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News watch April 2010: today's auto industry news

Welcome to CAR's news aggregator as we round up the daily stories in the auto industry. Top tip: news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hourThursday 29 April 2010• The European Commission has published a document outlining plans to encourage the take-up of electric cars. It includes a strategy for a common charging socket (Financial Times)• BMW has leapfrogged Toyota as the world's most valuable automotive brand, according to the BrandZ Top 100 survey.

Honda fires new F1 engine for first time

EVEN BEFORE the 2013 Formula 1 season has ended preparations and development are already well under way for next year, especially so because of a radical change to the rules. From 2014 all cars will be powered by small 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engines, signalling the end of the current 2.4-litre non-turbocharged V8 engines, bringing them closer in basic layout - if not output - to normal road car engines. For Honda 2015 is a return to the sport in partnership with McLaren, and the Japanese firm's engines will power the 2015 McLaren challenger.

Volt, Leaf win top safety rating in crash test

The 2011 Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf electric cars won the highest safety ratings in crash tests performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, putting them in the top 57 percent of models tested so far this year. About 80 of 140 vehicles tested among 2011-2012 models have received the Institute's "top safety pick," the group's award for state-of-the-art crash protection that exceeds federal safety rules, Institute spokesman Russ Rader said. The Volt and Leaf received a "good" rating -- the highest of four rankings -- on each of four crash tests, said the Institute, which is funded by auto insurers including State Farm, All-State and Geico.