GM's ETHANOL PARTNERSHIP:General Motors has gone into partnership with a US ethanol research company that promises to deliver the biofuel to forecourts at less than $1 a gallon in the next few years.
Coskata claims to have developed a new production system that will allow it to produce ethanol from not just corn, but from household waste and even old tyres. It promises to use a third of the water currently involved in ethanol production. The company hopes to create outside partnerships with waste management companies and plans to have a plant in operation in the UK by 2013.
HONDA HYBRID CONCEPT FOR PRODUCTION:Honda is to put its CRZ hybrid concept car into production, becoming what the Japanese brand claims will be the first hybrid sports car from a mainstream manufacturer. This will be accompanied by a small car hybrid model, bringing to three the number of hybrid variants on offer by the brand.
Honda will also introduce a new version of its 2.2-litre diesel engine later this year, offering lower CO2 emissions and better fuel consumption.
CHEVVY CAMARO FOR EUROPE BY 2010:Chevrolet has confirmed it will bring its new Camaro to Europe by 2010 and that the car will be sold in right-hand-drive, although it's not certain that it will make its way to Irish dealers. The legendary US muscle car is an icon for the brand, and is a rival to Ford's Mustang.
Chevrolet Europe boss Wayne Brannon confirmed that the Matiz name will end in the next few years when the replacement is introduced.
Its replacement is likely to be the Beat concept car, although the name is not certain to carry forward into production.
COMMISSIONER TO RUN BERTONE:A Turin bankruptcy court has decided that a special commissioner should run the Italian car design and independent production house Carrozzeria Bertone. The Italian government will now appoint up to three special commissioners to run the Italian contract manufacturer.
Bertone stopped volume car production in December 2005. Since then it has struggled financially.
HONDA DISPUTES TATA CLAIM:Honda's chief executive has disputed the low-cost business model championed by India's Tata Motors, saying that bad roads and high petrol prices would keep many emerging market travellers on motorcycles for years to come.
Takeo Fukui said that Honda was developing its own microcar, but that much of its strategy for new markets such as India would rest on improved motorcycles.
Honda is the world's largest motorcycle producer and owns a stake in Hero Honda, India's largest producer of two-wheel vehicles. "We are taking a completely different decision than Tata is taking," Takeo Fukui said at the Detroit motor Show. "We are trying to go higher up with motorcycles." He added: "If you go into these regions, the roads are full of motorcycles." Tata last week unveiled the Nano (pictured above), a €1,700 car aimed at luring millions of new drivers in India into their first four-wheel vehicles.