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Mercedes GLA – the A-Class SUV – will arrive in production guise at Frankfurt

The production version of the Mercedes GLA Concept (pictured) will debut at Frankfurt 2013 It’s only three months since the new Mercedes GLA debuted at the Shanghai Motor Show as a concept, but it’s already close to arriving in production guise. In fact, it looks like the new GLA – based on the new Mercedes A-Class underpinnings – will arrive in production form at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show, ahead of going on sale in early 2014. The new GLA is aimed squarely at the competition from the BMW X1 and Audi Q3, and if it delivers as well as the A-Class has it stands a very good chance of becoming the pick of the premium compact SUVs.

Reuss: GM considering 'something really fun' for Buick

Buick dealers still salivating over the Riviera concept that General Motors unveiled at last month's Shanghai auto show should take a deep breath: There's little chance that the flashy coupe will ever grace a Buick showroom. But they should view the Riviera -- which GM says points to the brand's design direction -- as a signal that GM is serious about adding pizazz to the Buick lineup now that the 110-year-old brand, which barely survived GM's bankruptcy four years ago, is getting comfortable in its born-again skin. "We've very carefully built Buick back to a brand that has respect," GM North America President Mark Reuss told Automotive News.

Driven: Kia Picanto

The first-generation Kia Picanto was one of the cars that helped promote Kia from the lower half of the second-division to somewhere near the playoff places. Its combination of great value, five-door practicality and vaguely cutesy - if thoroughly unremarkable - design found it many a home on the driveway of those looking for an A-segment hatchback. The second-generation model is playing a rather tougher ballgame.