Crossover

Lincoln pulled the cover off a concept crossover dubbed the MKC on Sunday morning ahead of the Detroit Auto Show. But don't put too much stock in the whole "concept" part. Based on the same platform that underpins the compact Ford Escape crossover, the MKC will almost certainly be the next release from Lincoln. Though Lincoln called the concept merely an "indication of a future Lincoln product," a production version of the MKC would likely look nearly identical and go on sale within a year.

What do you call the next coupe version of BMW's venerable 3 Series lineup? Hint: not a 3 Series. On Wednesday, the company released the first concept images of what will be the BMW 4 Series coupe when it comes to market in 2013. Though the car is entirely based on the latest generation 3 Series that we tested in early 2012 , BMW will now put the sportier coupe and convertible versions under the 4 Series banner. Thus you should expect a a base 428i to have the sedan's 2-liter, turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine making something in the neighborhood of 240 horsepower.

Mitsubishi used the final major press conference of Thursday's Los Angeles Auto Show to unveil an all-new version of its seven-passenger crossover SUV, the Outlander. Yoichi Yokozawa, president and CEO of Mitsubishi North America, also used the event to stress the company's investment in U.S. manufacturing, saying increased exports of vehicles made in the U.S. would help Mitsubishi's bottom line. "This not only helps reduce our yen-dollar exchange rate challenges, [but] we are also exporting a significant number of these new models to Russia, to the Middle East, and to Central and South America," Yokozawa said.

Concept vehicles at auto shows are a funny business. Some are far-off interpretations of current vehicles, which may never see actual production. Others are merely thinly-disguised previews of something an automaker has up its sleeve in the next year. Nissan's Hi-Cross Concept falls distinctly into the latter category. The vehicle, which will be a part of Nissan's display at the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show, wears typical concept window dressing like a space-age interior and exotic headlight and taillight treatments.

Priyanka Chopra looks like a pop star when she struts into Hollywood's Chalice Studios, entourage in tow. Her sultry smile, body-hugging dress and towering heels command attention. She has the image, sure. But not the name. At least not outside of India. Yet Chopra, 30, is here to listen to her debut album helmed by Grammy Award-winning producer-songwriter RedOne (a.k.a. Nadir Khayat), the same guy who catapulted Lady Gaga into superstardom. PHOTOS: Hollywood back lot moments For the last decade Priyanka has been a Bollywood celeb.

Jim Rome cut his teeth talking sports on Southern California radio, taking his show to locales such as Reuben's in Brea and the Rose and Crown pub in Anaheim to bond with fans and build an audience, delivering a smart, opinionated style. He succeeded. Rome this week will introduce the second of three series attached to his move to CBS this year, debuting "Jim Rome on Showtime. " Rome has a daily television show on CBS Sports Network, and his CBS radio show will launch in January.

Even in vividly blue California, President Obama's luster has faded since his historic victory here in 2008, a new poll has found. Despite his sizable lead over Mitt Romney, the president is unlikely to repeat his historic 2008 margin of victory here because of his diminished power to pull in people who don't traditionally support Democrats, according to the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll. The drop in appeal across party and demographic lines has translated, at this point, to a 14-point edge over the Republican nominee among likely voters - well below Obama's 24-point victory in 2008, the biggest margin in modern times.

Jason Aldean and Jamey Johnson are both country singers who were born in the mid-1970s. Both hail from the Deep South. And both men have new albums out on Tuesday, in each case the anticipated follow-up to a profile-boosting 2010 disc. But that's about the extent of what these two share: With "Night Train" and "Living for a Song," respectively, Aldean and Johnson are positioning themselves at opposite ends of the current country-music scene; their records reflect vastly different ideas about the meaning (and the usefulness)

Autumn is a grand time to be a gearhead. By fall, most of next year's vehicles are in dealerships and we can finally compare and contrast them for ourselves. No more idle speculation about how much oomph the new Audi will have. No more flame wars in the blogosphere about whether Chevy or Ford makes the most capable pickup.  We invited a quartet of auto experts to discuss some of the new (and imminent) SUVs, crossovers and trucks that have critics raving and drivers craving.