(October 6, 2009) BRENTWOOD, Essex — Ford’s fastest-ever European production car, the 163 mph Focus RS, added a surprising new figure to its remarkable performance statistics —  an average fuel consumption of 38.5 mpg.

This impressive result, one of the best in its class, was officially recorded during the UK’s seventh annual MPG Marathon, which finished this week.

(October 6, 2009) Kia has introduced the all-new 2011 Sorento CUV, the first vehicle that will roll off the line at Kia Motors’ state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in West Point, Georgia. The Georgia plant will have the capacity to build 300,000 vehicles a year.

The new Sorento adopts Kia signature design cues and, according to Kia, offers the U.S. market a well-equipped, well-appointed and versatile CUV.

(October 5, 2009) DENVER — An all-new Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle (PPV) will join the ranks of law enforcement departments across North America in 2011. It’s a modern, full-size, rear-drive sedan that will offer both V-8 and V-6 engines, as well as a host of specialized equipment and features.

Chevrolet made the announcement at the annual International Association of Chiefs of Police convention, in Denver. The Caprice PPV will be available for ordering next year and will hit the streets in early 2011.

(October 5, 2009) AutoWeek reports that General Motors has halted production of Saturn cars and crossovers and plans to sell the thousands of Saturn vehicles it has in stock within the next four months.

Many of the vehicles were built to supply to Penske Automotive Group Inc. But on Sept. 30, GM's expected sale of Saturn to Penske was canceled.

Within 24 hours of that news, GM built the last Saturn vehicles, said GM spokeswoman Sherrie Arb.

(October 2009) U.S. light-vehicle sales in September 2009 skidded 25.7% to 744,161 units from 962,097 unit sales in the same month last year, and were 41% below August 2009 delivery totals, when the government’s CARS (Cash for Clunkers) incentive program concluded.

September’s 9.3 million-unit seasonally adjusted annual sales rate (SAAR) likely was the second-lowest monthly sales pace this year after February’s 9.1 million-unit SAAR, according to the J.D. Power and Associates Sales Report.

A few September sales highlights:

(October 5, 2009) DETROIT — Automotive News reports that Chrysler Group has created a new brand called Ram for its trucks and named its top designer, Ralph Gilles, as CEO of Dodge cars.

The new structure overhauls a setup announced in June as the automaker emerged from bankruptcy in an alliance with Fiat. Michael Accavitti, who had led the Dodge brand, has "resigned to pursue other interests," the company said in a statement.

Fred Diaz is president and CEO of the Ram brand.

(October 3, 2009) Japanese car maker Nissan has revealed new sketches of its global compact car model that will be manufactured in five different countries including its Chennai facility in India.

(October 5, 2009) Audi is recalling more than 10,000 A3, TT and TT roadster cars with “quattro” transmissions because of a potential fuel leak while driving. A3 model years of 2006-2010 are affected, as well as 2008-2010 TT models.

Dealers will not be notified until parts are available.

(October 2, 2009) South Korean automaker Hyundai/Kia was the clear U.S. sales winner in September. And two of the three U.S. automakers turned in dismal sales results, comparing September 2009 with September 2008.

The Hyundai group was up an amazing 26 percent compared to 2008 with sales of 96,626.

Ford continued its recent success, down just 5 percent from last year, easily gaining market share over General Motors, which was down a whopping 45 percent, Chrysler, and its major Japanese rivals.

(October 1, 2009) It's sad news. The great experiment to fend off import brands will become a permanent part of history after nearly 25 years.

The Saturn brand, created by General Motors in 1983, was launched in 1990 with great success selling quirky small cars with dent-resistant doors and fuel-efficient four-cylinder engines. Now it has been announced that Penske Automotive is backing out of a deal to purchase Saturn, a deal that appeared for months to be a certainty.