It's a 50-camera pile-up in front of the Ford stand, and I have absolutely no idea who's in the middle.

Poor bastard. -- Kelly Toepke, News Editor

Only minor tweaks exist under the skin of the new Mazda3. But the new sedan -- despite being 3.3 inches longer -- looks more aggressive than the car it replaces. The big news is the car's styling. To our eyes the current sedan never looked as sharp as the five-door -- subtle differences to every panel added up to a much different-looking machine.

For the first time in a few years, top Ford exec Mark Fields took the stage in Los Angeles to introduce Ford's revised midsize sedans to the automotive media.

Fields says 60 percent of Ford's production is now cars and 40 percent trucks, compared to a few years ago when the F-150 was King and cars totaled just 30 percent of the mix.

With every Ford product now scheduled for a three-year refresh, it was the 2010 Fusion's turn to go under the knife. The result includes expanded powertrain offerings, including a 2.5-liter inline-4 rated at 33 mpg, a flex-fuel 3.0-liter V6, and a 3.5-liter V6 for the new Fusion Sport, which Fields says will run from zero to 60 mph in 7 seconds.

There's also a new Fusion Hybrid, but more on that later. -- Kelly Toepke, News Editor

Since they have about $1.38 in available cash these days, Ford passed on doing separate press conferences for Lincoln, Mercury and the Blue Oval. Instead, they did one all together -- problem was, they weren't all on the same stage. As we sat there staring at the enormous Ford stage, this disembodied voice started speaking. We could see the teleprompter, but no promptee. Ford had called the auto show equivalent of an audible and started its 2010 Lincoln MKZ press conference over the gathered media's right shoulder at the Lincoln area (which moments earlier was the hors d'oeuvres station).

Anyway, I managed to get over there in time to hear the presentation and snap a few photos. The refreshed 2010 Lincoln MKZ now looks much less like a rebadged Fusion taking multiple design cues from the MKS (customers have apparently identified the split grille as "Lincolnesque"). In particular, the tail doesn't seem to be as high, lending a sleeker appearance. The interior is much richer-looking than the outgoing retro cabin and is a spitting image of the MKS.

There wasn't much mention of Mercury at the press conference, just the new Milan Hybrid sadly sitting in a corner. -- James Riswick, Edmunds.com Automotive Editor

For full details, check out Inside Line's 2010 Lincoln MKZ Auto Show story.

Seriously.

Everything else you want to know about the new Mazda 3 can be found here.

Josh Jacquot, Senior Road Test Editor

Volkswagen pulled the wraps off its TDI diesel-powered VW Touareg Trophy Truck this morning. Not content with a mere class win, VW's Trophy Truck leaves no doubt that nothing less than an overall win in the Baja 1000 and other SCORE off-road events will suffice.

SCORE President Sal Fish (above) was on hand with drivers Ryan Arciero and Mark Miller for the announcement.

Powering this purpose-built two-wheel-drive machine is a 5.0-liter TDI diesel V12 engine that VW officials at the launch said makes "550 horsepower and nearly unlimited torque." Presumably the limit is whatever the custom-made driveline components can stand for 1,000 miles of abuse.

When Honda lifted the cover from their FC Sport concept, someone behind me let out an involuntary "whoa!" We weren't expecting anything as extreme as this when Honda veep Dan Bonawitz teased the concept's unveiling as "something to think about and hope for."

This sports car exercise by Honda's Southern California design center was spearheaded by designer Jason Wilbur, who claims inspiration from "hexagonal cellular structures" superimposed on a more organic form. The result is stunning -- the FC Sport is radical, like a Civic Si Transformer whose robot form is a stormtrooper.

Pictures don't do this concept justice, but I snapped a bunch of them so that your mind can try to get around it.

BMW's 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged diesel straight-6 has earned much critical acclaim in Europe, and now the company will really and truly offer it in the U.S. Show up at your BMW dealer in December and you'll be able to buy both the 2009 BMW 335d and 2009 BMW X5 xDrive35d. And that's it in all 50 states. Both meet the BIN 5 standard using a pair of AdBlue urea tanks.

AdBlue injection systems aren't cheap, of course, so we're not surprised the $44,725 335d costs about $4 grand more than a manual-shift 335i while offering similar performance -- BMW's 0-60 claim for the diesel 3 Series is 6 seconds flat. EPA stats are 23/36. That's all with a six-speed automatic, the only transmission available on the 335d.

The 2009 X5 xDrive35d, er, diesel X5, comes in at $52,025, but since the base X5 lacks the company's twin-turbo gasoline inline-6, the price jump is easier to swallow. BMW says the diesel X5 will hit 60 mph in 6.8 seconds -- as quick as the V8 X5. Rated at 19 city/26 highway, it's vastly more efficient than any other BMW X5 past or present. Additionally, as Auto Observer reported last week, both diesels qualify for a tax credit.

Save for a couple guys diving under the X5's hood to spot the AdBlue tanks, the cutely electric Mini E and redesigned 7 Series got most of the attention at the BMW booth. But we're much more interested in the diesel Bimmers. Like BMW's gasoline twin-turbo six, the 2,993cc engine in these cars uses both a small and a large turbocharger to create a vast spread of torque, peaking at 425 lb-ft from 1,750-2,250 rpm.

Now that it's 50-state-certified, the remaining question mark is sales volume. As the quickest (probably) and most efficient member of the X5 family, the X5 xDrive35d is an easy sell. But given how good the 335i is, the pricier 335d might not be.

Erin Riches, Senior Editor

It wasn't that long ago that a vehicle like the 2009 Nissan Cube would have been a mere afterthought at a major U.S. press conference. Tucked away in a dark corner as a novelty, it would have received only a token line somewhere between yearly sales numbers and a reminder that smoothies would be served immediately following the press conference.

Not today, though. No, today the Nissan Cube shared the spotlight with the 370Z up on the main stage. Even with falling gas prices, the prospect of an ultra-efficient and strangely stylish econobox hasn't lost its luster. And after the press conference, the crowds around the Cube were just as deep as those hovering over the 370Z sports car. Its success is far from guaranteed, but judging by the interest shown today, the Cube has a good chance of stealing whatever interest is left in Scion's xB. Pricing will be announced at the Chicago auto show in February.

Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor

Nissan kept it short and sweet this morning when it came time to introduce the 2009 370Z. Sure, there was a little smoke and a minute or two of loud music, but after that it was all business. In fact, Al Castignetti, Nissan's vice president of sales, got right to it and announced the base price of the 370Z -- just $29,930 when it goes on sale early next year. Not bad for 332 horsepower.

Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor

While originally developed for the military, this honeycomb tire could be the future, in that you would never need to have a spare. Yeah, they would have to put some sort of 'skin' on the sidewalls so that the honeycombs don't clog up with mud or snow--a huge issue if you go off-roading. Also wind noise and aero-efficiency are likely to be problems with such a tire as it currently is shown.

This tire was developed because the military wants an alternative to the current Humvee "run flat" tires. The current run-flats, despite the name, still need some air pressure, and can blown out via gun fire.

"You see reports all the time of troops who were injured by an IED or their convoys got stranded because their tires were shot out," said Resilient's General Manager Mike Veih. "There's all sorts of armor on the vehicle, but if you're running in the theater and get your tire shot out, what have you got? You've got a bunch of armor in the middle of a field."

The tire was developed by Resilient Technologies and Wisconsin-Madison's Polymer Engineering Center. They studied other airless tires, like the Michelin "Tweel," but in the end settled on this design. The patent-pending design mimics the precise, six-sided cell pattern found in a honeycomb and best duplicates the "ride feel" of pneumatic tires, according to the developers.

"The goal was to reduce the variation in the stiffness of the tire, to make it transmit loads uniformly and become more homogenous," said mechanical engineering professor Tim Osswald. "And the best design, as nature gives it to us, is really the honeycomb."

Full story here.

This had been long rumored, and it now appears to be true. Expect better fuel mileage and a higher torque capacity than what is available with the current Subie automatics.

I'm happy to hear about both these improvements. The main reason that the new Subaru diesel only comes with a manual is because they currently don't have an automatic that can handle the torque of that engine; and if they want to sell it here in great numbers, an automatic has to be part of the plan. So this is good news indeed.

This new CVT will first appear in the Legacy (and Outback), and then will trickle down into the Forester and Impreza lineups. Hope to see something at one of the upcoming auto shows.

Full story here at NASIOC.

No, GM is not buying into Subaru (again). But there is an interesting story found over on Jalopnik (here) via TurboNines.com (here) and TrollhattanSaab.com (here), about GM filing patents for a Tribeca-based Saab 9-6X.

Huh? GM-Saab divorced themselves from Subaru several years ago. What's going on here?

Don't know exactly, but it sure makes for some interesting speculating--and is a refreshing break from the never-ending doom-and-gloom news coming from Detroit these days.

The 2009 Silverado Hybrid 2WD starts at $38,995, including a $975 destination charge, while the 2009 Sierra Hybrid 2WD starts at $39,365, including shipping.

Four-wheel-drive versions of the hybrid trucks are even more dear. The 2009 Silverado Hybrid 4WD ranges in price from $42,145 for the base model to $48,280 for the top trim level model. Prices include destination.

The 2009 GMC Sierra Hybrid 4WD ranges in price from $42,515 to $48,650 for the up-level model. Prices include destination.

Think the General can pull his off? That's bunch of money--especially in this economy from a company in trouble.

Here's Inside Line's take: GM Announces Pricing on 2009 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra Hybrids

After weeks of annoyingly frequent teaser shots, we finally got a chance to see the 2010 Ford Mustang firsthand. It was introduced at an event here in Santa Monica that included a little drifting, a who's-who of Ford racing legends and of course, ol' Shel himself.

It was a good show, but when all the fanfare was over and we got a closer look at the 2010 Mustang, it wasn't all that impressive. Ford says that nearly all the exterior sheet metal is new, but you would be hard-pressed to spot the differences. Most of the interior has been revamped, too, but again, it only looks better if you're intimately familiar with the current cabin.

Who knows? Maybe it will look that much better on the road. We'll know early next year as it's scheduled to go on sale just in time to do battle with the Chevrolet Camaro.

Oh, and one more thing, Ford executive Mark Fields said to keep an eye out for more Mustang news at the Detroit auto show in January. So yeah, it's not even on sale yet and Ford is already rolling out the derivatives.

Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor