While most of us have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of the FT-86 rear-drive sports car, reports from Japan say the project has been put on hold until 2013 - design and styling issues were cited as the main reasons for the delay.

Here are Subaru's product plans: Sporty coupe: The lightweight two-door being developed with Toyota will give Subaru a needed image vehicle. The exterior of Subaru's version will differ from the Toyota. The rear-drive coupe is expected to be available with either Subaru's 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine or the 2.5-liter turbocharged engine from the Impreza STI. It is unclear whether the car will be a 2012 or 2013 model. Currently, all Subarus have all-wheel drive. It isn't known whether the new sports car will have that feature.

When Mazda invited us to Milan to see its new concept car, we knew it must be something important. Normally concept cars get their 15 minutes of fame at an auto show, and then it's off to the next press conference to see what the following automaker will introduce. Not so with Mazda's latest styling endeavor. The Japanese automaker wanted our full and undivided attention, with the center of international design and fashion in Italy as a fitting backdrop. The Shinari concept, which roughly translates to "resistance to being bent," will serve as a the basis for Mazda's new design language, and many of the styling cues will make it to future production vehicles. That means that the Shinari will essentially affect the design of every vehicle coming from the Japanese automaker for the next several years. An important car for Mazda? You bet. The Shinari was officially unveiled earlier today, and we spent several hours talking with Mazda's artists about the design and how it will affect the automaker's forthcoming vehicles.

There's no demographic that's targeted more often than young, affluent males. Though these buyers may not have quite as much expendable income to throw at new car purchases than say older, affluent males, automakers are still very keen to cater to the needs of Generation Y with the hope of earning a customer for life. The tC is Scion's most important product.Toyota is no different than any other automaker in this regard; perhaps even more so as the Japanese giant's customer base is just about as old as that of Buick. To resolve that issue, Toyota created the Scion brand in North America back in 2002 and has been marketing the heck out of its up-and-coming feeder marque ever since. The ploy has mostly been successful. Toyota merrily points out that Scion has the youngest average customer in the industry and that 71 percent of all 800,000 or so Scions have been sold to buyers who are new to the Toyota family. Interestingly enough, with a median age of 26, it's the tC coupe's 310,000 total sales since 2002 (accounting for 41 percent of all Scion production) that manages to attract the youngest customers of all. In other words, while the funky xB may be the most recognizable, it's actually the tC that is the brand's most important product. Therefore, Scion absolutely needs the new 2011 tC to be a runaway hit. Especially since the second-generation of the xB has, by many measures, failed to live up to the success of its straight-ruled predecessor. So does the new tC pass muster?

THERE is more to Toyota's youth-driven FT-86 project than people first thought. The born-again Sprinter is definitely a coupe and now there will be a four-door sedan for Toyota showrooms. Even though sedans are not popular in Japan - with the exception of the car sold as the Lexus IS200 and Toyota Altezza - Toyota can see serious potential in a global car from the FT-86. The loyal Altezza customers are one reason why, according to a source close to Toyota, the sedan has been given the go-ahead. It also helps that the basics are available and easy to tweak for four-door work. In truth, using the FT-86’s platform for a sports sedan is a kind of insurance policy to cover any potential shortfall FT-86 sales. At the same time, it makes the most of the rare rear-drive platform. One Japanese commentator even goes so far as to say that the sports sedan project is a safety net, just in case the FT-86 fails, so that Toyota does not have to cancel the project altogether. The Carsguide source tells us that the sedan will not only incorporate the FT-86’s Subaru Liberty-based mechanical package, but get the same 150-kiloWatt boxer engine and six-speed manual transmission (or CVT) from the Impreza as well. Expected to fall into a segment rivalling something between the BMW 1- Series and 3-Series, and including the Audi A3 and the Golf GTI, the Japanese domestic sticker price should land near $30,000. Given that more power might be required down the line, Toyota will have the ability to bring the Subaru Outback’s 3.6 litre H6 engine into the equation. But by the time the new sports sedan - not to mention the FT-86 coupe- finally makes it to showrooms in 2013, Subaru will have its own in- house hybrid boxer engine. This will create yet another powertrain opportunity for Toyota and a package that will, according to our source, be more exciting to drive than Toyota’s current crop of hybrids. Attachment 1060

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