Clunkers claims hit $1.15 billion Monday, government says

Dealer claims for cash-for-clunkers rebates continued to climb late last week after it became clear that the program would get $2 billion in new funding. Dealers had submitted 273,077 applications totaling $1.15 billion as of Monday morning, the Department of Transportation said today. That's about $120 million above the figure of last Friday morning.

BRP Design Center Inauguration

On September 10th, Canadian powersports specialist BRP inaugurated its new Design & Innovation Centre in Valcourt, Quebec (one hour south-east of Montreal, near the US border). This new 5000 m2 state-of-the-art building will house BRP's design and advanced concept teams working on all its brands and product families: the Can-Am spyders and ATVs, Lynx and Ski Doo snowmobiles, Sea Doo personal watercrafts and speedboats, and related lifestyle and accessories design. The team of 60 individuals includes transportation designers, product designers, graphic designers, engineers, human factors experts, mechanics, CAD technicians, modelers, molders, painters, and management.

Future products: Mazda's new direct-injection engine family arrives in 2011

The big news at Mazda is a new family of direct-injection gasoline and diesel engines that will start to arrive in 2011. Mazda will make significant changes to vehicle platforms to accommodate the Sky engines, which will be more powerful and fuel-efficient at lower displacements than the company's current engines. The first Sky gasoline engine is expected to debut in the United States in 2011.