NEW YORK — Lexus once again stands alone atop a closely watched ranking of vehicle dependability after Buick slipped from the No. 1 spot it shared with the Japanese luxury brand last year, J.D. Power and Associates says.

It’s the 14th straight year Toyota Motor Corp.’s high-end brand has held the top position 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.

A 16-year-old boy will be charged as an adult in a crash that killed a woman driving to Sunday school and critically injured her son, Minneapolis police said today.

Don Buddie Austin of Minnesota is charged with one count of fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle with death, one count of fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle with injury, two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and two counts criminal vehicular operation.

Early versions of the Chevrolet Volt’s battery packs are powerful enough to run the high-stakes rechargeable car, but dozens of issues remain before General Motors Corp. can start selling the revolutionary vehicle in 2010 as planned.

The Volt’s chief engineer is on a tight schedule to figure out how the car will handle the batteries’ weight, dissipate their heat and mechanically transfer their power to the wheels. That’s not to mention the list of issues that have nothing to do with the fact that the car plugs in to the wall for recharging.

The stinky, steaming air that escapes from a car’s tailpipe could help us use less gas.

Researchers are competing to meet a challenge from the U.S. Department of Energy: Improve fuel economy 10 percent by converting wasted exhaust heat into energy that can help power the vehicle.

General Motors Corp. is close to reaching the goal, as is a BMW AG supplier working with Ohio State University. Their research into thermoelectrics — the science of using temperature differences to create electricity — couldn’t come at a better time as high gas prices accelerate efforts to make vehicles as efficient as possible.

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (ResourceInvestor.com) –Readers of Resource Investor require and deserve the best information and analysis of this situation to make informed investment decisions in raw materials needed for personal-vehicle power trains’ electrification. Therefore I’m going to use logic, my natural-resources market knowledge, as well as the agendas being followed by the global automotive OEMs. I’ll provide information to allow you to decide if and how you want to invest in such critical metals.

NEW YORK (AP) — Lexus once again stands alone atop a closely watched ranking of vehicle dependability after Buick slipped from the No. 1 spot it shared with the Japanese luxury brand last year, J.D. Power and Associates said Thursday.

It’s the 14th straight year Toyota Motor Corp.’s high-end brand has held the top position 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.

SHANGHAI, Jul 17, 2008 (SinoCast via COMTEX) — GM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating — Shanghai General Motors Co., Ltd., a venture of General Motor Corp. (NYSE: GM), launched Buick LaCROSSE hybrid version on July 15, 2008.

The new car model, known as LaCROSSE 2.4L Eco-Hybrid, is sold at CNY 269,900 with a 15% fuel saving and a 15% reduction of emission compared with LaCROSSE 2.4L luxury navigation edition, which is now sold at about CNY 220,000.

DETROIT — Though financial analysts and media observers continue to be discouraging about the future of Buick in America, GM has resisted the temptation to retire its aging brand. This might be a wise move, as the debut of the attractive Buick Invicta concept at the 2008 Beijing Auto Show proved that there might be a future for the stodgy division in Asia, and secret pictures of the new sedan suggests that GM expects to make much of it.

Nodding his head to the disco music blaring out of his car’s nine speakers, Zhang Linsen swings the shiny, black Hummer H2 out of his company’s gates and on to the spacious four-lane road.

Running a hand over his closely shaved head, Zhang scans the expanse of high-end suburban offices and villas that a decade ago was just another patch of farmland outside of Shanghai. To his left is a royal blue sedan with a couple and a baby, in front of him a lone young woman being chauffeured in a van.

Shanghai - The growing strength of the Chevrolet brand helped General Motors and its domestic joint ventures in China achieve record first half sales. Sales of the GM family in China rose 12.7 percent on an annual basis to 590,126 units.

Sales of Chevrolet, one of GM’s two foundational brands in China, jumped 34.6 percent in the first half to 109,131 units. Chevrolet benefited from strong demand for the Lova compact sedan and new Epica intermediate sedan. Both models are manufactured by Shanghai GM.