A little more than 10 years ago, BMW put the “sport” in “sport-utility vehicle” with the ground-breaking, delightfully nimble X5. That same vehicle also took the “utility” out of “sport-utility vehicle”—literally—being assigned the BMW-invented “sport activity vehicle” moniker instead. The rechristening was a clever trick that attempted to manage expectations not met by its small cargo area, which held less than that of the 5-series wagon of the day. For 2007, the X5 grew considerably to address the latter issue, although its sterling six- and eight-cylinder engines and sparkling new chassis ensured that plenty of sportiness, and the “SAV” moniker, remained.

Porsche’s plans for hybrid road vehicles are nothing new—the company plans to introduce a hybrid Cayenne SUV in the truck’s next generation, as well as a hybrid version of its Panamera sedan—but at the Geneva auto show, the German sports-car king will introduce a hybrid race car based on its 911 GT3 R. It’s no mere concept, either. Following its debut, the car will head to the Nürburgring, where it will compete in the 24-hour race on May 15 and 16.

The Mini lineup will enter the 2011 model year with an array of visual and equipment upgrades for the Cooper, Cooper convertible, and Clubman. The visual changes include a redesigned front bumper that helps the Mini meet new pedestrian-safety regulations in Europe. The lower grille and new fog-light surrounds have more pronounced, contoured borders. Base (non-S) models feature a new horizontal bar in the lower air inlet, while S models sport prominent (and functional) brake ducts that can be trimmed in chrome. There are five new wheel designs in 15-, 16-, and 17-inch sizes.

As rare a sight as the Mercedes-Benz CL-class coupe is (unless you live in Beverly Hills or Monte Carlo) the arrival of a new one—or even a refreshed one, as is the case here—is nevertheless newsworthy. For 2011, the S-class's two-door sibling (which will not be renamed the S-class coupe as previously thought, although that may happen for the next, all-new generation) is available in the same lineup as last year. The all-wheel-drive CL550 4MATIC and rear-wheel-drive CL600 are both mildly reshaped and updated with a raft of new bits that are sure to trickle down into much of the rest of the lineup soon. New CL63 AMG and CL65 AMG models will make their debuts later.

Electric-car maker Tesla has updated its Roadster for 2011, quelling rumors that the two-seater would disappear next year. The revised car, called Roadster 2.5, has freshened styling and equipment changes to make it more livable for electro enthusiasts. The company says the modifications were driven by feedback from owners of the 1200 Roadsters already sold.

From the Something-We-Figured-Was-Coming-But-Are-Thrilled-To-See-Anyway Department comes Audi’s announcement of the R8 Spyder 4.2 FSI Quattro. It’s basically the V-8 version of the V-10–engined R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI Quattro, which itself is scheduled to appear in U.S. showrooms starting this September.

In late 2007, BMW started its "Project i," a sort of think tank on "sustainable" mobility, which was shrouded in mystery for a considerable time. Its first visible result, the Mini E, is notable for demonstrating the deficiencies of electric propulsion, precisely because it is so easy to compare with the regular Mini. Distributed to hand-picked customers for a one-year lease term, the all-electric Mini has a sub-100-mile range and sacrifices the rear seats and most of the cargo compartment to house its batteries.

Morgan, a company perhaps best known for not introducing new cars, showed off a new car just outside the Pebble Beach Concours and promises to bring a new car to market every two years. At this point the Morgan EvaGT is a concept, but the production version will be the first of Morgan’s ambitious product push. Morgan is even taking orders for the 2+2 sports car, and says it will enter production in 2012.

Jaguar’s 75th-anniversary festivities include enjoying “featured marque” status at the annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, which the company commemorated by displaying a tricked-out, one-off XJ it calls the XJ75 Platinum Design Concept.

The Jeep Wrangler and its four-door sibling, the Wrangler Unlimited, are Jeep’s best-selling models despite remaining practically unchanged for years. The Wrangler’s pure, unfiltered charm and off-road prowess are the reasons it sells so well. For 2011, Jeep has addressed one of the SUV’s biggest letdowns by revamping the interior. The new trappings look much sharper and take cues from the new Grand Cherokee.

We’ve already seen a leaked brochure showing several pictures of the next-gen Mercedes-Benz CLS-class, due in 2011 as a 2012 model. Now you can save your eyes the trouble of straining to see a grainy German brochure, as Mercedes has released official pictures of a European-spec CLS.

Around the world, automakers are grappling with the changes necessary to meet escalating fuel-economy regulations. To this end, Mazda is launching a new family of four-cylinder engines—fours power the vast majority of Mazda’s cars—called Sky-G (gasoline) and Sky-D (diesel). We drove both in prototypes of the next-gen Mazda 6 and, thankfully, either engine can be paired with the latest version of Mazda’s snick-snick six-speed manual.

Let’s not beat around the bush here: Morgan has many of the qualities you’d expect to find in a good, old-fashioned cult. Seen from a safe distance, the English sports-car manufacturer seems deliberately eccentric—it still regards lumber as an appropriate material for use in a vehicle’s body—with its followers tending to demonstrate the sort of glassy-eyed devotion you’d expect from the freshly mind-laundered.

When it comes to what’s under the hood, the 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG launches with a name that is now more misleading than ever. AMG’s “63” moniker, after all, never was entirely correct: At 6208 cc, the last-gen CLS63’s naturally aspirated M156 engine missed the 6.3-liter mark by less than a 10th of a liter. And now, most AMG “63” cars are having their 6.2 replaced by a twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V-8 dubbed M157.

Ford was keen that we drive a preproduction 2012 Focus out of the public eye. That’s how we wound up near Potrero, California, separated from the Mexican border by nothing but a rocky brown hill. Well, that’s not exactly true. Between us and the border also stood an armada of maybe 500 U.S. Border Patrol vehicles, enough that any illegal alien probing the landscape would knock himself unconscious on a government-issue Ford Excursion or Chevy Suburban. We represented an additional hazard to cranial health, madly hurling a navy-blue Focus back and forth along State Route 94. Our progress was surely tracked by scores of agents wielding monster binoculars, who twice halted us at hastily erected roadblocks for “curiosity checks.” Which is how we became the very public spectacle that Ford so fervently hoped to avoid. Victory. (Once its cover was blown, we photographed the Focus in remote downtown L.A.).

In the summer of 2002, Chris Hrabalek, an Austrian automotive designer, sees a Ferrari Dino 246GT stranded on a Spanish road close to Sitges. Hoping to lend a hand, Hrabalek gets out and introduces himself to the driver, German Michael Stoschek. They start working on the Dino. They get to talking. It turns out that the men share something beyond the breakdown lane on the road to Sitges: namely, a passion for the Lancia Stratos HF rally car of the ’70s. In fact, they had met once before, at a Stratos convention in 1986. Hrabalek was nine years old.