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U.S. Transportation Department opens probe of 2010 Toyota Prius brakes

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday that it is opening a formal investigation of the 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid to determine whether the vehicle suffers momentary loss of braking capability while traveling over bumpy surfaces. NHTSA, an agency that is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, has received 124 consumer complaints, including four reports of crashes.

Kia won't build Soul Koup, but it could

There are no plans whatsoever to bring a Soul coupe to the market, Kia said when we gave a spokesperson a call. "We're constantly evaluating the market," he told us, "but there are no future Soul derivatives in the works, no ideas currently being explored." This contradicts a rumor currently spreading across the Internet. They have all concluded that Kia's two-door Soul will look like the above.

Next Dodge Viper will shed some rough edges

Little by little we're getting a clearer picture of the next-generation Dodge Viper SRT10. During a conversation with Dodge boss Reid Bigland at the Los Angeles auto show, Bigland told me the redesigned Viper "will appeal to a broader segment of the market." The car is expected to debut in 2012 but is not likely to appear at the Detroit auto show, he says. Today's Viper is essentially a street-legal race car.