Companies work with racing technology to improve child safety seats

The same technology that saved IndyCar driver Simona De Silvestro from serious injury in a recent crash at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway might soon be helping protect children in car seats. Dorel Juvenile Group, a car-seat manufacturer, is partnering with racing-product developers at Bald Spot Sports to use cockpit material that insulates racers from crashes in child-safety technology. Dorel makes child-safety items under brand names such as Safety 1st and Cosco.

Hyundai rules out separate premium brand

Hyundai Motor Co. has ruled out spinning off the Genesis or Equus nameplates to create an independent premium brand along the lines of Lexus or Infiniti, partly because of the enormous cost involved and possible image damage to sibling nameplates. "There are no plans for Hyundai to make a separate brand," Vice Chairman Shin Jong-Woon said in an interview Friday at the carmaker's headquarters in Seoul, South Korea.

Mitsubishi confirms mad FQ-400

You’ve got to admire the Japanese. Here we are, deep in the doom and gloom of car sales in free-fall, and Mitsubishi pops its head above the parapet to announce the 2009 version of the mad-as-a-hatter Mitsubishi Evo X FQ-400! Anyone who saw, or drove, the Evo 9 FQ-400 will know what an absolutely mental car this is.