(June 24, 2010) BANGKOK, Thailand — Ford today announced it is investing $450 million in a new state-of-the-art passenger vehicle manufacturing plant in Rayong, Thailand, scheduled for completion in 2012.

(June 23, 2010) BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Lots of states have official flowers and official birds. Texas has official footwear. Vermont has an official flavor. And several states have official muffins. Kentucky now has an official state sports car — the Chevrolet Corvette.

Governor Steve Beshear performed a ceremonial signing of House Bill 104 at the Bowling Green Assembly Plant on Tuesday. He signed the official bill on April 26.

(June 22, 2010) DETROIT — The Nissan Leaf was named Production Preview Vehicle of the Year and the Audi e-tron and the BMW Vision Efficient Dynamics were named co-winners of the Most Significant Concept Vehicle of 2010.

The winners were announced at the ninth annual North American Concept Vehicle of the Year Awards Monday during a ceremony at the Automotive Hall of Fame. The awards recognize those vehicles most likely to shape the future of the automobile industry.

A jury of more than two dozen North American automotive journalists selected the winners from19 Concept Vehicles and eight Production Preview Vehicles that made a North American debut during the 2010 Auto Show season.

(June 21, 2010) DEARBORN, Mich. — Thousands of Ford E-Series vans are achieving a whopping 150 passenger-miles per gallon each day as commuter vehicles for VPSI, a leader in developing and maintaining world-class vanpool programs.

A combination of Ford E-150, E-250 and E-350 models represent about 70 percent of VPSI’s 5,000-vehicle fleet and transport more than 40,000 people in the United States to and from work each day.