Rendered Speculation: Next-gen Mazda3

The Mazda3 has been a compact darling ever since its introduction in 2004, and even though its current design is nearly five years old, it still wins many comparison tests. Since its near the end of a design cycle, a new Zoom Zoom Mazda is on its way, and some interesting renderings have been published online of what the new Mazda3 could look like.
The design theme is decidedly Mazda6-based up front, with similarly angled LED headlights and the same basic shape, but this unofficial Mazda3 is far more "in your face." The large front air dam looks more like something from the MazdaSpeed collection, and its large opening doubles as the Mazda3's grille. The side view features clean, flowing lines and the same basic shape as the current Mazda3 hatch. Out back, football-shaped LED taillamps give this rendering a touch of class, and the similarly-shaped in-set dual exhaust looks like a concept-only touch. Due to the surprising success of the current model, the next Mazda3 has to be very, very good or it will be a big disapointment. If the next 3 looks as good as these renderings, we wouldn't be disappointed at all.

[ Via: WorldCarFans ]
[ Tag: breaking, Ford, Mazda, Mazda3, Rendered speculation, RenderedSpeculation ]

Porsche developing its own Golf-based entry model?

If Porsches are good, more Porsches are better, especially if it means Stuttgart's model range will expand downward. Rumors are swirling that Porsche is working on its own version of Volkswagen's Golf/Rabbit, which may be an opening salvo in a Porsche assault on BMW's slice of the pie with its 1 Series. An über-bunny above the R32 is certainly appealing, but we hope the styling smoothes some from from the melty rendering. There's potential there, but it could turn ugly fast like the Panamera four-door "coupe". Auto Bild is usually pretty close to the mark, however, so it wouldn't be surprising to see this very vehicle sometime around 2012. We're going to guess that most people will just see its taillights.


[ Via: Motive Mag ]
[ Tag: auto bild, AutoBild, porsche, porsche golf, porsche rabbit, porsche rendering, PorscheGolf, PorscheRabbit, PorscheRendering ]

Rendered speculation: 2011 Passat

The rendering specialists at AutoBild have come up with images of the next Passat. It gets a bit more character in the twin swage lines running down the side of the body, a feature that is looking like the next big design thing. The front end continues the tripartite bumper design VW has recently taken up, but swaps the giant headlamps for some sleek, stylized numbers reminiscent of Audi.
We aren't sure about the sedan design. It looks like it could be a contender with character... or it could be a sedan just trying to be fancy. The wagon, however, looks pretty sexy. We'll know when we see it in the flesh, but the Passat CC is probably a good indicator in the mean time, so if you like that, then you'll probably like this.

[ Via: German Car Blog ]
[ Tag: 2011,new models,NewModels,next generation,next-gen,NextGeneration,passat,volkswagen,volkswagen passat,VolkswagenPassat,vw ]