News watch September 2011: today's auto industry news

Come to CAR Magazine's news aggregator as we round up the daily stories in the auto industry. Top tip: news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hourFriday 30 September 2011• Toyota and Honda have both returned to full production after Easter's disastrous earthquake. September car sales will be released next week, and Bloomberg predicts a rise to 12.8 million seasonally adjusted annual rate (Bloomberg)• The US now predicts a slightly smaller 2011 full-year sales total.

Indianapolis 500: HPD wins Louis Schwitzer Award for refueling system

Honda Performance Development on May 21 won the 45th-annual Louis Schwitzer Award for motorsports engineering innovation and excellence in recognition of the Honda Refueling Safety Interlock System. The system, which reduces the potential for fires in pit lane when refueling, was created by a team at HPD led by Roger Griffiths, Jim Goodloe, Marco Martinelli and Robert Bell. The key part of the system is an electronic fuel-probe sensor installed on an Indy-car's inlet valve into which ethanol fuel flows.

Driven: BMW 5 Series GT

It's an illustration of the place London has become that it's typically possible to park brand new or exotic cars on an average street and be met with studied indifference by the average passer by. So why, during a week of driving a BMW 5 Series GT, were we made to feel so conspicuous? Every time we parked in a busy area, at least one stranger felt the need to remark, usually to tell us how ugly they thought it was.