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Toyota’s North American subsidiary, Scion, surprised us today at the opening of the 2011 New York Auto Show with the world premiere of its new FR-S sports coupe concept. We say ‘surprised’ not because we weren’t expecting a Scion-badged Toyota FT-86 to make its appearance in the Big Apple, but because of its refined design that made us forget about the FT-86 II concept we saw less than two months ago at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show. Read more »

This year, the New York International Auto Show takes place between April 22 and May 1, coinciding with China's Shanghai Auto Show (April 21 – 28). Even though the Shanghai show is growing in importance, the Big Apple plays host to several world premieres including the all-new 2012 Volkswagen Beetle, the 2012 Subaru Impreza in both sedan and hatchback forms, the 2012 Chrysler 300 SRT8 and the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu sedan, just to mention a few.

Following a world premiere at the Shanghai Auto Show earlier this week, Mercedes-Benz showed off its dynamic A-Class concept to the crowds of New York, and confirmed that the production model will head to North America.

In Europe, the production A-Class will launch next year. As for the US, Autonews reported that Joachim Schmidt, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Mercedes-Benz Cars, would not specify a time frame vaguely stating that the A-Class would arrive “some time in this decade.”

Making its debut at the Big Apple is a concept for a high-performance version of the Lexus CT 200h hybrid hatchback conceived and executed in partnership with Fox Marketing.

Starting with a production CT 200h, the tuner modified the 1.8-liter gasoline engine by adding an Eaton supercharger along with a Climax Racing intake manifold and a Yonaka air to water intercooler among other upgrades to push output to an estimated 300HP. Additionally, Fox Marketing said it has boosted the factory batter power, but did not provide further details.

Welcome to Carscoop’s coverage of the 2011 New York International Auto Show, which we'll be covering live from the show floor thanks to the brilliance of modern technology and a little of your much appreciated patience. Like our trip to the Tokyo Auto Salon, we'll be bringing you photos of all the new models, the ladies, and live pics as we walk around the show.

For the truly live updates, simply check out the window (unlike Tokyo, uploads should be much more fluid), while higher-res "live" photos will appear as soon as we manage to peel ourselves away from the metal and get plugged back into the computer. Also like Tokyo, we'll be doing our best to keep up with comments and requests, so feel free to get involved as we take you along with us.

The most hotly anticipated model of the New York Auto Show, Scion’s version of the Toyota FT-86 sports coupe concept, finally made its world premiere today. The study is named FR-S, which stands for ‘Front-Engine, Rear-wheel drive, Sport’, though we prefer the definition given by Jack Hollis, Scion vice president, during the New York Show presentation.

“FR-S stands for Front-engine… Rear-wheel drive… Sport. Pretty simple. I personally believe it should stand for Friggin’ Really Sweet… but the legal department at Toyota was NOT feeling the same way,” said Hollis.

The first thing most readers will notice about the FR-S is the refined design compared to the latest concept version of the Toyota FT-86, shown in Geneva this past March. Though it’s hard to pinpoint all the changes without having the cars side by side, the photos reveal a tweaked front end with revamped headlamps and a different bumper design without the aftermarket like add-on LED strips.

There has been a lot of conversation lately about electric cars and racing, with some even talking about introducing the technology into the F1 stage. Nissan, on its part, has a lot to gain in terms of awareness given the brands focus on the development of dedicated electric vehicles like the Leaf.

With this in mind, the Japanese carmaker developed a purpose-built prototype racer loosely based on the production Leaf that will receive its first public outing at the 2011 New York International Auto Show . Compared to the production model, the Lead NISMO RC (for Racing Competition), does away with the rear doors, rear seat, trunk, audio system, navigation, carpeting and other amenities, while gaining a mid-ship location for the battery pack, electric motor and inverter.

Joining the Kizashi EcoCharge Concept at the New York Auto Show is a second prototype version of Suzuki’s sedan model called the Kizashi Apex Concept. While the EcoCharge hybrid is all about improving fuel economy, the Apex version concentrates purely on the performance aspect of the build while also showcasing the link between Suzuki's automotive division and its championship-winning motorcycles.

Since Toyota launched the gasoline-electric hybrid Prius in 1997 (because let’s face it, Toyota was the one that made hybrids a household name), more and more automakers are following in the Japanese automaker’s footsteps. Oddly enough , Suzuki isn’t one them, at least not until now as the carmaker has expressed its intention to launch a hybrid version of the Kizashi sedan in the very near future.

Nissan unveiled a new design study called Compact Sport Concept at the Shanghai Auto Show. The prototype three-door hatchback is the work of Nissan's global design center in Japan and the brand's Beijing design studio in China. According to the Japanese automaker, the Compact Sport Concept is designed “for young customers in emerging countries”.

Despite the lack of information, it appears that the aggressively styled concept is loosely based on the Micra, as it borrows several elements from Nissan's supermini including the headlight and the two-part grille designs. The hot hatch sports a heavily-sculpted bodywork, with bulged wheel arches, massive bumpers and a windshield that wraps around the center part of the roof.

At this week’s 2011 Shanghai Auto Show in China, BMW rolled out two concept versions of the current F10 5-Series, the M5 sport sedan and the LWB Plug-in Hybrid, both of which will enter production.

Infiniti is planning to enter new territories by introducing an all-new 7-seater luxury crossover designated the JX. Teased here in a blurry sketch, the mid-size model will be shown in concept form at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance this August, and in production guise at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show in November, before going on sale in the U.S. in spring 2012 as a 2013 model.

“The all-new Infiniti JX crossover will allow us to continue to expand the Infiniti brand’s presence in the Americas,” said Carlos Tavares, chairman, Nissan Americas.

We’re going to see both the four- and five-door versions of the all-new 2012 Impreza at the New York Auto Show this week, but at the Shanghai motor show, Subaru lifted the wraps off a concept version of the hatchback model in a crossover guise. Named the XV Concept, the study essentially offers us our first glimpse at the successor of the North American market Impreza Outback Sport as well as the Impreza XV that is offered in Japan.

The lime-green XV Concept combines Subaru’s all-wheel drive system with a jacked up suspension and an array of SUV-like styling cues. The five-door model measures 4,450mm in length, 1,800mm in width and 1,620 mm in height sporting a 2,635mm long wheelbase. It is powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder boxer engine linked to a CVT.

Making its world premiere today at the Shanghai Auto Show is the new Volvo Concept Universe, a study for a luxury sedan model that also provides a peek at the Swedish automaker’s future design language.

While Volvo did not release any technical details on the Concept Universe, the fact that it measures less than 5 meters in length points at a design study for a replacement for the firm’s S80 sedan and not a larger, Mercedes-Benz S-Class rival that the Swedish company’s Chinese owner Geely has been recently talking about.

Audi has been trying to show off its green credentials for quite some time now with a variety of plug-in hybrid and pure electric concepts, all sporting the e-tron nameplate, such as the 2009 e-tron Concept Coupe, the 2010 A1 e-tron, and more recently, the e-tron Spyder. Now, the brand with the four rings has prepared a new e-tron study, this time based on the A3 sedan concept shown at the Geneva Salon this past March.

The new A3 Sedan e-tron is a compact sized four-door saloon study featuring a gasoline-electric hybrid drivetrain, and it will receive its world premiere at this week’s 2011 Shanghai Auto Show in China.

Audi’s engineers replaced the Geneva concept model’s 408HP 2.5-liter turbocharged inline-five with a hybrid powertrain comprising of a 211HP 1.4-liter TFSI gasoline unit with turbocharging and gasoline direct injection, and an electric motor with an output of 20 kW (27HP), for a combined system output of 238HP. A seven-speed S tronic dual clutch transmission is linked to the gasoline engine.

GM has lifted the wraps off the Buick Envision SUV Concept that will debut at the Shanghai Auto Show, a natural choice since the study is the work of Shanghai GM and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC). Furthermore, GM says the crossover model was designed for China, as “it introduces the development direction for Buick’s future SUV products for the market”.

Mazda today confirmed what many of us already suspected – that the Minagi concept shown at the 2011 Geneva Salon earlier this year will form the base for a production model that will be called the CX-5. In addition, the Japanese firm also announced that the compact crossover model will make its international debut in production guise at the forthcoming 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show to be held in Germany in September.

One by one, automakers are revealing their plans for the upcoming 2011 New York International Auto Show. This time we have news from Nissan and its luxury division Infiniti. Starting with Nissan, the Japanese firm will debut a “new compact sedan” and a “new, zero emission motorsports concept”. While we have don’t have any information yet on the concept study, from what we know, the compact sedan will be the next generation of the Versa that was teased in an official sketch back in late 2010.

[Updated] This week’s 2011 Top Marques car show in Monaco (April 14-17) welcomed the world premiere of the Soleil Anadi, a coachbuilt Corvette that is the brainchild of Ugur Sahin, a Turkish designer based in the Netherlands. Sahin sold the rights to the design of the Anadi to a company called Soleil Motors, which then joined forces with Ercole and Paolo Spada from Spada Concepts and Will Castro from Unique Autosport to complete the project.

The transformation of the Corvette to the Anadi takes place in Italy, with the company having opened its first showroom in Milan. Like the car it is based on, the Anadi comes equipped with a detachable roof but features new sheetmetal with a profile that brings to mind the Ferrari 599 and a bespoke rear end. The interior has also been fully customized but the show car seen in these photos, courtesy of our friends from Autoblog.nl, had tinted windows. The company said it will release pictures of the cabin at a later date.

Volvo released a teaser video of its upcoming Concept Universe, without giving out any additional information other than that it's a new design study that will be launched shortly. This means it could debut at one of this month's international auto shows, either in New York (April 22 – May 1) or Shanghai (April 21 – 28). Taking into account the fact that Volvo is owned by China’s Geely, the Shanghai show could be the more probable venue of the two for the new Volvo. Read more »