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Faurecia has signed an industrial partnership agreement with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation to co-develop bioplastics designed for mass-production for use in automotive interiors.

Italy joined France and Spain in reporting a monthly drop in new-car sales in October as deliveries fell 12.3 percent to 116,875 vehicles.

Call this the gathering of cars you're amazed even started. Yet, there were over 300 of them by 11:00 a.m., spread all over the lawn and under the trees in Woodley Park in Van Nuys, Calif. for the annual

Heated and cooled seat specialist Gentherm, formerly Amerigon, has unveiled third quarter net income attributable to common shareholders of US$2.6m.

Toyota has posted first half fiscal year results from April to September with net income rising to JPY548.2bn (US$6.9bn), sales up by nearly 1.5m units and revenue soaring 36%.

Toyota raised its full-year net profit forecast by 2.6 percent to 780 billion yen ($9.7 billion) after July-September net profit more than tripled to 257.9 billion yen on solid vehicle sales in North America and Southeast Asia.

Toyota is studying whether to keep the hybrid line's aerodynamic wedge-shape as the automaker designs the next-generation car, due to arrive in the spring of 2014.

Hyundai and Kia built their reputations with high-mpg vehicles in the past few years. But much of that marketing sparkle went poof last week.

Insurance checks cut in November and December are expected to help automakers and dealers more than make up for the sales that Hurricane Sandy wiped out at the end of October.

Like a lot of other car company honchos, former Lexus and Toyota executive Dave Illingworth wanted to become a dealer. So in the thick of the recession he opened Toyota of Warsaw, a new store in Warsaw, Ind., population 13,500.

GM is spending more than $5 billion to transform its dealership network. But not all of that cash is going toward shiny tile and silver exterior cladding.

Honda Motor Co. President Takanobu Ito expects the subcompact Fit hatchback to be Honda's fastest-growing nameplate in North America over the next four years.

Alan Mulally will stay Ford Motor Co. CEO at least through 2014. Joe Hinrichs (pictured) will return from the Asia Pacific Africa region to head Ford's business in the Americas. Oh, yeah, and Mark Fields is Ford's COO.

Nissan Motor Co. CEO Carlos Ghosn says the company will need another assembly plant in North America within five years -- after it reaches his goal of taking 10 percent of the U.S. market.

Kimi Raikkonen's victory in Sunday's Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi marked Lotus' first victory in Formula 1 since 1987 with the legendary Ayrton Senna.

A period of 25 years 4 months and 15 days separated the two victories.

Lotus' previous win took place at the US Grand Prix in the streets of Detroit on June 21, 1987. Ayrton Senna was driving a Lotus-Honda 99T turbo shod on Goodyear tires and fitted with the revolutionary Peter Wright designed active suspension.

Senna qualified second on the grid behind Nigel Mansell in the Williams-Honda. Senna took the lead on lap 34 when Mansell had to slow down. Senna led all remaining laps and won the race.

It was Senna's sixth victory in F1, and Lotus' 79th win.

Six Formula 1 teams have stayed in the paddock of the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi to take part in the young driver three-day test.

Red Bull Racing, Lotus, McLaren, Sauber, Toro Rosso, and Caterham elected to stay in Abu Dhabi to run these tests. The other F1 teams already took part in the two previous tests held at Silverstone, UK and Magny-Cours, France.

Photo: WRi2

Here is the program for the three days, as well as the drivers listed:

Red Bull Racing
Antonio Félix da Costa (Tuesday and Wednesday) and Robin Frijns (Thursday);

Lotus
Nicolas Prost (Tuesday), Edoardo Mortara (Wednesday) and Davide Valsecchi (Thursday);

McLaren
Gary Paffett (Tuesday pm and Wednesday am), Oliver Turvey (Wednesday pm and Thursday am) and Kevin Magnussen (Tuesday am and Thursday pm);

Sauber
Robin Frijns (Tuesday), Esteban Gutiérrez (Wednesday and Thursday);

Toro Rosso
Luiz Razia (Tuesday et Thursday) and Johnny Cecotto Jr (Wednesday);

Caterham
Giedo Van der Garde (Tuesday and Wednesday) and Alexander Rossi (Thursday).

Recent winner of the Petit Le Mans in Road Atlanta, Frenchman Nicolas Prost will Tuesday take the wheel of Lotus E20 usually assigned to Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen in the yopung driver test at Abu Dhabi.

The son of fourt-ime F1 champion Alain Prost had so far not had the opportunity to take part in Formula 1 official testing.

Nicolas Prost, Lotus (Photo: WRI2)

At each of his performances at the wheel of a Lotus - particularly in the context of the World Series by Renault - the Rebellion Racing regular had to settle for an older generation model (obliged by regulations).

This time it is the 2012 version of the Lotus that he will drive on November 6-8 at the Yas Marina circuit. This will be an opportunity for him to compete against other young talents from different backgrounds.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for me to gain experience at the highest level of motorsport. I have finished twice as the first "privateer" in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and I'm fourth in the World Endurance Championship, this is an exiting direction in my driving career,” said Nicolas Prost.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. (TMMC) announced the production of the company's 5 millionth vehicle in Canada at its Cambridge, ON assembly plant.

"From humble beginnings, today TMMC is a globally respected manufacturing operation that can produce more than 500,000 vehicles per year,'' said TMMC Chairman Ray Tanguay. ''Our success has allowed us to create more good jobs for Canadians and become a better corporate citizen for our community."

TMMC currently builds the Toyota Corolla, Matrix, RAV4 and RAV4 EV, as well as the Lexus RX 350. The RX 450h hybrid CUV will be added in 2014. This makes Canada the only production site for Lexus vehicles outside of Japan.

Since 1988, the TMMC workforce has grown from 1,000 to 6,500.

During a press conference held last Friday, Hyundai Canada and Kia Canada announced errors in the fuel consumption ratings for several 2010-2013 models and promised to reimburse affected customers with a personalized, pre-paid credit card.

It may not be enough, however: Consumers in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and other provinces have just filed class-action lawsuits against the two companies.

"Hyundai and Kia need to properly compensate Canadians who purchased these vehicles. They need to explain to Canadians what the real fuel mileage numbers are, and how long they've been aware of those real numbers. And then they need to provide proper compensation in line with what these buyers deserve. The compensation program that the companies have announced certainly helps, but does not provide a full and adequate remedy," said Matthew Baer, a lawyer with Siskinds.

If you've purchased or leased one of the affected vehicles, visit www.classaction.ca for more information.

GM has issued a recall on the 2012 Buick Verano as well as the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic and Cruze. A total of 500 vehicles are affected.

Apparently, the primary stage of the driver's front airbag may not deploy during a crash (where deployment is warranted), which could obviously increase the risk of an injury.

Therefore, GM Canada dealers will replace the steering wheel airbag coil.

Source: Transports Canada

Photo: IIHS