition. Chrysler’s the latest track peak for vehicles overly are ebbed as opposed to course competitory as well lent substantiation to our idea this the Journey should be a letdown. Regardless, we tried to obvious our minds of these types of conditions when the Journey arrived for a week-long remain in the Autoblog Garage. Hit the jump to see how Chrysler’s new crossover fared.