Mini is bringing out a not-so-mini 5 door model with, you guessed it, five doors. Based on the Cooper hatch with a little more room, the new car will retain all the styling of its smaller sibling but with added practicality.

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Rounding out Mercedes’ trio of small-sized performance models that already includes the A45 and CLA45 AMG is the GLA45 AMG late in the year. Borrowing the 265kW/450NM 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo powertrain from its siblings, the super hot crossover will feature Merc’s 4MATIC all-wheel drive system and a seven-speed dual clutch transmission.

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A facelift is on the way for Toyota's diminutive Yaris light-car in the second half of 2014, which is expected to carry refreshed styling to bring the tiny runabout into line with its larger Corolla sibling. The Ford Fiesta and Mazda2 rival will likely get some mechanical tweaks but Toyota is remaining quiet for now about precise changes to the range.

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Peugeot has completely redesigned its 308 small car to bring it into line with its current design language, giving it a cleaner VW Golf-esque look. The sleek 308 shares similar design cues to its smaller 208 sibling but features a massive 9.7-inch touchscreen that helps reduce the number of controls on the redesigned dash.

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BMW's new electric vehicle sub-brand, to be called 'BMW i', will arrive on our shores in mid-to-late 2014. The first two models will be the BMW i3 all-electric city car that was previously known as the Megacity Vehicle concept, and the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid super-coupe based on the Vision EfficientDynamics concept.

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Mazda’s new small car will arrive with revised styling to keep it in-step with the Japanese car-maker's Kodo design language. The entry level Mazda will take on the likes of the Toyota Yaris and Honda Jazz.

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Lexus will finally introduce a sub-RX SUV into its line-up, with the NX set to go on sale in late 2014/early 2015. The Audi Q5 rival is based on the polarising LF-NX concept from the 2013 Frankfurt motor show, but will carry a more toned-down design to better appeal to the masses.

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