Yamaha V-star Shorty Kickstand on 2040-parts.com

Kia scoops three design awards

Kia has won three design awards in this year's Automotive Brand Contest, continuing its strong showing in last year's competition. The second-generation cee'd, launched in June, topped the exterior category table as well as receiving an honorary special mention for exceptional innovation in the interior category. The car's exterior features a chrome-framed glasshouse and muscular lines on the bonnet, while inside an ergonomic, driver-oriented control panel impressed the judges enough to receive the special mention.

Day 2 at the International CES

If you have never seen a 110-inch, ultra-high-definition TV screen, where every molecule of digital delirium dances across the screen in pulses of pixelated promiscuity, well, you're really missing out. Samsung had one such monster screen at the corner of its booth, sporting 4000 pixels per square inch and the techno geeks swooned in front of it like the truly faithful in the front row of a Celine Dion concert at Caesars Palace. For our part, we sat transfixed before it more like the monkeys in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Clunkers claims hit $1.15 billion Monday, government says

Dealer claims for cash-for-clunkers rebates continued to climb late last week after it became clear that the program would get $2 billion in new funding. Dealers had submitted 273,077 applications totaling $1.15 billion as of Monday morning, the Department of Transportation said today. That's about $120 million above the figure of last Friday morning.