Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

Demise of kei cars on the horizon?

The kei car has long been a staple of the Japanese automobile industry and its car culture. Too diminutive for Western markets, the tiny cars and trucks are a strong influencer of design in Japan. Now, as The New York Times reports, the Japanese government has hit kei cars with increases in sales tax, gasoline prices and has reduced the kei car tax break introduced to make the cars popular in the first place by 50 percent.

Rated: self-braking cars that avoid a crash

The most recent advance in vehicle safety has to be the autonomous emergency braking system (AEB) – a sophisticated suite of sensors and electronics that monitors objects in front of your car, automatically applying the brakes for you if it senses you’re heading to hit something. Up until now these auto-brake features have not been rated, but ahead of a new 2014 test that will include AEB systems in its overall safety star scoring, Euro NCAP has put the some of the vehicles already equipped with this technology through their paces. MSN Cars has the results.

Autoweek in review: This week's highlights

Here's a rundown of what you might have missed at Autoweek.com the past few days: --Automakers brought goodies galore to the SEMA show floor in Las Vegas. Check out all our coverage at the Autoweek SEMA show page. --After negative reception of the redesigned 2012 Honda Civic launched last spring, Honda is saying the next refresh for the Civic could be as soon as 2013, which is about a year ahead of schedule.