Beginning with the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic, Chevrolet plans to apply eco-impact labels on all of its brand-new vehicles by 2013. As the first of any automaker to present its cars in this manner, Chevrolet’s Ecologic label allows customers to assess environmental impacts associated with any particular Chevrolet vehicle in all stages of its product life.

First, “Before the Road” presents the environmental impact of the vehicle’s manufacturing and assembly. Next, “On the Road” notes fuel-saving features such as cylinder shut-off systems, aerodynamics, and low-resistance tires. Finally, “After the Road” reveals how much of the vehicle can be recycled at the end of its useful life.

With these Ecologic labels, GM makes itself more attractive to environmentally conscious consumers. According to GM North America President Mark Reuss, “Customers want companies to be honest and transparent about their environmental efforts and sustainability goals, and rightly so. Putting an Ecologic label on each Chevrolet is just one more way for us to share our environmental progress.”

The numbers and data on the Ecologic labels are determined by independent, third-party sustainability agency Two Tomorrows, a company that provides environmental audit and assurance services to companies.

[Source: Forbes]

In 1989, Rick Moranis played a nerdy dad who accidentally downsized his children to an insect scale in Honey, I Shrunk The Kids. He probably wouldn’t have believed it if someone told him that 23 years later automakers would be doing the same thing to their cars.

For those of us living in the North American 2012, there are increasingly large swarms of little cars buzzing around the streets. The din their tiny engines makes isn’t overwhelming yet, but just wait.

General Motors’ German subsidiary, Opel, is planning to release a micro car they’re calling the Allegra (or, tentatively, Junior). No, not the allergy medication, though the thing is small enough to be mistaken for a bee in ragweed season, at least compared to the standard American palate. When the Allegra hits Europe in 2013 it will probably stand to compete against cars like the Volkswagen Up, MINI Cooper and Fiat 500.

In fact, it’s a solid 3.3 feet longer than the Mercedes-Benz spawned Smart ForTwo, which looks like a cross between a golf cart and an alien space pod. Our spies caught the Opel Allegra on camera during winter testing, but what’s the big deal? Opel cars aren’t sold in North America, right?

Well, not necessarily. Rumors are floating around that the not-so-smallish micro car might make it overseas rebadged as a Buick. (Why not? It’s not the first Buick to come from Opel). And with the recent launch of the Fiat 500 and the Scion iQ on our shores, the market for mini-cars is growing.

Of course, the name will likely change to keep big pharma happy.

GALLERY: Opel Allegra/Junion Spy Photos

Driving a Chevrolet Volt could get even more guilt-free in the future as the company plays with ways to coax consumers into charging with renewable energy.

GM is partnering with energy company PJM Interconnection to send data via their OnStar cloud service, called the Advanced Telematics Operating Management System (ATOMS), to Volts that need to charge. The technology would notify drivers of renewable energy as it became available relative to their location.

There is also a smartphone app in the works to alert Volt owners of available energy when they aren’t in their car, though the overall project is still in the testing phase.

Those tests are being conducted on Google’s 17-vehicle “Gfleet” based out of their Mountain View, California headquarters. While renewable energy isn’t going to fuel your car any differently than a charge originating in a coal plant, it could help drive demand for more renewable sources.

By harnessing the hordes of anti-pollution diehards, comparatively tiny as they may be, GM might make a dent in promoting green energy beyond what selling their volt already can.

“This demonstration shows that in the near future customers will have a real signal of demand for renewable energy,” said Nick Pudar, OnStar vice president of planning and business development. “As customers configure their Volts to favor renewable energy for their charging cycle, this real demand signal will influence utilities to tap into renewable sources.”

There’s also a silver lining to the plan: peak wind power hours, according to PJM, fall between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., meaning those taking advantage of a renewable charge-source would be taxing the system during off-peak hours.

GM’s continued push toward promoting the Volt is a strong demonstration of their commitment to the car, despite the controversy that hounded it last year after a few cars spontaneously combusted days after crash testing. Extended range hybrids like the Volt offer a practical solution to ultra-high milage transportation without the range anxiety we felt while road testing the Nissan Leaf.

GALLERY: 2012 Chevrolet Volt

Toyota might not have announced its final tally for 2011 sales, but it’s safe to assume that GM will take the crown and remain the world’s largest automaker after reporting 9.03-million in global sales for 2011.

Last month, Toyota estimated that its 2011 annual sales would be around 7.9-million vehicles, which would make it third behind Volkswagen‘s 8.16-million global sales total.

GM’s impressive number of 9.03-million is a 7.6-percent increase from its 8.39-million figure from 2010. GM announced that it sold 2,503,820 vehicles in America and China saw 2,547,203 vehicles sold. But the announcement isn’t without controversy as GM includes the sales of its joint Chinese venture partners which is generally not a practice other manufacturers follow. For GM’s figures, they included 1,285,820 vehicles sold by SAIC-GM-Wuling, which the American auto giant does not have a controlling interest in.

Just when it seemed Saab would be gone from news headlines for good, Youngman swooped in again to make a bid.

Apparently the company hasn’t given up on getting Saab back up and running. According to Dagens Industri, a Swedish business news organization, the Chinese firm is submitting a £430 million offer, or about $560 million.

They are choosing to make that offer despite GM’s previous sabotage attempts which were meant to keep the company out of Chinese hands. A miniature war was waged last year between Youngman and GM when the American giant decided such a sale would unfairly divulge technology being used in the 9-4X.

Youngman seems unfazed, however, and is continuing their pursuit which will include an additional $520 million being invested. If they actually manage to take the company, they plan to resume production of the 9-3 in April or May.

[Source: Autocar]

Earlier this month a new reports noted that Chevrolet Volt sales were more successful in its first year than the sales numbers of the Toyota Prius hybrid on its first year back in 2000. What little optimism Chevrolet might have had on the Volt’s sales performance were quickly silenced when data revealed that Toyota dealt a quick knockout as its new Prius v wagon (also in its first year) out sold the Volt. And it did so with just 10 weeks on sale.

Official numbers for Chevrolet Volt’s 2011 sales are 7,671 units delivered. Toyota managed to sell 8,399 hybrid wagons, which did not arrive to U.S. dealerships and showrooms until the last week of October.

President of Toyota U.S. Sales Jim Lentz says, “Prius v is off to a great start.” For 2012, Toyota aims to deliver 220,000 Prii to U.S. customers, a 60 percent increase from 2011. Toyota’s offensive includes offerings of the original Prius, the Pruis v wagon, and the Prius c subcompact that arrives in March.

GALLERY: Toyota Prius v wagon

[Source: Bloomberg]

Read AutoGuide’s 2012 Toyota Prius v Review here and watch the video review below:

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You can probably still remember being a kid in the back seat on a long car ride. It was horrible. The dog wouldn’t stop breathing on you and licking your ears. It smelled bad. Worst of all, there was almost nothing to do for more than a few minutes without getting car sick. “Look out the window,” your parents might say, “it’ll make you feel better.”

Well, thanks to some creative thinking and truly futuristic innovation, more kids might be looking out the car window voluntarily. GM turned to the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Israel and asked its students to think of ways to make car rides engaging, enriching and educational. What they came up with will probably peak interest in the most technologically indifferent individuals. Interactive windows.

What’s this? Well, the students from Bezalel essentially got free reign to dream about how to implement smart glass in cars to integrate the outside environment with the passenger experience. There aren’t any plans at the moment to put this technology into production vehicles, which meant they could imagine freely. Their projects didn’t actually use smart glass, though GM said that would be possible in the future.

They came up with many ideas including a character projected into the outside environment that reacts in real time to landscapes, weather and car performance. Another idea allows users to share a window with others around the world. One Project played with the idea of different cars being able to share music with each other, expanding on the curiosity behind being on the highway wondering if that trucker next to you is giving a jubilant rendition of Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl (or not). Finally, one of the ideas evolves from something almost everyone experiences, drawing things in hot breath fog.

This isn’t actually the first example outside Hollywood grandeur that we’ve seen of such technology floating around. Last month we reported a story about Toyota showing off a similar and more focused iteration of smart glass. Toyota’s technology would allow children to tap on things to identify them, zoom in on distant objects and even understand distance and speed by dropping a marker that displays proximity to the car in real time.

Neither manufacturer is ready to bring this sort of stuff to market, but it can’t be that far away either given that Audi is already implementing an environmentally interactive heads up display for drivers as early as 2013.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is considering at length the changes that could be made to its 5-star crash-assessment testing. Rather than concentrate only on crash-worthiness, the NHTSA is looking into new technologies that put an emphasis on accident-avoidance.

NHTSA Administrator David Strickland says, “Crash-worthiness has been the guiding star for NHTSA. But if there’s an opportunity to prevent a crash– that is the goal.” Holding a speech for the Society of Automotive Analysts the day before the North American International Auto Show, Strickland wants to raise consumer awareness towards these new technologies.

On top of accident-avoidance devices like lane departure warning sensors, Strickland says NHTSA is also working on a framework for in-vehicle electronics in order to minimize driver distraction. Strickland explains, “We don’t want to stifle innovation, but we recognize technology (can impact) safety, so we will be setting in-vehicle guidelines so auto makers can innovate within a zone of safety.”

In order to collect data on driver distraction, NHTSA’s research program will be conducted on 2,000 vehicles with cameras to monitor driver behavior over a 2 year period. “The goal is to make sure we have an accurate picture of what is happening in the vehicles so that we’re not creating something that is a risk for every driver.”

The holy grail for automotive safety would be through the development of vehicle-to-vehicle communications, which NHTSA is committed to turning to reality. Studies have proved that the V2V system could eliminate 80% of crashes involving non-impaired drivers. This effectively lowers the number of traffic fatalities by almost 33,000 a year.

While it is unknown exactly when the V2V systems will be ready for mass use, a 3-year test program is currently being conducted, with automakers GM, Ford, Honda, Hyundai-Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota, and Volkswagen all taking part.

[Source: WardsAuto]

Ohio Governor John Kasich and Missouri Governor Jay Nixon made a visit to Detroit this week during the North American International Auto Show in an effort to bring U.S. automotive manufacturing to their respective states.

John Kasich said, “Contrary to popular opinion, the auto industry is getting stronger.” Ohio currently possesses the second-largest automotive industry work force in the nation behind neighboring Michigan. Home to Chrysler Group, Ford Motors and Gerneral Motors, Michigan also is the home to most of the world’s automotive parts suppliers. It is also in Michigan where government regulators are tasked with policy making in auto safety, emissions and fuel economy.

The chief engineer of Honda Research and Development in Detroit, Toshiaki Shimizu said, “People may have the wrong idea. Detroit is not becoming less important. It is more important. It remains the center of the automotive industry. We all come here because we must.”

Well aware of Michigan’s relevance, Ohio Governor John Kasich and Missouri Governor Jay Nixon spoke to a number of auto executives to reach agreements that prove to be mutually beneficial. Ford committed to $1 billion over a span of four years to upgrade Ohio’s driveline manufacturing plants. Honda will invest $400 million in improvements to its Ohio facilities to prepare for the production of its new Acura NSX hybrid sports car. Chrysler will add another 1,100 jobs and invest $1.7 billion into its Jeep plants of Toledo, Ohio. GM continues to build its Chevrolet Cruze in the Lordstown, Ohio, plant and will put in another $204,000 to upgrade its Toledo transmission plant.

On his first day in office, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon assembled the Automotive Jobs Task Force to attract investments to the state. In October, Ford announced that it will spend $1.1 billion  and add another 1,600 workers to assemble the Transit van alongside the F-150 Ford pickup trucks at the Kansas City, Missouri plant. GM will also invest $380 million into its Wentzville, Missouri plant, adding another 1,660 jobs as it expands assembly to include the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon.

Nixon explains, “we are here not just to talk to the manufacturers, but also to the suppliers. As the manufacturers invest and production rises, we are asking the suppliers what we can do to help them make the investments they need to make to support this.”

[Source: Detroit News]

Fuel mileage, horsepower and overall performance are key ingredients in the recipe for any successful car these days.

Maybe that’s why GM made the announcement to reporters at the North American International Auto Show that they plan to scrap the unimpressive naturally aspirated 2.4-liter four cylinder found in the Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain and Buick‘s Verano and Regal. In it’s place, a 2.5-liter direct injected (cue fireworks) Ecotec inline four! The new engine will be 18 horses peppier than its predecessor for a total of 190 hp and 180 lb-ft of torque. It’s also going to be a lot less noisy, smoother and best of all, more efficient.

GM said they plan to make the transition between engines within the next 12 months, so look forward to a more refined American experience from GM.