Aston Martin has released three new images of its upcoming Cygnet small car, which is based on Toyota Motor Corp.’s iQ model. Due late next year, the Cygnet will help the luxury marque meet stricter emissions standards due to take effect in Europe in 2012.

To differentiate it from the iQ, the Cygnet will get Aston Martin’s signature grille, door handles, hood louvers and DBS-inspired taillights. It also will sport unique wheels and tires. The iQ’s 1.3-liter four-cylinder engine is expected to power the car.

The interior of the Aston Martin model will be fitted with a variety of luxury appointments such as hand-stitched leather. New colors and trim also will be available.

Initially, the Cygnet will be available only to current Aston Martin owners-or buyers with existing orders-in Europe. Production will be capped at 2,000 units per year. Toyota will ship the base iQ module from Japan to Aston Martin, which will convert vehicles into the Cygnet at its Gaydon, U.K., facility Pricing is expected to start at more than $30,000.

General Motors Co. will offer a Denali luxury trim package to the GMC Acadia crossover next fall for the 2011 model year. GM launched the Denali name in 1999 on the Yukon SUV, which now derives half its sales from the sub-brand.

The Acadia Denali will receive the sub-brand’s design cues such as a mono-color exterior and chrome honeycomb grille. Other exterior additions include unique front and rear fascias, HID headlights, body-color cladding and fender flares, body-side moldings with chrome accents and dual chrome exhaust tips.

The interior features leather trim throughout, heated and cooled front seats, premium acoustics, special footwell lighting, chrome door sills with lighted Denali logo, a dual sunroof and a head-up display. Other amenities include tri-zone climate control, XM radio, rearview camera system and remote vehicle start. Optional equipment includes satellite navigation and a rear-seat entertainment pack.

The crossover will be offered in seven- and eight-passenger versions. Power will come from the direct-injection 3.6-liter V-6 engine used in the base Acadia. All-wheel drive is optional.

Switzerland’s Rinspeed Inc. is famous for its ultra-performance variants of Porsche sports cars. But in March the company will show the UC?, a two-seat electric city car the company describes as a combination of individual and public transportation.

Rinspeed says the car’s name represents both “urban commuter” and “you see?”

Measuring only 8.2 feet long, the UC? is designed to be easily loaded onto a rail car when its driver wants to go on long trips. The car is operated with a joystick and powered by an electric motor generating about 100 lb-ft of torque. The concept has an estimated top speed of nearly 70 mph and a range of about 75 miles per charge.

Rinspeed says the UC? was designed for easy mass production. The company asserts that it is in “intensive” talks with high-level executive at unnamed carmakers.

Development programs that General Motors Co. delayed this year due to its bankruptcy filing and subsequent reorganization are now being accelerated, says Automotive News.

Vice Chairman Bob Lutz tells the newspaper GM is evaluating all pending programs and trying to pull forward as much as possible now that it has some cash to spend. Launch dates are being accelerated from the postponed dates set this summer, but Lutz says they may not be back to their original pre-bankruptcy targets.

Details were vague. The only specific program Lutz mentions is the next-generation Chevrolet Malibu midsize car. In August, GM said the model wouldn’t be introduced until 2012. Now Lutz says the car will debut a year sooner. Lutz says similar pull-forward plans are in the works for several other models, but he doesn’t identify the vehicles or their new launch timelines.

The new Malibu will ride on a shorter-wheelbase version of the platform that carries the 2010 Buick LaCrosse and 2011 Regal, but it will have a roomier interior than the current model, according to Lutz.

A little chrome can go a long way when it comes to creating a sense of luxury, General Motors Co. Vice Chairman Bob Lutz tells Automotive News. He points out that chrome around side window glass is a staple for German and Japanese luxury cars.

Spending $50 on chrome trim can yield more than a tenfold increase in perceived value, Lutz estimates. In his new role as special advisor on design and product development, Lutz is chroming up future models. This includes adding a chrome strip around the side glass of virtually all future GM cars. The only non-chrome dome will be the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze, which Lutz says was too far along to change.

Lutz took particular pride in the chrome window strip on a mockup of the 2011 Chevy Malibu shown at a Chevy event earlier this week. To accentuate the car’s all-new sheet metal, the Malibu also will sport chrome door handles and other high-end trim.

Ford Motor Co.’s Volvo unit will take the wraps off an updated version of its all-electric C30 concept car next month at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Volvo, which is in the process of being sold to China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, aims to begin fleet testing of 50 EVs in Europe within two years and retail sales in 2012.

Unlike the prototype EV Volvo showed in September, the premium hatchback being readied for Detroit includes a complete interior with full instrumentation and enhanced battery packaging. Powered by a 24-kWh lithium-ion battery-twice the size of the battery used in the original C30 EV concept-the electric C30 has a 93-mile driving range and a top speed of 81 mph. It takes eight hours to fully recharge the battery.

The car’s electric motor is fitted under the hood, and its 617 lbs of batteries are installed in the propshaft tunnel and the space normally occupied by the fuel tank. Volvo says the batteries are encapsulated, and the surrounding structure has been reinforced to ensure the electric model meets Volvo’s strict safety levels.

A123 Systems Inc. in Watertown, Mass., is forming a joint venture with China’s SAIC Motor Co. Ltd. to develop, manufacture and sell complete vehicle traction battery systems for use in hybrid and pure electric vehicles.

The new venture, called Shanghai Advanced Traction Battery Systems Co. (ATBS), will be owned 51% by SAIC Motor and 49% by A123 Systems. A123 will supply the battery cells and work with SAIC to design and develop the integrated battery systems for ATBS.

ATBS will be the preferred supplier of energy storage systems for all hybrid/electric vehicles produced by SAIC, including previously announced plans for a plug-in hybrid variant of the Chinese company’s Roewe 550 and a hybrid Roewe 750 sedan that are expected to yield 20% and 50% gains, respectively, over their conventionally powered counterparts. SAIC plans to launch an EV model by 2012.

The partners also will target electric applications for other passenger cars, heavy-duty trucks and buses in China. Founded by scientists linked to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, A123, says it is in various stages of talks with several different automakers about potential contracts. It already has worked with BMW, Chrysler, General Motors and Renault and has relationships with Delphi and Magna Steyr.