AutoWeek Daily Drive — Friday, December 24, 2010

HOME   |   CAR NEWS   |   CAR REVIEWS   |   RACING   |   AUTOSHOWS   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   MARKETPLACE Friday, December 24, 2010                  A sketch of the Kia KV7 concept vehicle.... Detroit auto show: Kia KV7 explores ways to haul people Korean automaker Kia has provided a first look at the concept vehicle, named KV 7, it is bringing to the Detroit auto show in early January. Based on a sketch released by Kia, the KV7 appears to offer an alternative to minivans. The two-box design is reminiscent of vehicles such as the Ford Flex. In addition to a conventional, front-hinged door, the sketch shows a roof-hinged "gull wing" door...   BMW, Daimler experiment with upscale rent-by-the-ride Two European luxury brands are tiptoeing into car sharing, a radical move for carmakers whose business for the past 100 years has been selling to individuals. German archrivals Daimler AG and BMW AG have launched sharing programs. The automakers say the move was prompted by changing attitudes...   GM's historic Willow Run plant closes After 68 years of arming the nation and putting America on wheels, the Willow Run manufacturing plant in southeast Michigan closed on Thursday. The 5-million-square-foot powertrain plant, owned by Motors Liquidation Corp., the remnants of the former General Motors Corp., has fallen victim to...   Toyota paid $10 million to settle unintended acceleration lawsuit Toyota Motor Corp. agreed to pay $10 million to settle a lawsuit with the families of four people who were killed in an accident that led to the automaker’s recall of millions of vehicles over unintended acceleration concerns. The settlement was reached in September, but the amount was not ... You May Have Missed...   Aston Martin may build Maybachs for Daimler, reports say Aston Martin is in talks with Daimler AG over a potential partnership that would see the British luxury carmaker design and build a new Maybach ultraluxury sedan for the German automaker, Europe press reports said.Aston Martin may take engine technology from Daimler in exchange for building...   Detroit auto show: Toyota to reveal Prius family of vehicles WITH VIDEO -- Toyota said Thursday it will reveal its family of Prius hybrid vehicles at the North American International Auto Show next month in Detroit.The Prius family consists of four Prius-badged variants: the third-generation standard Prius, a plug-in hybrid Prius, a new Prius concept car and ...   Mercedes-Benz C-class gets a mild makeover, an AW daily video for Dec. 23 Honda and GM issue recalls, the UAW will make another attempt at organizing foreign-owned auto plants and Aston Martin touts the power of its V12 engine....   Video connects Aston Martin V12 to sports, race cars Our friends at Aston Martin are happy to point out that the 6.0-liter V12 engine used in its sports cars is related to the powerplant in its 2010 DBR1-2 Le Mans Series race car.And they even produced a fun video to play up the connection. Watch it below:... CLICK HERE TO UNSUBSCRIBE from the AutoWeek Daily Drive E-mail or to sign up for other AutoWeek e-mail products. IMPORTANT: Please add AutoWeek.com to your E-mail Address Book to ensure you will continue to receive our newsletters. Please DO NOT reply to this e-mail. You will not receive a reply if you use this e-mail address. Crain Communications, 1155 Gratiot Ave. Detroit, MI 48207.