Honda CR-Z, Fit joining hybrid lineup next year

Honda is growing its hybrid lineup with the addition of the CR-Z coupe and a hybrid version of the Fit. The Japanese automaker on Monday said that the sporty CR-Z, which has been shown as a concept, will go on sale in Japan next February. The hybrid Fit is to hit the Japan market before the end of next year.

CES: It's a digital experience

The night before the Consumer Electronics Show opens its portals to the world’s technogeeks, there is a sort of preshow called the Digital Experience! (They added that exclamation mark to the name, not us.) Still, the relatively small, ancillary consumer-technology show does set the stage for the massive CES juggernaut the next day. This year, as always, we wandered the aisles of Digital Experience looking for car-related tech.

GM Advanced Design California celebrates 10th Anniversary

On the eve of the 2010 LA Auto Show, GM's California Advanced Design Studio opened its doors in North Hollywood, to celebrate its 10th Anniversary. Based in a former bakery, the studio occupies a relatively small space in North Hollywood/Burbank with studio warehouses and small outbuildings sharing the plot, creating an environment that – if not for the palm trees – could easily double for the artisan workshops of a firm in old Europe. Yet on the night itself, the studio took on an altogether ethereal appearance – light-filled globes floated above the buildings and grounds, casting a blue/white hue across the venue.