#NYIAS Sure enough, the 2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid headlined Ford's press conference at the New York auto show. And sure enough, it is a Ford Fusion Hybrid with a toothy grille. It goes on understanding this fall. Lincoln says it will be cheaper than the Lexus HS 250h ($34K).

So that means the MKZ Hybrid has a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine running on the Atkinson cycle, a front-drive electric motor and a rear-mounted NiMH battery pack. Net horsepower is 191 and fuel economy will be 41 mpg in the city, says Lincoln, and presumably 36 mpg on the highway.

The key upgrade in the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid over the Fusion Hybrid is evident in the fuel economy display. Now, in addition to growing a vine of green leaves, you have the added challenge to scrimp your way to white apple blossoms. The flowers come into bloom when the car deems that your long-term fuel consumption is impressively frugal.

The other declaration at the Ford press conference came jointly from Alan Mullaly and, via satellite feed, Steve Ballmer of Microsoft. Once Ford starts building electric vehicles en masse, owners will be encouraged to use Microsoft Hohm to manage the recharging process via computer or the EV itself. It's thought that once a bunch of us are driving EVs, we'll rush home at the end of the day and plug them in, putting strain on the electrical grid.

Hohm will reportedly help you decide when to recharge your car, depending on grid load and your own schedule. It will also help prospective EV owners decide if their home has sufficiently robust wiring to accommodate EV recharging. Details are few at this point, but of course, Microsoft has a dedicated Hohm blog that you can monitor.

Not a bad combination, eh? And how did Infiniti pull such a feat of engineering and marketing genius? We're not entirely sure.

More power is just a matter of cranking up the 5.6-liter V8, while the economy comes from a lighter curb weight than the current model. And the price? Well, figure that Infiniti is well aware that the full-size luxury SUV segment isn't what it used to be, so holding the line on pricing is a good way to stay relevant.

And one more thing, Infiniti says this is more than just a face-lifted version of the Nissan Patrol that was revealed in the Middle East back in February. Ben Poore, vice president of Infiniti Business Unit, told Inside Line that the QX56 was set up specifically for the U.S. market. "This vehicle is more of a five-star luxury experience while the Patrol is really set up more for serious off-road duty," Poore said.

2010 New York Auto Show: 2011 Infiniti QX56

Mercedes-Benz announced today that its gullwing wonder, the SLS, will go on understanding in May of this year and will start at $183,000.

That's no small amount of money, but it's a whole lot cheaper than the phallic SLR it replaces. Let's see how that compares with some others in the class, as it were.

Mercedes-Benz SLS: $183,000
Audi R8 5.2 FSI: $150,200
Ferrari 458 Italia:$225,000
Lamborghini Gallardo:$208,000
Chevrolet Corvette ZR1:$107,830
Kia Soul Sport: $17,645
Aston Martin DB9: $179,450

Note: Some prices are for 2009 models. Some are for 2010 models. Either way, all of them are high.

Have a peep at the numbers we achieved in the SLS at our test track.

Let's get this day started off properly, shall we? How about a nice in-car run in a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR racer at the 24 Hours of Spa? Sound good? You bet it does.

It's a nice clean lap of the old Belgian circuit. Now, naturally, we would have gone flat through Eau Rouge*, but we suppose not everyone has the intestinal fortitude for such endeavors.

There, now your automotive palate is cleansed for a full day of New York Auto Show coverage. Carry on.

* This would take place mere milliseconds before a very serious and possibly mortally embarrassing crash.

Much of the Chrysler Empire might be mute lately, but Mopar, at least, is making some noise. The maker of all thing performance-oriented at Chrysler brought to the annual Moab Easter Jeep Safari event in Moab, Utah more off-road dreamboats than you could shake a muddy, dusty, axle-grease-covered stick at. You can see a pretty nice selection of the vehicles the company brought in the group photo above.

For details and individual shots of the most interesting of Mopar's creations make the jump.

The most bitchin' honor (as decided solely by the guy typing up this blog post) goes to this military-style terror, the Jeep Nukizer 715. The company started with a Jeep J8 four door (the military-issue Wrangler not acquirable to you or me) and converted it into a pickup by adding an AEV Brute pickup box built for the TJ. Then the Mopar boys stretched the wheelbase from 116 inches to 124 and applied a new carbon-fiber nose, which is supposed to replicate the old military-only Emperor M-715 (hence the 715 in the name). It carries Dana 44 front and Dana 60 rear axles with 5:38 gears and ARB Airlocker differentials. It's powered by a J8-specific 2.8-liter turbo-diesel inline four and rides on 38-inch BF Goodrich Mud Terrain tires. You won't be healthy to build one of these yourself. Still, it's cool.

We'd spied this Ram Power Wagon some time ago. Here it is in its natural environment – we mean a natural environment outside of the set of Simon & Simon. To apiece their own, but we dig the '70s look. It's not just a paint job though. Mopar created a unique 120-inch wheelbase truck chassis to a regular equipage and step-side box. The rear uses a coil spring suspension from the Ram 1500. It has a four-inch lift and 40-inch BF Goodrich KM2 Mud Terrain tires, custom front and rear bumpers and a spare tire re-located to the tail-gate-free bed. It's powered by a 5.7-liter Hemi V8, of course.

No missing this one. The Mopar ImMortal is a 5.7-liter Hemi V8-powered Wrangler with military-grade portal axle ends. Those pricey portal axles ends, which will make it into the Mopar catalog, are mated to Mopar's ProRock and PowerWagon performance axles. Those portals wage five inches of lift and contain a 1.5 gear reduction. Combined with the 4:1 transfer case, this greenest of green Wranglers has a 100:1 crawl ratio.

When spy shots busted out of the Ram Power Wagon, a few mistakenly called it a competitor for the Ford SVT Raptor. This truck, the Ram Runner is much more like the Raptor though than the rock-crawling Power Wagon. The Ram Runner is intended to have the look and feel of a desert racer. Its fenders, front and rear, have been replaced by fiberglass ones to accommodate the 35-inch General Grabber tires and long-travel suspension. That suspension uses billet aluminum upper A-arms which permit 14 inches of wheel travel. And, yes, it has a roll cage. Just in case.

We already know all the details on the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon. It's just like the CTS-V sedan and CTS-V Coupe except for the slightly bigger behind that pretends to add some measure of utility to the equation.

Actually, it's more like a really good excuse to buy the family a 556-horsepower Cadillac. That, and having a carpool vehicle that can lay stripes like a Cobra on slicks.

2010 New York Auto Show: 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon

#NYIAS You might remember that Suzuki has been working on a V6 all-wheel-drive version of its Kizashi sedan. The maker showed a image last fall when it launched the regular-strength, 185-hp, four-cylinder Kizashi. Well, this evening the production version of that image debuted as the 2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport at the Classic Car Club in lower Manhattan, but it doesn't have a V6 anymore.

The reason for the omission is simple. Suzuki no longer has an equity partnership with General Motors, and GM was the supplier of the 3.6-liter V6 that Suzuki had planned to use. Now the Asian maker has a deal with Volkswagen, which took a 19.9 percent stake in Suzuki last December. But this new partnership has yet to bear fruit in the form of drivetrain technology. So the Kizashi Sport still has a 2.4-liter inline-4.

The Sport goes on understanding this July, and notably, all 2011 GTS and SLS models will take the study Kizashi Sport (while lower-line line S and SE models remain just "Kizashi').

Differences on the Kizashi Sport include a revised front fascia with an extended spoiler, extended rocker panels and a sliver of a lip spoiler on the rear deck. We're not sure where all the exterior brightwork is coming from — the early image was free of such garishness.

The suspension has been lowered 0.4 inch, and though the Dunlop tires are the same P235/45R18s as on early Kizashis, the alloy wheels are said to be 2.5 pounds lighter apiece.

Inside, the leather upholstery in the Kizashi Sport SLS gets contrasting stitching, and the steering wheel trim is different.

The Classic Car Club, by the way, doesn't have any sort of obvious tie-in with the Kizashi. Those more fortunates souls in Manhattan (Robert Downey Jr., saint Gandolfini) can pay a membership fee that allows them to borrow Porsche Speedsters and Ariel Atoms. – Erin Riches, Inside Line Senior Editor

We have not been great fans of the current BMW 6 Series. This is, in part, because it is ugly. Oh, there are other factors as well, but, well, it is pretty ugly.

Our spies have just snapped the first shots of the upcoming new 6 Series coupe and, even under its swirly body-wrap, it's obvious that this 6 is considerably more restrained in appearance. We'd already shot the upcoming 6 Series convertible.

In all its cladding and wrapping, the thing, shot in Munich, looks a little something like a cross between the old Maserati coupe and a late '90s Nissan 300ZX. We anticipate, however, that once all that nonsense comes off, the new 6 will actually crib a few cues from the old and much-loved E24 6 Series, albeit in a bigger, brawnier way.

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne told an industry conference today that the company intends to break even this year according to the Wall Street Journal. He said Chrysler has $5B in cash and it moving towards its goals quicker than anticipated.

"The amount of work that had been done to bring down the break-even point, that number ended up being lower than most people thought," Marchionne said.
 
He added that "to the extent that we are producing cash…I feel a lot more comfortable today than I did 12 months ago."

WSJ

With the 2012 BMW M5 still a ways off, Alpina it taking the opportunity to start testing a more powerful version of the new 5 Series on its own. This image was caught testing in Germany recently and sports a few obvious changes from the standard model.

The quad exhaust tips out back are a dead giveaway to this car's modified status. You can also see an extended deck spoiler like the larger B7 along with slightly more aggressive front and rear fascias.

Now that the 5 Series is already blessed with a V8 and twin turbochargers, Alpina probably won't have to do much in the way of greater displacement. Depending on how much power Alpina is shooting for, the B5 could simply get more boost and an ECU reprogram. Expect to see an official debut this fall.