This image has been circulating the French motoring sites, showing what could be the new Renaultsport version of the automaker’s new Megane which is set to debut next week at the Paris Motor Show. Although indications are that this is a Photoshop-manipulated image, it could give a fairly accurate preview of what the new hot hatch could look like.

Renault has gone to great lengths to differentiate the different body-styles in the Megane range, and the RS version would of course be based on the three-door hatch variant. The image shows a single exhaust exiting from the center of the rear diffuser, with jumbo 18-inch anthracite multi-spoke wheels and some extra aerodynamic body elements. We’ll all want to know what will reside under the hood, likely to be a derivation of the current model’s 2.0-liter four. The most recent evolution of the engine produces some 230 horsepower in the latest Megane R26.R track-hatch, but only time (and assuredly plenty of speculation) will tell how much power the first performance version of the Megane III will be putting down on European roads.

We have an idea of what the next Mazda3 will look like based on some trademark renderings that Mazda supplied the European Union Office of Harmonization for the Internal Market; basically what they amount to are patent drawings. Based on these very rough outlines, somebody named Pascal Boissé from Auto-Motive D&C has created a rendering that gives us a slightly better idea of what the new compact car will look like. The results are a bit mixed, with the fenders and greenhouse meeting our expectations, but that happy-go-lucky front end may be a bit off. Recent spy shots don’t show the snout protruding out quite that far. We may see character lines along the door’s bottom edge, leading up to the rear arches as the rendering clearly shows. What we know for sure is that Mazda has been getting more expressive with its styling, as the revised 6 and recent concepts prove. We’ll see the Mazda3 in person at the upcoming LA Auto Show and here’s hoping that it’s a bit more refined than the rendering above.

Starting today, Europeans will be able to order the Fiat 500 by DIESEL. Yes, we know the car’s already offered with a diesel, but we’re not referring to the MultiJet engine here. This is a two-year special run done in partnership with the Italian clothing company. This style exercise is supposed to transform the 500 into an ‘Urban Survival Vehicle.” Apparently, all that’s required for “urban survival” are some DIESEL logos, new trim on the bumpers and bodywork, exclusive wheels, three paint colors, and a dressed-up interior. 100-horsepower cars also get yellow brake calipers. Seeing as how 10,000 “by DIESEL” cars are planned, we have a feeling that the folks who really want one will find a way to get one. This isn’t exactly as limited as some other 500s we’ve seen lately. Thanks to A-rod for the heads-up.

Volkswagen’s high-performance plans for the new Golf will spawn three new models, beginning with the new 210 hp GTI set to debut in Paris and go on sale in the middle of 2009. According to Automotive News, the Mk. VI GTI will sprint to 60 in a tick above seven seconds and hit a top speed of around 150 mph.

A performance-oriented diesel Golf, dubbed the GTD, will hit the market in April, putting out around 170 hp from its common-rail diesel, while a range-topping R model, available through Volkswagen Individual, will be churn out 270 hp, send power to all four wheels and will be equipped with an aero package that includes a “black gleaming diffuser.” Sales of the R version will begin in November of 2009.

The first official images of the production Fiat 500 Abarth esseesse (SS) have made their way onto the Web and as suspected, it’s as racy as a hot hatch can get.

The esseesse is fitted with a full body kit consisting of a new front fascia, lower side skirts and a redesigned rear bumper housing a diffuser and pair of chrome exhaust tips, while 17-inch (?) wheels and a small spoiler round out the appearance package.

Inside, a set of bolstered buckets keep drivers planted in the bends and expect a revised IP, red trim and Abarth logos emblazoned into the dash. No engine specs have been released yet, but expect the turbocharged 1.4-liter to put around 160 hp through a six-speed manual before it reaches the front wheels through a Q2 Torsen C limited slip differential.

All the details will be revealed next week when we make the trek across the Atlantic to cover the Paris Motor Show. Stay tuned.

The other day I was sitting at a beachside bar where they had Fashion TV playing on flatscreens around the place and I couldn’t help notice that while some of the stuff looked great, the rest looked horrible. Looks like the same trend has applied itself to automotive design, as Italian fashion house Versace has forged a new relationship with another automaker. But while the Versace edition Lamborghini Murcielago looks cooler than air conditioning in Alaska, somehow this new Lancia Ypsilon doesn’t quite cut it.

That’s probably more Lancia’s fault than Versace’s, but the overall package, thorough though it is, leaves much to be desired. Created with Versace’s second brand Versus, the special edition Ypsilon is sprayed bronze, much like the customers likely to buy it. The Versus logo is applied all over the interior and exterior of the car, which features matching bronze chromework and rims. The Lancia Ypsilon Versus edition will be unveiled in concept form next week in Paris, and will be produced in a limited run of 500 examples starting in March next year. This isn’t the first designer edition Ypsilon, following the previous Momo edition, but Lancia’s going to need something better than a new paint job to extract itself from the bronze age. For our part, we’d sooner go for the Diesel edition Fiat 500.

Remember when the Volkswagen Golf was meant to be an economy car? Well those days may be long gone, if they weren’t already, as customers in Europe have demonstrated a willingness to shell out extra for luxury options even on less-than-premium automobiles. To cash in on that demand, European automakers have been scrambling to launch luxury option packages, complete with leather and all the trimmings, like Volkswagen has done with the first special edition of the new sixth-generation Golf.

Called, quite simply, the Collectors Edition, the exclusive new Golf tops the range of trim levels. The exterior is sprayed in an especially dark shade of blue which Volkswagen calls “Moonlight blue pearl effect” with matching grille. The 18-inch “Vancouver” wheels have been given a special high-gloss finish. But it’s the interior that has been given the really special treatment, swathed in “Iowa” natural leather with piano-lacquer dash inserts and aluminum kick-plates. The special edition, supervised specifically by design chief Walter de Silva – whose initials adorn the vehicle – is being launched in its German market specification; we wouldn’t expect it to make it to the US market any time soon

The Tata Nano, which will be the world’s least expensive car, has already exacted enormous sums of money and time. A dispute over the location of a new factory has cost Tata close to a year of court wrangling and might end up spoiling a £200 million investment. Now the efforts to build the Nano have cost a life.

Unhappy workers were invited to a meeting with Indian and Italian executives of Cerlikon-Graziano Transmissions, which makes auto parts, to discuss reinstatement. Only a few workers were in the meeting, but more than a hundred were waiting outside. When those outside heard someone inside call for help, they rushed in, and in a mob fog anger, bludgeoned the company’s operations head, Lalit Kishore Choudhary, to death.

It was later reported that some of the folks involved in the melee weren’t even employees of the company. What Tata will need to urgently figure out is where it needs to go — inside or outside of India — to build the Nano without backlash. In the mean time, our condolences go to the Choudhary family. Thanks to all who tipped in.

Recent snooping at the EU patent office yielded an application revealing the 2010 Renault Megane 3-door Coupe. The images (most likely shot of a clay model) show a much tamer production version when compared to the Renault Megan Coupe concept shown at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year. Sleeker than the 5-door Megane shots leaked a couple weeks ago, the coupe’s C-pillar differs most noticeably as the window glass sweeps to a clean point as it meets the rear hatch. The best guess is that the coupe will see a range of engines from 1.4-liters up to 2.0-liters rated between 100 and 160 hp, depending on the model. Look for it on sale next year, but sadly not on our shores.

Kia’s will have at least two new tricks at the Paris Motor Show, one of them being the Kia Soul. The other will be a Kia cee’d gas-electric hybrid. Already available in coupe, 5-door hatch, and sportwagon variants, a hybrid addition based on the five-door would be a perfect addition to the line. So far, the only details we have is that the c’ee hybrid isn’t planned for sale until 2010, when it will join a train of new hybrids from other makers. Kia apparently decided that is when they’ll be able to sell enough of them to make a profit. But we will get the complete scoop on it at next week’s Paris Motor Show, so you won’t have to wait that long.