We still hold fast to our belief that Twitter is the biggest waste of time since the advent of the internet, but occasionally, about 1% of the time, it can be a source of fresh news. The awful Dodge Durango, still in showrooms as a “new” car in the U.S. and the U.A.E. after it went out of production in 2008, is going to be replaced by a new version based on the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee. And some media hack leaked a photo of one on Twitter.
The U.S. Patent Office comes through again as a source for images of future car models, considering they treat all information as public property. This time, drawings of the production-version 2012 Chevrolet Aveo has made it onto their database, including both the hatchback as well as the sedan.
One of our readers, Nabeal Malik, spotted this 2011-2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS prototype filling up at a petrol station in Dubai. The next-generation CLS-Class has been spotted in Dubai before, undergoing hot-weather testing, but this time, it has distinctly less camouflage than before, as the final body styling has already been finalised.
As ridiculous as it sounds, BMW has released photos of their all-new 2011 X3 crossover prototype undergoing testing in full camouflage. The official ‘spy shots’ show a larger vehicle than the one being replaced, although still likely in the compact category.
More of an intentional leak, design sketches for the 2012 Chevrolet Malibu were filed with the U.S. patent office, after which they automatically became public property.
The European Registry is sort of a copyright database for product designs, including all-new cars. The Registry therefore has photos of never-before-seen models, and some of these occasionally leak into the public domain. Like the 2011 Kia Sportage, for instance.
The popular Hyundai Tucson is getting old fast, but the Korean company already has the replacement ready. The 2010 Hyundai Tucson, to be renamed ix35 in many markets, was spotted in Australia during the filming of a TV commercial, which would hint at a release date by the end of this year.
This here is an image of the Mercedes SLS AMG, the replacement for the out-of-production Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR supercar, with styling cues and gullwing doors inherited from the classic 300 SL. Some claim that this is a real “official” photo, although it could just be a computer-generated rendering.
As pointed out by Akif, one of our readers, a real photo of the 2010 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado has been leaked onto the internet. The photo appears to be real, and has “internal use only” marked across it.
Whenever Mercedes-Benz has prototype cars in the UAE for hot-weather testing, I can be sure that they will do a drive-by of my shitty area in Dubai at one time or another. This, I managed to snag some bad photos of the upcoming 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Convertible, which will be the drop-top version of the 2010 E-Class Coupe.