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U.S. equity firm to invest $70 million in Saab

Race-car fan and private-equity executive Alex Mascioli is pumping $70 million into Saab as the Swedish automaker works to stay afloat. Mascioli's firm, North Street Capitol, is buying $10 million in shares of Swedish Automobile, which owns Saab, and is also giving the company a $60 million loan to pay for the carmaker's reorganization. U.S.-based North Street Capital struck a deal in September to buy the Spyker sports-car business from Swedish Automobile for $44 million.

Smart ForTwo Cityflame edition launches

The Smart ForTwo got a bit of a facelift in 2012 to keep it fresh until the all new ForTwo with a rear-engined, rear wheel drive platform to be shared with the next Renault Twingo, arrives in 2014, and the new CityFlame limited edition gets a cosmetic makeover to make its stand out. That cosmetic makeover includes a bright yellow paint job - vivid pearlescent flame yellow – with a black tridion safety cell, black grill surrounds and mirror caps and a set of 15″ black painted alloys. There are ‘CityFlame’ logos on the mirror triangles and a set of Brabus headlights. Inside the Cityflame there are yellow inlays in the cloth/fake leather seats, yellow stitching, yellow splashes on the dash and steering wheel and a set of mats with embroidered ‘CityFlame’ motifs.

Kia Pop concept (w/ Gallery)

The Kia Pop will make its world debut at the Paris motor show, but the Korean manufacturer has released these digital renders of the electric city car concept in advance. At three meters long, the Pop is similar in length to the Toyota iQ. It features a wave-like front bench seat making room for a single rear occupant behind the front passenger. Designed by a team headed by Gregory Guillaume at Kia's European design center in Frankfurt under Peter Schreyer, the Pop mixes the Sportage's strong surfacing with a playful lozenge-shaped DLO.