The Burl Ives’ classic “Silver and Gold” is popular at the holidays, but when it comes to car colors, silver and black are the most popular choices in the world with white a distant third – and gold, ironically, comes in last.

The 2012 Ford Focus is the first vehicle marketed worldwide under the company’s “One Ford” plan and yesterday in Ford’s Saarlouis Assembly Plant in South-West Germany, production of the 2012 Focus got underway.

SAE International is already a repository for automotive technology and standards information. Now it has gone one step further by expanding communication of its knowledge base with the creation and launch of its new Vehicle Electrification website, ev.sae.org

The NHTSA is reporting that Volvo will recall 7,420 vehicles for a manufacturing error that may allow the passenger-front seat to travel too far forward; increasing the risk of injury in the event of an accident.

Time was that compact cars were just what their names implied, but new research shows them to be roomier, heavier, and more fuel efficient, which fits in with the growing waistline of Americans.

Fast forward to the years 2020 - 2025, then consider what new technological advances will be needed to empower the auto industry to meet the recently proposed EPA and NHTSA mandates, perhaps as much as 62 m.p.g. for new vehicles.

NASCAR driver Greg Biffle says a minor investment of money (about $100) and time (figure an hour) are going to pay off with safer vehicles for most drivers as winter approaches.

The two American car brands with Korean roots – Hyundai Motor America and Kia Motors America – have already set all-time annual sales records, with one month still remaining before the year ends. Similarly, Japan-based Subaru of America closed November with an 11-month sales total that tops its previous 12-month record. The trio becomes the first U.S. auto retailers to fully recover from the car market's big contraction that began in 2008.

Porsche has been absent from the Detroit Auto Show over the past few years, stating that it wasn’t an ideal audience for their vehicles but when the 2011 Detroit show begins next month, the German automaker will be back with a “spectacular” new supercar concept.

Scuderi Engine, the inventors and developers of the Scuderi split cycle engine technology, will be returning to the SAE World Congress to be held in Detroit in 2011. Last year they were awarded as "Industry Innovator."