American Honda Motor Co. has overhauled the look of its fuel cell concept cars, unveiling a futuristic, lightweight three-seater. 

The design study concept is inspired by supercar levels of performance through low weight and a high-performance, electrically driven fuel cell powertrain. What’s with the rear side? The extended rear houses cooling radiators for the fuel cell stack. You likey?

Toyota rolls out its first Venza wagon. Toyota Motor Sales USA will price the five-person wagon between $25,975 for its V-4, front-wheel drive model, and $29,250 for the V-6, all-wheel drive model. The V-6 model will hit dealerships in early December, with full production and sales of both models starting in January. How do we say this lightly? Looks like a Camry with a little more junk in the trunk.

The Venza, which is built in Georgetown, Ky., on the platform of its mid-size Camry sedan, will be sold exclusively in North America.

It’s official! The nation’s public transportation systems logged a 5.2% jump in ridership in the second quarter, according to industry figures released this week, as record-high gas prices pushed people to take millions more trips on buses and rail systems.

It’s too bad that higher ridership doesn’t necessarily translate to higher revenue for districts. The national surge in riders is straining many agencies that don’t have the funds to expand service. Many systems are struggling just to maintain the service they already offer because of their own rising fuel costs.

What are some American cities planning? New York City officials are planning to experiment with seatless subway cars next spring to squeeze in more riders. In Boston, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is using longer trains on the T and increasing the frequency of some bus and rail services. In Washington, they’re pushing for bus-only lanes as a way to encourage people to ride buses and relieve pressure on the crowded subway.

Perhaps it’s time to adopt some of Japan’s alternatives and hire subway attendants to literally push and squeeze extra passengers into the subway cars.

To make up for revenue loss, GM’s brlight idea is to increase prices of their smaller cars.

When General Motors Corp.’s new global small car hits the U.S. market in mid-2010, the company is expecting it to fetch a better price than Honda and Toyota get for their small cars. Chevrolet General Manager Ed Peper said GM needs to get more money per vehicle than its prime Japanese competitors, Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp.

GM is banking on a big step up in price as it tries to make up for revenue lost when the U.S. market shifted rapidly from more profitable trucks and sport utility vehicles to more efficient smaller models.

Sigh… Just build quality cars! Goodluck against your Japanese competitors.

Honda Civic hybrid, India’s first hybrid car has outshined the company’s sales expectation. The company reportedly sold about 50 hybrid cars since its launch in June, 2008. The company expects to sell more than 200 units of the green car.

Civic hybrid is available in India as completely built unit from Japan, attracting 104% customs duty. It is the hybrid technology that increases the excise duty. The hybrid technology is not only environment friendly, but also 47% more efficient compared to other cars.

American-sized cars seem to be preferred in China

Buying an automobile is no longer the domain of the wealthy and Communist Party officials. As China’s middle class broadens, a car culture is burgeoning. But in some key ways, the car-buying experience is decidedly different than in the United States. Total sales of all vehicles are rising 20% per year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. General Motors Corp. sold 1.03 million cars in China in 2007.

In Beijing, there is no expansive auto lot, nor are there repair or collision facilities. And there are few used cars at this location. Test drives are not encouraged because you’ll spend more time sitting in Beijing’s traffic than opening up the engine. Inventory and test drives are offered at a roomy second location in a Beijing suburb.

The Chinese are becoming savvy car shoppers, thanks to the Internet and word-of-mouth referrals from a rapidly expanding customer base. They’re also becoming more sophisticated in their tastes, seeking something light years beyond the Chinese econo-boxes from the 1980s and ’90s.

Then again, there are certain makes of American cars you can not find in the U.S. Supposedly, the quality of American cars in China is superior.  Here’s a few. The Cadillac pictured above is unique to the Chinese market.

Dealers of imported luxury cars with big engine capacities are halting their sales and seeking higher prices before the passenger car tax rise is to finally start on Sept. 1.

Import price of cars with engine capacities of 3 to 4 liters would be increased by 13%, and 33% for those above 4 liters, as a result of the new tax, brought in to promote oil-friendly cars and reduce oil consumption.

Luxury car dealers of brands like BMW temporarily halted their sales until the tax comes into force. The tax rise would have the biggest impact on auto producers from the European Union (EU) and Japan as luxury cars mainly came from those two regions.

The Toyota Lexus had 120 problems per 100 vehicles compared to the industry average of 206 problems.

Lexus once again stands alone atop a closely watched list of vehicle dependability after Buick slipped from the No. 1 spot it shared with the Japanese luxury brand last year. It’s the 14th straight year Toyota Motor Corp.’s high-end brand has held the highest ranking in the annual study, which measures problems experienced by the original owners of vehicles after three years. Lexus had 120 problems per 100 vehicles, down from 145 last year.

Ford Motor Co.’s Mercury brand ranked second, followed by General Motors Corp.’s Cadillac. Toyota was fourth, and Honda Motor Co.’s Acura luxury brand was fifth.

General Motors makes more money selling cars overseas than in the United States.

Six decades after the communist revolution, China has become the hottest capitalist engine on earth. And ironically, some of the most revered symbols of success in today’s China are Cadillac, Buick and Chevrolet.

General Motors may be struggling at home, but it is thriving in China. In 2007, GM sold nearly twice as many Buicks in China as it did in the United States.

So why buy American instead of a car made by a Chinese manufacturer? “American producers have a longer history of producing cars and they have better techniques,” said Zhoucheng, a 36-year-old businessman from Shanghai province. I beg to differ with their cars, buddy.

Honda of India, Get Ready For Competition

Toyota has confirmed that they are going to launch their Prius model in the Indian market in the coming years. Toyota Prius is the most well known hybrid car in the world and it is also one of the best selling in this segment. Rivals Honda has already become the first automaker in India to launch a hybrid. They recently launched the Honda Civic Hybrid.