New CAFE proposal would add $5,000 to sticker price, dealer group says

An Obama administration proposal to nearly double today's fuel economy standards could end up tacking on $5,000 to the sticker price of a new vehicle, a top official with the National Automobile Dealers Association said Tuesday. The proposal, which seeks to raise the corporate average fuel economy to 54.5 mpg by the 2025 model year, would force automakers to adopt costly fuel-saving technologies that could eventually price some buyers out of the new-car market, said Don Chalmers, chairman of NADA's government relations committee. NADA, a dealer trade association, represents 16,000 new-vehicle dealers who operate 32,500 franchises.

Toyota studies a rear-drive entry for Scion

Scion vice president Jack Hollis is a former Stanford and AAA baseball player who, but for an injury, coulda been a contender, coulda played in the show. He's not one to boast--he didn't tell us of his baseball days, we got it from someone else. Nonetheless, you'd imagine the 6-foot-2-inch auto exec would have a pretty good self-image.

Mercedes M-Class (2011) first official pictures

This is the new Mercedes M-class. Evolutionary styling hides a range of new engines, including a four-cylinder diesel as Mercedes tries to give its American-made SUV a dose of increased efficiency. Mercedes M-class: design and interior Mercedes wasn't tempted to radically reshape the M-class for 2011.