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Ford, Hyundai, Toyota lead industry to 15 percent gain

Ford, Toyota, Subaru and Hyundai Group spurred a year-end U.S. sales rally that took some sting out of a painful year. Overall, December sales of 1,030,096 light vehicles rose 15 percent from December 2008, when the credit crisis and a deepening recession dragged industry demand to 27-year lows.

Higher gas prices? Blame ethanol

MarketWatch reported today that the price of ethanol has seen a 30-percent price increase so far this year, taking the price of gasoline up with it, since a good majority of "gasoline" sold today is around 10 percent ethanol. The average price of a gallon of gas today is $2.30, according to FactSet data, but this has varied since the beginning of 2014. Despite the recent surge, ethanol prices have also proved to be rather volatile with reports of it dropping 8 percent this past Thursday after falling 10 percent just the day before.

Zhong Boguang: China's first generation auto designer

Zhong Boguang is one of the first designers to emerge in a country that has seen its importance augment considerably in recent times. But well before China became the biggest market for motor vehicles in the world, Boguang was obsessed with the pursuit of his car design dreams. During his 34-year career, he was involved in and witnessed the development of the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), served as chief designer for China's first rotary engine cars and MPVs, been the design manager for the technology center in the first domestic automotive joint venture, and was the first person to launch strategic research in domestic automotive design.