Volkswagen to crank up U.S. Passat production

Volkswagen of America is prepared to expand production of the U.S. Passat less than four months after building its first one. The automaker is looking for a sign from the market to boost production at its just-opened plant in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Jaguar, BMW and Mercedes make the Superbrands Top Ten 2012 list

Jaguar, BMW and Mercedes make the Superbrands Top 10 Jaguar, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have all made it in to the UK Superbrands top ten list for 2012, the only car makers in the top 20. They say perception of a brand is more important for sales than substance; and there’s some truth to that. So Jaguar, BMW and Mercedes-Benz should be suitably chuffed to be the only car brands to make it in to the Superbrands Top Ten list of consumer brands for 2012.

Toyota begins testing wireless recharging for electric cars

Toyota has announced that it will begin actual verification testing of its new wireless battery charging system for electric vehicles, one which charges the battery of a plug-in hybrid or a pure-electric car by having the car park over it. Toyota's charging system uses magnetic-resonance technology, which operates by transmitting electricity by using the magnetic resonance resulting from changes in magnentic field intensity between a coil positioned under the car, and a receiving coil built into the underside of the vehicle. This system eliminates the need for physically plugging in an electric car or a hybrid to an actual plug, and also has the potential to solve the problem of multiple types of actual plugs.