Autoweek in review: What you might have missed

The new show Autoweek's Vinsetta Garage, will premiere Jan. 3 on Discovery's Velocity Network. The five most-watched car ads of 2011 were announced, with Volkswagen's "The Force" commercial leading the pack.

Jaguar Land Rover in talks to buy Aston Martin

Talks have taken place between Tata – owners of Jaguar Land Rover – and the Kuwait Investment Dar – owners of Aston Martin. We reported a year ago that Aston Martin needed a big car maker behind it to have any chance of survival, and just last week the world caught up with that story as it was revealed the Kuwait Investment Dar – majority shareholder in Aston Martin – was seeking a buyer for Aston Martin. We said a year ago that Jaguar Land Rover was the best fit as a buyer for Aston Martin, but we doubted JLR would want to go back to being the poor relation to AML – as it was in the days of Ford’ ownership of the brands – where a Jag was a poor man’s Aston.

Honda peps up the Insight hybrid car (2010)

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 19 July 2010 10:20 Honda is perking up the Insight hybrid petrol-electric car this autumn in response to customer feedback. In particular, the new 2010 Insight gets mods to the suspension to improve the ride and a few more luxurious cabin trimmings. It seems that Honda's taken some flak over the way the Insight drives, and engineers have focused on improving the Insight's ride comfort and refinement.