2015 Chevrolet Cruze gets a facelift and new connectivity

The 2015 facelift for the Chevrolet Cruze Saloon With the New York Auto Show looming this month, Chevrolet has revealed a facelift for the Cruze for the 2015 MY, although it’s unlikely the UK will see it. With GM trying to make sense of its European operations, it plans to drop the Chevrolet brand from the UK and Europe and concentrate on VAuxhall and Opel, so it seems likely the updates to the Cruze will be just of academic interest to buyers on this side of the Pond. Cosmetically, the changes are not huge for the Cruze saloon with the usual fodder of titivated lights (the addition of LED running lights on high-end models), a tweaked front end and some new colour choices.

BMW's new 5-series next for hybrid power

The new BMW 5-series being launched this winter is likely to be the next BMW to receive the ActiveHybrid system pioneered on the petrol-electric 7-series and X6 models. BMW engineers admit they can't rely on sales of the pricey hybrid 7-series and X6 to justify the development costs, even though these range-topping halo hybrids were jointly developed with Daimler and GM. Senior sources have indicated that the new 2010 5-series will be the next BMW to get an ActiveHybrid model.

Toyota goes on offensive, seeks 100 percent owner response to recall notice

Toyota Motor Corp., spurred by criticism that previous recalls failed to prompt enough owners to seek fixes, hopes to distribute mailings this week to the 2.3 million owners targeted in a January recall. Toyota says it will be vigilant in reaching each of the affected customers and hopes to have all repairs done within 90 days. The goal was outlined today as the automaker detailed its strategy for eliminating the possibility of unintended acceleration in the eight Toyota-brand models that were the focus of a Jan.