Dr. Jurgen Leohold, Executive Director Volkswagen Group Research on Friday introduced the “Temporary Auto Pilot” (TAP) by Volkswagen at the EU research project HAVEit (Highly Automated Vehicles for Intelligent Transport).

With TAP, the car can drive semiautomatically up to a speed of 80 miles per hour, under the driver’s
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Bloomberg NewsToyota Motor Corp.’s Prius Plug-in Hybrid vehicles are parked during a media preview test drive in Hitachiota City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, in June.

Bolstered by government incentives for purchases of fuel-efficient vehicles in the first eight months, domestic sales rebounded from 2009 lows stretching back at least 30 years, only to slide again after the subsidies expired in September.

The Japan Automobile Dealers Association said sales of new cars, trucks and buses rose 10.6% to 3.23 million vehicles in 2010—the first increase since 2003, when sales rose 1.5% to 4.03 million vehicles.

A spokesman for the auto-dealers….read more

The headline is attention-grabbing. A former Chinese auto executive is proposing a $6 billion plant in economically-distressed north Mississippi that will employ 25,000 people and produce one million cars a year.

Automotive News’ story is both intriguing and complicated – and not just because three players are named Wang, one is named Yang – so buckle up for the short-and-sweet Autoblog version…read more

The 2011 Hyundai Sonata hybrid has only one trim, and it will start at $25,795, excluding…read more

The Mini is known for its pint-sized proportions – but one mechanic has taken tiny to the next dimension by shrinking the classic car to fit inside his motor home. The cherry red version of the 1964 Mini 850, has been shortened from 3m (10ft) long to just 2.4m (7ft 10in) so Lester Atherfold can transport it in his AEC Reliance coach. He also reduced the width to 1.4m (4ft 8in). But despite its size, the little wonder still manages to reach speeds of 75mph with its 1100cc motor and weighs about 600kg (94st). ‘The Mini was the only car in the world that would fit in the motorhome, all the others were too big and tall,’ said the 67-year-old, from Napier, New Zealand. ‘No other car in the world would fit under your bed – and it can sneak into the smallest of car parking spaces. ‘The car gives us our freedom from the motorhome when we are away on holiday. It allows us to see and do things which we would otherwise not be able to do if we just had the motorhome.’ The customisation cost £95, as Mr Atherfold fitted a new motor, transmission, sub-frame, clutch and dashboard from a Mini Clubman. ‘People often laugh at the car, especially young girls for some reason,’ he added. ‘The car makes people happy – it brings a smile to people’s faces. It’s priceless, it belongs to the bus.’ Mr Atherfold claimed he had taken the car to ‘every corner of New Zealand’ and hoped to bring it to Britain soon.

Internet search engine giant Google announced Tuesday that it is investing in a mammoth project to build an underwater “superhighway for clean energy” that would be able to funnel power from offshore wind farms to 1.9 million homes without overtaxing the already congested mid-Atlantic power grid…read more