(January 9, 2012) DETROIT — The Hyundai Elantra and Land Rover Range Rover Evoque were named 2012 North American Car and Truck of the Year today by a panel of 50 automotive journalists.

The Ford Focus and Volkswagen Passat were the other finalists for car of the year, while the BMW X3 and Honda CR-V were the other truck of the year finalists. This is the second time that Hyundai has won the award, previously winning for the Genesis in 2009. This is the first time that Range Rover has won.

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(January 8, 2012) Toyota hopes to breath some life into its big flagship Land Cruiser SUV, which made the worst-selling-vehicles-of-2011 list with just 1,662 units leaving showrooms.

The Land Cruiser has been around for 60 years since its original launch in Japan, but you can be forgiven if you did not realize it is still being sold in North America. It's a big eight-seat SUV.

(January 6, 2012) WOLFSBURG, Germany — For the first time Volkswagen has delivered more than 5 million passenger cars worldwide for a 12-month period. Volkswagen ended 2011 with 5.1 million sales, a 13.1 percent increase over 2010.

"The Volkswagen passenger cars brand made major gains last year thanks to a fresh, innovative and environmentally-friendly model range. Our new vehicles such as the Passat, Jetta and Beetle, as well as the up!, have made an excellent start in difficult market conditions — conditions that will remain challenging in 2012 — and significantly strengthened Volkswagen's competitive position," said Christian Kingler, the group board member for sales.

(January 6, 2011) WARREN, Mich. – General Motors has announced enhancements and modifications to the vehicle structure and battery coolant system in the Chevrolet Volt that would further protect the battery from the possibility of an electrical fire occurring days or weeks after a severe crash.