Cardone Industries 77-1333f Remanufactured Electronic Control Unit on 2040-parts.com

Mark Vaughn: We’ll always have Vegas

There were a few bare spots on the floor of the Consumer Electronics Show this year, spots that in previous years had been jammed sardine-like with myriad Taiwanese makers of Hello Kitty knockoff cell phone cozies and electronic barking dogs, but the show this year was nonetheless pretty well attended. Besides, for those working their way upstream through the aisles like so many digitally trained trout, the empty spots left by exhibitors that pulled out were like refreshing mountain meadows or little piazzas in crowded Italian cities. Show management stocked the open spots with cushy couches, too, on which many a jet-lagged showgoer snoozed.

Lexus at Geneva: Lexus CT 200h – U.S. bound

The Lexus CT 200h at Geneva - Lexus tell us it will be sold in the USA Despite moaning about the less than drop-dead-gorgeous looks when Lexus first showed us the CT 200h as the LF-Ch Concept – with a pretty awful gold paint job – the production ready CT 200h does look a bit more appealing. Still definitely not drop-dead-gorgeous - far from it – but credible enough, in a Lexus sort of way. There’s really nothing new to report on the CT 200h itself from Geneva, except that Lexus has announced that the CT200h will be sold in the US.

NHTSA safety consultant dies at 64

Miami trauma surgeon and preeminent car-crash researcher Jeffrey Augenstein would often tell the story of the time he was talking to a crash victim who collapsed and died from hidden injuries in the middle of the conversation. The experience led Augenstein to research and then call attention to the unexpected injuries that could occur when drivers interacted with airbags. It's but one example of the achievements of Augenstein, who died recently at age 64.