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For new CAFE rules, automakers place high-stakes tech bets

Game-changing 2015 fuel economy rules are forcing vehicle development teams to make high-stakes bets on expensive technologies--bets that will separate the winners from the also-rans. Not only do federal rules target a 2015 fleet average of 35.5 mpg, up from the current 27.5 mpg for cars and 23.1 mpg for light trucks; they force automakers to bet on different technology packages for each vehicle segment. Companies that do best at mixing technologies while keeping down costs will have an advantage when buyers wince at higher stickers.

Who's Where: Brett Patterson and Rohan Saparamadu join Geely’s Shanghai studio

Brett Patterson and Rohan Saparamadu have joined Geely as chief designers, based in Shanghai. They will both report to the company's design director Ken Ma. Patterson most recently worked as a contract designer at GM Europe's Design Center, Rüsslesheim, and has worked for GM for total of 14 years on a wide range of vehicle development programmes in Australia, Germany, Sweden and USA.

Leno lines up electric Ford Focus for celebs to turn fast laps

Car collector Jay Leno's new prime-time TV show launches a new segment on Friday night, challenging visiting celebrities to set a fast lap time on a track outside the entertainer's studio. The car that Leno hands to his guests is an electric-powered Ford Focus--a harbinger of a battery-powered Focus that Ford plans to put on sale in 2011. Leno's electric Focus uses the more-modern European Focus as its base, not the well-aged U.S.