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The woes of the American auto industry have put secretive private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management and co-founder Stephen Feinberg in the one place they don't want to be -- the spotlight.

Just a few years ago, Carlos Ghosn was an avowed electric-vehicle skeptic. Now the CEO of both Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA is one of its boldest promoters. Ghosn wants 10 percent of the world's annual vehicle sales to be electric cars by 2020.

The 2009 Green Car of the Year award goes to ... a diesel? Normally, this award from Green Car Journal magazine is a snoozer. Part of the problem is that there can be no repeat winner.

Filed under: Concept Cars, LA Auto Show, Motorsports, Mazda

Click above for more renderings of the Mazda KAAN concept

It wasn't the number one pick of our readers (earning the silver medal in your voting), but Mazda managed to take the top honors at the LA Design Challenge with its KAAN concept. The design itself is a fanciful look into a future where all the roads in California are paved with... um, sub-level electro-conductive polymer (m'kay), which provides juice to the electronic tires that allow the KAAN to reach speeds of up to 250 mph. Up to 30 KAANs would travel together in formations that would cheat the wind, so MAZDA designed the vehicles so that they could fit tightly together in the peloton.

The theme of the competition was to depict what motorsports would be like in 2025. Chuck Pelly, director of Design Los Angeles, said that the choice was made because Mazda's entry was "the most innovative and artistic design," and that the KAAN "ultimately brought unique styling back to motorsports." Unique? That seems like a major understatement to us. See all of the contenders after the break

Gallery: 2008 LA Design Challenge: Mazda Kaan

[Source: LA Auto Show]

Continue reading LA 2008: Mazda takes top honors in Design Challenge

LA 2008: Mazda takes top honors in Design Challenge originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Concept Cars, LA Auto Show, Crossovers/CUVs, Hyundai

Click above for high-res image gallery of Hyundai HED-5 i-Mode

We first saw Hyundai's rolling CUV shapeship, the HED-5 i-Mode, back in Geneva, but today at the LA Auto Show is the first time the Korean automaker has shown the car in the States. New to the crossover is a 2.0L gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine that Hyundai plans to roll out in production machines shortly. The new Theta Turbo GDI engine puts out 286 horsepower, which is very impressive for such a small powerplant. Hyundai puts its direct injection and turbo technology to good effect and combines these new features with its Continuously Variable Valve Timing (CVVT) to allow for a 15-20 percent fuel economy increase compared with a standard 2.0L four-banger. Expect to see this new engine make its way into a production car sometime in 2010.

According to Hyundai, the HED-5 has been approved for production and a new six-seat production CUV will hit the market in 2010 that's inspired by its design. Of course, don't expect to see its far-out future-spec interior make it to production, but the GDI engine and general look of the concept is a lock.

Gallery: Hyundai HED-5 i-Mode

Continue reading LA 2008: Hyundai approves HED-5 i-Mode for production

LA 2008: Hyundai approves HED-5 i-Mode for production originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Concept Cars, LA Auto Show, Green, Toyota

Click for high-res image gallery of the Toyoat CNG hybrid Camry

Toyota isn't holding a press conference at the LA Auto Show this year, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have anything to show. The Prius purveyors have built a CNG-fueled Camry hybrid. According to Toyota spokesperson Jana Hartline, the purpose of the CNG hybrid is to demonstrate the versatility of Hybrid Synergy Drive. The car gets 50% better fuel efficiency than the last production CNG vehicle offered by Toyota, which was based on the 2000 Camry. Hartline explained Toyota has no immediate plans to produce either CNG or CNG hybrid vehicles, but the company is looking at all alternatives for the future.

Gallery: LA 2008: Toyota Camry CNG Hybrid