Nutson's Nuggets: Last Week's (October 3-7) Automotive Factoids - In Case You Were Not Paying Attention

Each week Larry Nutson, The Auto Channel's Chicago Bureau Chief, gives you last weeks automotive news highlights you may have missed, or you can catch up on the past 15 years of automotive news HERE in our news archive.

* Steve Jobs. A legend. 1955-2011. His passing this week is perhaps the only story we should note. A modern day Henry Ford, Jobs revolutionized the communication and personal music industry. Apple begat infotainment in cars. The design of Apple stores brought change to car dealers. Thank you Steve.

* Volkswagen is recalling 168,000 diesel cars in the US because of a fuel line that could crack, possibly causing a fire. The recall effects 2009-2012 Jetta sedans and wagons, 2010 to 2012 Golfs and 2010-2012 Audi A3 wagons. A stop sale was put on vehicles in dealer inventories.

* The ongoing saga of Saab continues this week with Chinese automaker Geely denying they have any interest in acquiring the troubled company. Saab has been teetering on the edge of bankruptcy for months hoping for an infusion of capital so they can pay suppliers and resume production.

* Automotive News Europe reported this week that Fiat will build a "baby" Jeep for both European and US consumption. Smaller than Compass and Patriot the new little Jeep will be built at the Fiat Mirafiori plant in Turin. No word on what platform will be used.

* Tesla plans to challenge the BMW M5 high-performance sedan with the new Model S Sport which they predict will have a 0 to 60 time of about 4.5 seconds. The Model S Sport will cost around $80,000, seat 7 passengers and will pack about 320 kWh of battery power.

* With GM and Ford contracts now complete with the UAW, Chrysler may be a bit tougher to get and agreement. Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne wants a better deal than the others and is staking out a hard line position. Industry analysts speculate that the deal my go to binding arbitration. Because of the government bailout a strike would be illegal.

* Ford announced this week that the redesigned Escape will no longer have V6 or hybrid options. The hybrid powertrain will move to the new C-Max to be out next year. Escape will have three 4-cylinder oprions including the new EcoBoost twin turbo engine.

* The New Orleans Superdome stadium will soon become the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. In a 10-year deal the German automaker, with production facilities in nearby Alabama, will have branding messages all over the property. The New Orleans Saints, by the way, are owned by Tom Benson who has M-B franchises in New Orleans and San Antonio.

* Hyundai Motor Group, the umbrella company that includes Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp., plans to launch a Kia-badged small electric vehicle by year end and follow with more EVs starting in 2014, the company said this week. The announcement did not say whether the new EVs eventually would be sold in the United States.

* When it comes to most popular car colors, silver is out. White is in. Twenty-one percent of 2011 model year cars around the world are white, said Jane Harrington, manager of color styling and automotive paint for maker PPG. Black and silver were tied for second place with 20%, with gray coming in next at 13%. Silver ranked No. 1 last year. PPG also unveiled 70 new shades of automotive exterior colors for the 2014-2015 model year. Get ready for "hazy sunshine," "peacock blue," and "Ovaltine." No, that last one isn't mixed with milk. A recent PPG survey found that 77% of car buyers said that exterior color was a factor in their purchase, and 31% said they'd be willing to pay extra for a color that expresses their personality.

* General Motors, making its first foray into car sharing, is teaming up with RelayRides, a San Francisco-based car-sharing service, to help GM owners rent their idle vehicles. RelayRides, formed in June 2010, operates in San Francisco and Boston. It allows vehicle owners to rent their not-in-use vehicles. The owner controls the rates and availability of the vehicle. The company provides online access and a $1 million insurance policy to make the transaction convenient and safe for borrowers. Starting early next year, GM vehicle owners who are OnStar subscribers will be able to give borrowers access to their vehicles using RelayRides' planned smartphone app. RelayRides users now have to install a remote-unlock device in their vehicles to give borrowers access to the vehicles.

* Mazda has released a special edition of the MX-5 for the Japanese market. The Mazda Roadster "Black Tuned" edition features Brilliant Black power retractable hard top and outside mirrors and Gun Metallic 17-inch alloys. Exterior colors are Spirited Green Metallic, Velocity Red Mica and Crystal White Pearl Mica. The interior features black leather with sand-colored stitching. No word yet on an offering in the U.S. market.

* And lastly, say a final goodbye to the RX-8 and bid a temporary adieu to its Wankel rotary engine. The final RX-8s, a special SPIRIT R edition, go on sale in Japan on November 24 and production of the sports car ends June 2012. SPIRIT R with six-speed manual and SPIRIT E with an electronic automatic sixes arrive with badges, black bezel front and rear lights, fog lights, red painted calipers and, for manuals, Recaro buckets. Automatic cars get leather seats and other trim with red-stitched leather. History buffs note that German company NSU and Wankel inked their first deal in 1961 and Mazda launched their Cosmo Sport 110S in 1967, followed by a succession of RX-coupes (RX-2, RX-3, RX4, and Cosmo/RX-5) models for the US before announcing the RX-7 sports car in 1978. In 1991 a four-rotor Mazda 787B won the LeMans 24 hour (in class) and the last sports car, RX-8, launched in 2003. Mazda says development of the rotary engine will continue. It has been haunted by difficulties in achieving the improved fuel economy and emissions necessary for 21st century vehicles. We will miss the distinctive scream of a wound-up rotary, as well as the suggestion "if the rev limiter stops sqwaking, downshift."

Larry Nutson is a Senior Editor, Chicago Bureau, The Auto Channel
Member, Midwest Automotive Media Association Director, Individual Communicators Network (ICN)