Volkswagen’s Spain-based SEAT division has announced it will travel to the Frankfurt Motor Show to introduce the Leon Cross Sport.

Details surrounding the Leon Cross Sport are vague at best, but it’s safe to assume that it will bow as a design study rather than as a production model. Based on the two-door Leon SC hatchback, the Cross Sport features a much higher suspension, black plastic cladding over the wheel arches and on the rocker panels, honeycomb inserts in the grille and in the lower bumper as well as roof rails.

Photos of the back end have not been published yet. Similarly, what the concept looks like inside and what it’s powered by is anyone’s guess at this point. The Golf-sized hatchback on which it’s based is offered with a long list of engines ranging from a 1.2-liter that makes 86 horsepower to a 2.0-liter tuned to generate 285 ponies.

We’ll learn more about the SEAT Leon Cross Sport tomorrow when the Frankfurt show opens its doors to the press. While the Leon on stilts is likely little more than a concept, SEAT isn’t shy about admitting that it’s busily developing its first-ever SUV, so the Cross could give us insight into what we can expect from it.

Walter de Silva, head of Volkswagen Group’s design, will be the new chairman of ItalDesign Giugiaro.

According to Automotive News, De Silva will keep his position as design director in charge of all of VW’s brands. Under his leadership, Italdesign Giugiaro will become a design and innovation hub for them all, Audi, Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini, and Ducati included.

Earlier this year, legendary auto designer Giorgetto Giugiaro stepped down from the company that bore his name, which he founded in 1968. At the time he and his son sold their remaining stake in the firm after an Audi buyout in 2010.

De Silva began his career with VW Group in 2000 when Ferdinand Piech appointed him to the company’s SEAT division. In 2002, he began working under Audi, guiding the brand’s design revolution that took place during the 2000s. By 2007, he had become head of VW Design.

Cars credited to de Silva include most modern Audis — including the 2004 A6, 2006 TT, 2005 Q7, A5, and the R8 supercar — as well as the VW CC, 2008 Golf and Scirocco, 2010 Jetta and Passat and Touareg, and 2011 Beetle. De Silva has also penned the 2006 Lamborghini Miura concept and the 2013 Lamborghini Egoista. Prior to VW, he worked at Alfa Romeo.

ItalDesign Giugiaro, which will boast a workforce of 1,000, will also open an academy for designers in 2018 to coincide with its 50th anniversary. In addition to industrial design, the academy will teach students, numbering 50-60 each year, disciplines such as fine arts, history and philosophy, because De Silva believes that “Good design is a product of good culture.”

Although it’s dying a slow death, Fiat-owned Lancia will travel to next week’s Frankfurt Motor Show to introduce the facelifted 2016 Ypsilon city car. The updates coincide with the nameplate’s 30th birthday.

The facelifted Ypsilon stands out from the outgoing model thanks to a redesigned front end with a smaller grille and a wider air dam accented by a thin piece of chrome trim. Out back, the updates are largely limited to a body-colored piece of trim on the bumper. New alloy wheel designs round out the exterior modifications.

Lancia promises the dashboard has been updated, too, but pictures haven’t been published yet.

Mechanically, Lancia offers the 2016 Ypsilon with an entry-level 1.2-liter four-cylinder tuned to make 69 horsepower and a two-cylinder 0.9-liter Twin Air mill rated at 85 horsepower. A 95-horsepower 1.3-liter four-cylinder turbodiesel unit is also available. All engines send power to the front wheels via a manual transmission.

Following its debut in Frankfurt, the 2016 Lancia Ypsilon will go on sale in a handful of European countries before the end of the year. It carries a base price of €13,200 (roughly $15,000) in Italy, its biggest market by a long shot.

What’s next?

Lancia’s lineup has been reduced to the aforementioned Ypsilon and a minivan called Voyager that’s little more than a re-badged version of the aging Chrysler Town & Country. The Voyager will be phased out at the same time as the Town & Country, and the Ypsilon will soldier on until the brand is shuttered.

The Pontiac Aztek, among other discontinued vehicles, is enjoying newfound popularity on the used car shopping lists of Millennials.

A recent Edmunds survey listed 10 cars that had the largest proportion of Millennial buyers — defined as customers 18 to 34 years of age — in the second-hand market. While the industry averaged a 16.8 percent for most models, the top ten models all saw 24.7 percent of their sales or higher go towards Millennials.

Widely regarded as one of the ugliest cars ever built, the Pontiac Aztek ranked in sixth place, with over a quarter of all sales going to Millennials. Edmunds called it a result of the Breaking Bad Effect, named after the hit TV show that followed the exploits of a chemistry teacher turned meth kingpin. The main character of the show drove an Aztek.

Other somewhat surprising choices, including the defunct Chrysler Pacifica and Saturn Outlook. In fact, six of the ten cars on the list were no longer in production. Domestic SUVs were also popular, with the Chevy Trailblazer and Dodge Durango. Meanwhile, proving that the stigma of mom’s station wagon has all but completely vanished, the Dodge Magnum topped the list with 27.6 percent of all sales going to 18-34-year-olds.

Edmunds’ analysis of the survey theorized that Millennials are looking for a combination of practicality and low cost.

Rounding out the list were the Nissan GT-R, Lexus IS-F, Subaru WRX and VW Golf R32, all enthusiast cars that deserve mention, as there is a common belief in the auto industry that Millennials care more about tech features than driving performance. Or, perhaps it’s due to the fact that it is a generation bombarded with a seven-film street racing franchise — the Fast and Furious Effect, if you will.

Mercedes-Benz is teasing an new show car to be unveiled in Frankfurt next week. Named the Concept IAA, the only image revealed thus far shows a sloping rear window.

There’s not much to go on at this point, but we do know that Mercedes-Benz has a penchant for showcasing radical new concept cars brimming with technology at the largest auto show in its home country. IAA is the German name for the Frankfurt Motor Show, Internationale Automobil Ausstellung, or International Automobile Exhibition.

The rear tumblehome is notable for its expansive span of glass, which appears to be a compound curve, bending along the lengthwise roof profile and curving around the sides of the car as well, a la 1964 Plymouth Barracuda. A large rear brake light appears to span the width of the trunk.

The shape implies that the car will be either a four door “coupe” that is all the rage these days among German automakers, something like the Audi A7 Sportback or Mercedes CLS. Or, it could be a smaller car styled for fuel efficiency, like the Toyota Prius. Another thought is that this could signal the “Tesla fighter” Mercedes-Benz is working on.

The car will be revealed in its entirety on September 14.

Volkswagen’s Commercial Vehicles division will introduce a more rugged-looking version of the small Caddy van at next week’s Frankfurt Motor Show. Dubbed Caddy Alltrack, it is billed as a successor to the Cross Caddy that was phased out recently.

The newest Caddy off-shoot falls in line with other Alltrack-badged members of the Volkswagen lineup like the Passat and the Golf SportWagen. It gains black plastic trim on the wheel arches and the rocker panels, brushed aluminum-look inserts in both bumpers, silver mirror caps and a model-specific three-slat grille. The Alltrack is available as both a passenger van aimed at families with an active lifestyle and a panel van designed primarily for business users.

Passenger vans offer special seat covers, folding tables built into the front seat backs, a leather-upholstered steering wheel and a chrome package. The list of standard features includes an auto-dimming rear-view mirror, automatic headlights, rain-sensing wipers and a five-inch touch screen.

Buyers in the market for a gasoline-burning Caddy can choose either a 1.0-liter, a 1.2-liter or a 1.4-liter. Those seeking a diesel engine can order a 2.0-liter TDI that’s offered in three tunes ranging from 74 to 149 horsepower. Front-wheel drive comes standard, and Volkswagen’s 4Motion all-wheel drive system can be ordered at an extra cost.

In Germany, the Caddy Alltrack panel van carries a base price of €16,485, a sum that converts to approximately $19,000. The family-focused passenger van starts at €24,359 (about $28,000).

After spending no less than 54 years in the history books, Germany’s Borgward will travel to next week’s Frankfurt Motor Show to introduce a SUV called BX7. The company was recently revived by Beiqi Foton Motor, one of the largest commercial vehicle manufacturers in China.

Designed by former Saab designer Einar Hareide, the BX7′s front end gains sharp, slightly up-swept headlights and a 17-slat grille with a modern rendition of the diamond-shaped emblem found on Borgwards built half a century ago. It inaugurates the design language that will influence all of the company’s upcoming models.

The BX7 stretches 185 inches long, a figure that makes it roughly half a foot shorter than a BMW X5. Borgward hasn’t revealed if the BX7 is an all-new model, or if it rides on an existing platform.

Interior pictures haven’t been published, but the car maker says the BX7 will be offered with either five, six or seven seats. A 12.3-inch touch screen will run the SUV’s infotainment system, and buyers will be able to order adaptive cruise control and a 360-degree camera.

German magazine Auto Bild reports the BX7 will go on sale in China, where it will be built, and in a handful of emerging markets next year. The company hopes to eventually sell cars in Europe once again, but a more specific time frame is not available. At this point, seeing the Borgward brand return to the United States – where it was present from 1949 until it shut down in 1961 – is unlikely at best.

What’s next?

To quickly re-join the ranks of mainstream automakers, Borgward ambitiously plans on introducing no less than two new models every year until it has built up a full lineup made up largely of crossovers and sedans. If everything goes according to plan, Borgward will build 800,000 cars annually in 2020 and no less than 1.6 million cars a year by 2025.