Nutson's Nuggets: Last Week's (December 5-December 10, 2011) In Case You Weren't Paying Attention

Auto Central Louisville KY, December 11, 2011; Each week Larry Nutson, The Auto Channel's Chicago Bureau Chief, along with Steve Purdy and Thom Cannell from The Auto Channel Detroit Bureau give you the past week's automotive news highlights you may have missed.

If you are a car nut like we all are here at Auto Central, you can easily "catch up" on not only this past weeks automotive news but the past 16 years 896,398 automotive stories, articles, reviews, rants and raves by just searching for all of the stories and videos on any automotive subject archived in The Auto Channel's Automotive News Archive...get smart, have fun see ya next week LN.

* Dodge announced it will re-enter the compact car segment with the 2013 Dodge Dart, a Dodge brand name dating back to the '60s. The Dodge Dart is based on Fiat architecture adapted from the Alfa Romeo Giulietta and will offfer three different engines and three different transmissions. The Dart will make its debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this January and will be produced in Belvidere, IL.

* Aptera, the California start-up electric vehicle maker, has pulled the plug on its operation. The company needed more funds for its Aptera 2e three-wheeled battery-car that looked like an aircraft. Aptera was counting on a federal loan of $150 million it said it needed to launch production. But the government loan didn't materialize as the Department of Energy loan program came under increasing attack.

* Highway deaths have gone down again, now at the lowest total number since 1949. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration numbers just out show the rate dropped this year by 3% to 1.1 deaths per hundred-million miles driven. So much for the hand-wringers warning of carnage on thehighways because of distracted driving.

* The Volt has won more car-of-the-year awards than any car, it seems, and has now won another - the coveted Future Collectable Car of the Future, awarded by the National Automotive History Collection at the Detroit Public Library. The presentation by the award's founder, historian Mike Davis, is part of the holiday event at the NAHC each year.

* We learned this week that GM will show the production version of a new Buick crossover at the upcoming North American International Auto Show in Detroit to go along with the much-anticipated new small Cadillac ATS.

* The high-flying yen means that Toyota will be exporting about 6,000 US-made Camrys to South Korea. Whoda thought we would be the low-cost producer.

* NASCAR driver Kurt Busch was fired from Penske Racing. Busch had been fined $50,000 by NASCAR for the use of an obscene gesture and also a verbal tirade against ESPN reporter Jerry Punch. Penske sponsor Shell Pennzoil had a say in the decision. This marks the second time in Busch's career that he has been fired.

* In Japan a convoy of supercars was involved in a major highway 14-car crash. Eight Ferraris, a Lamborghini and three Mercedes-Benzs were damaged in a chain reaction crash on a rain soaked highway. It was a "gathering of narcissists" said the police, as this group of exotic car owners were out for a drive together. Some speculate that damage estimates will reach $4 million.

* The AutoWeek editorial staff honored the Mazda Takeri concept with its Best In Show Award at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show. Best Concept was the Nissan Juke Nismo, Most Significant was the Subaru BRZ, and Most Fun the Honda EV-ster.

* The Nissan Leaf was named Japanese Car of the Year at the recent Tokyo Motor Show.

* Word has it that some customers are considering to take up GM on the offer to buy back their Chevy Volt vehicles in the wake of a federal safety investigation. I guess those folks will need to pay back the $7500 tax credit to the federal government.

* More Saab stories. Swedish carmaker Saab faced a fresh threat to its existence when a court-appointed administrator said its protection from bankruptcy should be removed due to a failure to secure Chinese investments. The end may be near.

* The IndyCar Series will not return to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next season. The release of the 2012 schedule has been postponed pending a determinaion if the series can continue racing on high-banked ovals as part of the investigation into the Las Vegas crash that claimed the life of Dan Wheldon.

* Ford Motor Company is recalling 128,616 Fusion and Mercury Milan sedans from the 2010 and 2011 model years to fix defective wheels that may fall off, the U.S. Transportation Department said. * The 2012 Fiat 500 two-door subcompact received four stars from NHTSA for frontal crash and rollover safety but received just two stars for side-impact crash safety, the agency announced on its website, safecar.gov. The tests gave the car a combined overall safety rating of three stars, NHTSA reported. The Fiat 500 has been named a Top Safety Pick for 2012 by the IIHS.