General Motors gave Santa a sleigh with OnStar and a reindeer monitor. General Electric must have seen that video and said, "Hold on a second," because they created a sleigh for the big red man with icephobic coatings, self-powered OLED lighting, ceramic matrix composite blades, GE sodium batteries, Trip Optimizer, and a 500GB holographic disc that holds 200 DVDs worth of information.

Santa's suit gets in on the Iron Man act, too, with a wearable RFID sensor hidden in the fringed getup as well as a wireless medical sensor, because Mr. Kringle's Body Mass Index is out of control. And since elves are notorious worriers, they get Asset Intelligence Tracking Tech to keep Santa on the radar and out of Vegas.

But for all that, GE didn't include a blue button so the kiddies could keep track of him...

[Source: GE via Carbon Fiber Gear]

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According to Automotive News, three of Toyota's group vice presidents will be leaving the company in less than sixty days. Steve Sturm, 28 years with the company, oversaw strategic research and planning for the Americas as well as corporate communications. Dave Danzer is a 24-year veteran and headed strategic and product planning. Environmental and public affairs were headed by Irv Miller, who's been a Toyota associate for 29 years.

Long-tenured group VPs don't generally just get up and leave, especially not in unison, so we assume their departures are not a surprise inside the company. Still, we imagine it's a blow, and there's probably more than one Toyota higher-up singing, "You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille..."

[Source: Automotive News – sub. req.]

Swiss firm Zai makes high-zoot skis. When the company teamed up with Bentley, the result was an even higher-zoot ski kit called Zai Supersports, composed of handmade skis and poles, and a ski bag.

The skis themselves feature a special carbon fiber material called "Zaiìra" on top, with a natural rubber core, chromium-steel-infused carbon fiber for the twisty bits, and Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites to round out your lust for exotic materials. The poles use the ExoGrid tech usually associated with the world of golf clubs.

There will only be 250 pairs made, and because you knew they wouldn't be cheap you won't be surprised by the $9,800 purchase price. Get all the facts in the press release after the jump, and pretty pictures in the high-res gallery below.



[Source: Zai]

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The mad men at Adweek recently voted for the Commercial of the Decade (Super Bowl commercials not included) and Honda took top honors over memorable ads from the last ten years by companies like Nike, Budweiser and Sony. That's not a big surprise considering Honda often puts a huge amount of effort into its on-air spots. However, the Japanese automaker didn't win for the commercial you might have expected: "Cog." Though Honda's famous commercial that breaks down a European Accord Tourer into a Rube Goldberg-esque machine was also a finalist, it was beaten by another Honda commercial called "Grrr" that's narrated by Garrison Keillor of all people. You've probably never seen it, but you can after the jump.

Volkswagen also made the list of finalists, but the particular ad chosen out of all the comical VW ads we've seen was unexpected as well. Most surprising carmaker with a commercial in the finals: Saturn. Who knew...

Just for fun we've put all 27 commercials after the break with the auto-related ones at the top, so you can enjoy the swear jar, the creepy-funky Philips clowns, a "rabbit panther thingy with turbines on ice," and the most sad-but-hilarious IKEA commercial we've ever seen. As a bonus we included the Gears of War commercial since we think it deserves a mention, and because it's almost the weekend and it doesn't always have to be about cars, does it? Follow the jump for the ad-fest.

[Source: Adweek]

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Toyota's pulled out of F1, but that doesn't mean the company has lost its will to win with cutting edge tech. Rumors suggest it's dusting off the underpinnings of the Hybrid Supra HV-R it used to win the Tokkachi 24-Hour race two years ago, and staring at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a glint in its eye.

The Supra HV-R used a 473-horsepower V8 that gets help from regenerative braking, a quick-charging capacitor, and three additional electric motors: two in the front wheels, one in the back of the car. Toyota would need to upgrade the tech, prep the car for the GT1 class, and test it, so a 2012 race entry is hypothesized were such a thing to happen.

As far as we're concerned, anything that could lead to bringing back a Supra -- even if only in race trim to begin with -- is all right with us. Especially one with 473 horses, gobs of torque and a date with the Mulsanne straight. Toyota, please do this...



[Source: Autocar]

The photo above, from Chrysler's press conference at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, is nothing but things that are no more. The gorgeous 200C EV has evaporated. The gentlemen on the podium, Jim Press and Tom LaSorda, have gone their various ways. And the background is arrayed with ENVI electric cars that are all (most likely) gone, as well as the division that created them. Everything swallowed by waves in Chrysler's Year of the Storm.

This year Chrysler is practically avoiding the hubbub entirely, in that it will have no press conference at next month's Detroit Auto Show. It won't be for lack of cars: they'll have items from all four brands, including some limited-edition models. Chrysler's head of marketing, Olivier Francois, said that after the big event last month to reveal the long-term plan, "We presented our plans and the next step is to present the cars."

Understandably, industry observers seem to think that it's a bad idea for Chrysler to go mum in Detroit. Chrysler's a private company and no outsider knows what the real situation is inside the castle walls. If Chrysler does go for the splash of a press conference, with no new models to show or even talk about they'll be ripe for charges of "All that's great talk now show us the cars!" That makes it sound like a case of being damned either way. But at least they'll be there, unlike Saab...

[Source: The Detroit News]

A Citroën commercial without robots or an NRJ radio station soundtrack? We might have thought it impossible, but here it is. Promoting the new C3 hatchbach and its zenith windscreen meant to give you all kinds of panoramic views, the kids take this car on a joyride unlike any you're likely to see outside of a Top Gear episode.

Follow the jump for more information on the C3 and to see the swingin' commercial along with a special "making of" video.

[Source: Citroën via YouTube]

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ATT-TEC has been busy this end of the year, and here they are presenting yet another softly tuned German car, this time an E Class sedan. Called "a car of extra class – no doubt!" and "flawless everywhere," it wears a comprehensive aero kit and 20-inch wheels. Intriguingly, it also sports a round void where the grille emblem once lived, and a matching void in the vents aft the front wheels.

ATT didn't mention the engine at all, so we figure they left it alone. The remaining mods will run you €10,321 ($14,757 U.S.). A press release after the jump will tell you about a car that could be ticketed for "stiring [sic] the blood of every real man," and there's the gallery of high-res photos below to get you even more worked up.



[Source: ATT-TEC]

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Infiniti has turned over its cards and revealed pricing for two of its 2010 G37 models, and there is barely a bump in MSRP for the base models: the sedan's price remains the same at $33,250, while the coupe goes up by $150 to $36,050 – for which you get the revamped outside and upgraded materials and electronics inside.

As usual, traveling higher up the food chain requires more dosh, but it's interesting to see how much of a hit the more enthusiast-oriented models are taking. For the sedan, the Journey trim is upped by $750, the all-wheel drive model by $350, and the Sport 6MT surges by $2,750. The coupe increases by $850 for the Journey, $450 for the AWD, and a whopping $3,400 has been tacked onto the Sport 6MT. It isn't immediately clear why the 6MT models have been targeted for comparatively large increases in price (we're guessing it's a volume thing), but you can get more details on both models in the press release after the jump.

UPDATE: Just got word from Infiniti that the reason for the significant price increase on the 6MT model is the substantial amount of additional kit, including Bose stereo, power moonroof, iPod interface, heated front seats, power tilt/telescopic steering wheel, anti-glare mirror with Homelink and Bluetooth -- all standard.



[Source: Infiniti]

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Kia wants you to consider its 2010 Soul a template ripe for customization, and if you can't think of funky things to do with it, Kia will be glad to help you. This is the Kia Ignition Soul – the second special edition after the 1,200 Denim Souls released earlier this year – in "scorching" Ignition Orange, with offset black striping and blacked-out 18-inch rims, an alloy gas cap, and a rear spoiler.

It starts at $17,500 for the manual, making it $200 more than the Denim. But you won't complain about equipment: upgraded stereo, moon roof, keyless remote entry, tinted windows, cruise control, Bluetooth, and then some. Kia hasn't indicated yet if the Ignition Soul will be limited in number like the Denim was. You can get all the details in the press release after the jump, and check out all that orangeness in the high-res gallery below.



[Source: Kia]

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