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Infiniti: M can be about mpg or zip

Infiniti will face a new marketing challenge when it introduces its first hybrid vehicle next spring, the 2012 M35h sedan. Since the import brand has never sold a hybrid, officials will be attempting to learn which marketing chord resonates more with its customers: performance or fuel economy. "The marketing will center on the point that hybrids have always been about compromise," says Ben Poore, Infiniti Business Unit vice president.

Ford is developing a virtual child to improve safety research

Researchers at Ford have started constructing a "virtual" six-year-old child that will help them research future safety devices. It will take years to build the complex, multilayer digital dummy, Ford said on Thursday. And the finished computer model won't be used for vehicle validation or crash testing.

Michigan State Police take on a new crop of cruisers

The Michigan State Police did its annual cop-car shootout last month at the 10-turn, two-mile Grattan Raceway, and the preliminary results are in. It seems the Motor City still knows how to take down a perp because the Detroit Three were fully represented. Ford brought a few models of the Police Interceptor , based on the Taurus, and the Police Interceptor Utility, based on the Explorer.