Mercedes-Benz Concept Style Coupe revealed ahead of China auto show

Mercedes-Benz is previewing its eagerly anticipated CLA sedan at an event in Los Angeles this week before providing a more detailed look at the Beijing motor show with the unveiling of the latest in a long line of concept cars, the 2.0-liter, 208-hp, four-cylinder-powered Concept Style Coupe. Pictured here officially for the first time, the heavily sculptured four-door reveals the dramatic appearance that the next junior Mercedes-Benz sedan will carry into North American showrooms in 2013. Advancing the look first established on the F800 Style concept wheeled out at the 2010 Geneva motor show, the Concept Style Coupe is clothed in a four-door body that makes extensive use of concave and convex surfaces to provide its exterior with what Mercedes-Benz design boss Gorden Wagener describes as “an almost fluid appearance and constantly altering depth.” The car has a large gaping grille known to insiders as a soft-nose treatment, striking headlamps with LED graphics, a heavily curved roofline, a shallow glasshouse, a high waistline, frameless doors and a trio of sharply creased lines along its flanks.

Detroit auto show: Ford Mustang Boss 302R breaks cover

Some 40 years after Parnelli Jones drove a Bud Moore-built Boss 302 Mustang to the Trans-Am championship, Ford Racing has unleashed a new Boss 302R. The new Boss is an off-road-only Mustang that comes from the factory race-ready. Each of the limited-to-50 cars will come fitted with a 5.0-liter four-valve V8 and six-speed manual transmission.

Hennessey Cadillac Escalade gets 557 hp

The 2015 Cadillac Escalade is about as American as an SUV can be. We didn't find the 420-hp, 6.2-liter V8 lacking in any way, but if you want something with a little more grunt, Hennessey Performance Engineering and its HPE550 upgrade should help. Hennessey says the HPE550 Escalade package bumps output to 557 hp and 542 lb-ft of torque with the help of a belt-driven supercharger producing 6 psi.