Toyota Yaris Hybrid (2012) first official pictures

This is the new Toyota Yaris Hybrid, and although it’s been unveiled on the same day as the world’s motoring media descends upon Detroit for the 2012 North American International Auto Show, it's not there. Instead, the new Toyota Yaris Hybrid won’t actually appear until the Geneva show in early March 2012. Presumably the Toyota Yaris Hybrid is even cleaner and greener than the pious Prius?

Toyota fails to land 'top safety pick' rating in insurance-group study

For the first time in three years, none of Toyota Motor Corp.'s vehicles received “top safety pick” ratings from an insurance group, as tougher criteria pared the number of selections from 94 last year to 27 this year. Ford Motor Co. led all automakers for the second year in a row with six 2010-model top safety picks from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, including four from Volvo, a brand that's being sold.

Mercedes-Benz to drop the R-class in the U.S.

Mercedes-Benz will drop the slow-selling R-class wagon from its U.S. lineup after the 2012 model year. But the German automaker will continue to build the R-class at its plant in Alabama for export to other markets.