We all hoped/thought that Tron was a relic left to the distant 80′s acid trips, but Audi has decided to bring it back again. Shown at the Frankfurt motor show their e-tron concept looks strangely close to production to me. Supposedly debuting two years from now as a 2012 production model buyers willing to fork out huge sums of cash will be treated to more than 3,300 ft-lbs of torque and 313hp, for no doubt very limited distances between charges.

Want a slightly different flavor of Fiesta? The Mazda2 should fit the bill.

Ford’s worst kept secret lately has been the new for North America Fiesta. Those who were hoping for a direct translation of the Euro-spec Fiesta might be a bit disappointed. The Fiesta shares a mere 60 percent of its parts in common with its European cousin, but thankfully gets a few improvements like Sync system and a new sedan variant. Er, if you consider those improvements. Inside the Fiesta’s plastics are typically frugal but overall no worse than the ubiquitous Corolla. Trunk room is fairly miniature sized but rear headroom even in the sedan is fairly good even with a 6’6 driver in the front seat.

Hyundai is continuing their roll in North America with their latest Sonata, and they know it. In (now) typical Hyundai fashion they stuck it to Toyota and Honda, touting not only their increase in sales in 2009, but their industry-besting CAFE numbers as well. Hyundai is claiming 35mpg highway for their new Sonata with the 2.4L GDI engine, and say the turbo GDI expected mid-2010 will get the same 35mpg on the highway. According to the President of Hyundai North America, the Sonata will be in showrooms in January 2010 and should list for under $20,000 with the usual bevy of standard equipment you expect in a Korean car. Check out TTAC’s review of a Korean-spec 2011 Sonata here.

Fiat be warned, Toyota is striking at the heart of Chrysler’s market: the minivan. The new 2010 Sienna takes the game one step further, featuring barcalounger class middle seats with leg and foot support. Toyota continues where others have left off, retaining their AWD option as well as a four and six cylinder engines, all equipped with six speed transmissions. The interior doesn’t reverse Toyota’s trend towards cheap and nasty plastics, but at least they should be easy to clean baby puke off of. Middle seats sport a sliding rail feature making it easy to insert three sprogs in the rear, but Kate plus 8 need not apply as seating is still a standard septuplet.

Chevrolet just pulled the wraps off the US market Cruze, not that there are any secrets left at GM these days where auto shows are concerned. Plus the Cruze has been available around the world for months already. The big news is that the interior is actually – not pulling any punches – world class. Previously only the French were able to make a cloth covered dash worth looking at, but GM has actually managed to make a press fleet-ready car with one. As long as you pick the top trim level, anyway.

VW’s biggest news from LA today is the Up! Lite, no doubt designed by some uptight Germans intent on bring a strange looking, Germanically efficient vehicle to the shores of America (or Poland). Obviously a result of VW’s development of a 100+MPG 1+1 seater car, the 70 mpg Up! Lite makes up for its homely looks with in-town efficiency. But then its main competition, the Toyota iQ and Smart FortTwo aren’t exactly lookers themselves. Under the hood lurks a 0.8L TDI engine and a 10kw electric motor making for leisurely acceleration despite the featherweight kerb figures.

TTAC was invited to Cadillac’s CTS Coupe wine-and-dine event yesterday, held in that prime habitat of the modern Cadillac: the hood. OK, so it was a trendy club located in an LA slum… same diff. The CTS coupe took center stage with the new SRX, CTS wagon, CTS-V and Escalade filling out the lineup. Where were the ugly-stepsisters the DTS and STS? Not invited said a Cadiilac rep. Upon first (long distance) glance the CTS Coupe looks entertaining, but it’s only when you get up close that the true weight of this beast hits you: this is one BIG coupe. Which is funny, considering the CTS Sportwagon next to it looks remarkably small for a wagon. But there’s the rub, Caddy is trying to do everything possible with the CTS with the minimum of effort (read: cost). The proportions of the CTS belie it’s uselessness: the rear seats have the leg room and width to coddle two linebackers but sadly only enough headroom for an oompa-loompa. The art and science design team gave the CTS coupe the most defined rump of the Cadillac lineup, a dramatic chevron which culminates in a steeply triangular rear bumper and trunk lid. And yes folks that’s a trunk lid, not a useful hatchback as we might have preferred. All in all, this is one square jawed Caddy, in the mold of the classic personal luxury coupe.

At this week’s LA Auto Show Honda’s vice president of corporate planning and logistics told Marketwatch that Honda is considering expanding production of its popular Fit to the United States. “We have about 19 days worth of supply, which is much too low,” said Honda VP Dan Bonawitz. “We can’t fill all our dealer orders.” Honda is “exploring all options” to ramp-up Fit supply, Bonawitz said.

Up till now nobody knew Madza was competing with VW/Audi for the “largest grille” award. For those that don’t believe us, take a gander  at the schnoz on the new Mazda 3. Mazda reps assure us this mug is the future of the entire brand (God helps us). Despite the fact that the Mazda 3 looks set to devour smaller cars and motorcyclists on the road it does at least promise more Zoom-Zoom with Ford’s corporate 2.5L I4 engine good for 167HP or the time honoured 2.0L I4 good for 148HP. Sadly Ford’s corporate 6 speed tranny isn’t along for the ride, nor are any of the Volvo P1 turbo engines (the 3′s platform mate across the pond) or Ford’s SYNC. Premium features on this new whip include Xenon headlamps, keyless ignition and the requisite bluetooth and iPod integration. The only question: can the features make up for the wacky front end grin and Mistubishi-grade interior? Mazdaspeed 3 anyone?