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Acura future products: Hybrids joining revamped lineup

Sales have begun to rebound for Acura, American Honda Motor Co.'s luxury brand, and a product renaissance in 2012--complete with a big entry into hybrid powertrains--could provide a further boost. Acura's two crossovers will be redesigned. And while the RL flagship won't have the rear-drive V8 version--those plans were killed in 2009--it will be significantly re-engineered.

Marchionne details Chrysler's future products

The real product news from Chrysler wasn't on the stand at the Detroit auto show; it came from the mouth of CEO Sergio Marchionne. Marchionne ditched the standard industry maxim of not discussing future products during a series of interviews during the Detroit show. Here's a roundup of the details: -- The replacement for the Dodge Caliber arrives late this year.

Pioneer App Radio officially unveiled

Pioneer has officially unveiled the App Radio that AutoWeek told you about earlier this month. Now that it's willing to talk, Pioneer claims that the radio and audio system is "the first in-vehicle product designed to utilize the processing power, storage capacity, network connectivity and apps of the iPhone and iPod Touch as the primary source for its information and entertainment capabilities." That does sound a lot like what Mini Connected and, in a more platform-agnostic sense, Ford Sync are doing. Pioneer said it couldn't speak to the similarity of those systems, but Ted Cardenas, director of marketing for Pioneer's car-electronics division, briefed us on installation of the device and what Pioneer is doing to minimize driver distraction.