(September 8, 2012) LONDON — Renault’s unique two-seat Twizy was the star of star-studded UK event recently, as a show-stealing, four-wheeled lifestyle accessory to help raise money for the rocking charity "Freddie For A Day."

Resplendent in a white and yellow livery, complete with trademark mustache, the one-off creation was designed to pay homage to Freddie Mercury, the iconic former Queen frontman, with all proceeds helping in the fight against AIDS, which claimed Freddie in 1991.

(September 7, 2012) AGUASCALIENTES, Mexico — Nissan has started production of the all-new Sentra compact car at its Aguascalientes 1 manufacturing plant in México. The fourth generation Sentra, which boasts a stylish new design, increased fuel economy and additional safety features, will represent about half of the plant's automotive production, which also makes the Tiida and Versa.

(September 7, 2012) ROLLE, Switzerland — Nissan has announced European sales of 41,832 units in August, recording a market share increase for the third successive month. Despite challenging conditions in some European markets, continuing strong demand in Russia and the UK means Nissan remains ahead of what was a record 2011 by 4 percent in overall volume terms, calendar year-to-date.

(September 7, 2012) DETROIT — Some 4,250 General Motors employees nationwide will take on 110 community service projects – from building houses to cleaning up rivers to bagging and distributing groceries — as part of the first teamGM Cares volunteer week from Sept.10-15.

(September 7, 2012) AMSTERDAM — Ford has detailed an aggressive product acceleration in Europe leveraging the company’s One Ford global portfolio and targeting opportunities for growth in the large car, SUV and commercial vehicle segments.

(September 7, 2012) AUSTIN, Texas — General Motors is hiring software developers, project managers, database experts, business analysts and other information technology professionals to staff the first of several new IT Innovation Centers in the United States intended to drive breakthrough ideas into GM vehicles and business processes globally. 

(September 7, 2012) LONDON — Last night, in the quintessentially British setting of the Royal Ballet School in Richmond Park, Land Rover revealed the new Range Rover, the fourth generation of the iconic luxury SUV.

The international audience, including leaders from business, film, television and sport gathered to witness a dramatic reveal and celebrate one of the world's most iconic vehicles. Many of the guests, from Olympic medallists to royalty, were long-standing Range Rover owners and enthusiasts keen to get the first view of the All-New Range Rover in the metal.

(September 6, 2012) SHANGHAI — General Motors and its joint ventures set a new August sales mark in China. Sales rose 7.3 percent from the previous August and 10.8 percent from July to 220,996 units.

All three of GM’s key manufacturing joint ventures set sales records for the month. Shanghai GM’s domestic sales were up 11.7 percent on an annual basis to 110,209 units. SAIC-GM-Wuling’s sales in China rose 3.4 percent to 106,500 units. FAW-GM’s domestic sales increased 17.4 percent to 4,117 units.

(September 6, 2012) NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Nissan Leaf will almost certainly not hit the Japanese automaker's U.S. sales target of 20,000 for 2012, sales figures released Tuesday show.

Sales of the electric Nissan Leaf continued to struggle in August, though they were up over July. Nissan Motor Co. said it sold just 685 Leafs in August, down 50 percent from August 2011. For the year, Nissan has sold 4,228, down 31.5 percent.

(September 6, 2012) DETROIT — Ford has issued a third recall of its newly launched 2013 Escape, saying an improperly installed part could cause a fire in the engine compartment. The recall affects about 7,600 Escapes equipped with 1.6-liter engines.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Web site says the vehicles were built between Oct. 5, 2011, and Aug. 31, 2012.