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Why carmakers say no to battery swapping

There's a strange disconnect surrounding Better Place, the company best known for its plan to extend the range of electric vehicles by relying on speedy battery swaps. Automotive executives are nearly unanimous in dismissing the idea. With the conspicuous exception of Nissan-Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn, rarely does an executive express interest.

Volvo C30, Ford Focus fare well in insurance-group crash tests

Four two-door cars received the highest safety rating in frontal crashes and two received that rating for side collisions in recent testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The institute gave its "good" rating in side crashes to the Volvo C30 and two-door Ford Focus. Those vehicles, along with the two-door Honda Civic and Chevrolet Cobalt, also received "good" ratings for frontal collisions, the non-profit group funded by auto insurers said.

Maserati Ghibli

Maserati has unveiled the first images of the 2013 Ghibli ahead of its official debut next week at the Shanghai Auto Show. While the Ghibli badge has previously been reserved for coupés – both Giugiaro's 1967 original and Gandini's Biturbo-based 1992 Ghibli II – this is a four-door sports sedan to sit below the larger Quattroporte revealed in January at the North American International Auto Show. It's the first time the carmaker has built a car for the E-segment since the 1994 Quattroporte IV and is set to challenge high end of the Mercedes E-Class and BMW 5-series in AMG and M5 guises respectively.