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Stop us if you've heard this one before: Hyundai is going to have to reduce the officially announced miles-per-gallon number for its 2014 Sonata. While there's a lot of similarity between this new situation and events that transpired in 2012, there are some important differences. For one, the new mileage mistake, which Hyundai says was once again caused by an error at its test centers, is only applicable to cars in the Korean Domestic Market. Secondly, it's not so much mpg as kilometers per liter.

"We are very sorry for causing confusion to reporters" - Hyundai

According to Reuters, the numbers for the Korean Sonata were originally announced as 12.6 kilometers per liter (29.63 mpg), a six-percent increase over the previous model. The automaker has just announced that government verification showed an actual result of 12.1 kpl (28.46 mpg), which is only a two-percent increase. Since these numbers were done using the South Korean economy test, they are not equivalent to the US EPA numbers, the latter of which say the 2014 Sonata gets 36/40/38 miles per gallon. The correction came before the new Sonata went on sale in South Korea. In an official statement, Hyundai said, "We are very sorry for causing confusion to reporters." Hyundai Motor America's Jim Trainor, product public relations senior group manager, assured AutoblogGreen that the Korean error will have "no effect" on US ratings.

In 2012, Hyundai and Kia faced a media and consumer firestorm after being caught up in exaggerated mileage claims for vehicles like its 2013 Accent, Veloster and Elantra. The sister companies agreed to compensate buyers to the tune of $395 million for what they said were "honest mistakes" and "human error" during in-house fuel economy tests. There is no word yet on whether similar customer satisfaction actions will follow this domestic market snafu.

Still embroiled in the ongoing ignition switch recall, General Motors announced today three more discrete recalls, affecting a grand total of 1,546,900 vehicles in the US. The Detroit News reports that some 1.7 million vehicles are affected overall in North America.

The first and largest of the trio of new recalls concerns some 1.18-million Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia crossovers from the 2008-2013 model years, Chevrolet Traverse from 2009-2013 (pictured above) and Saturn Outlook vehicles from 2008-2010. All of the crossover utilities may have an issue with the wiring harness for their seat-mounted side airbags. Apparently, the vehicles are equipped with a Service Air Bag warning light that, if ignored, "will eventually result in the non-deployment of the side impact restraints." Those restraints include the side airbags, a front-center airbag if the vehicle is so equipped and seatbelt pretensioners.

Dealers of affected vehicles will be instructed to remove driver and passenger side airbag wiring harness connectors, and then "splice and solder the wires together."

The second recall affects 303,000 Chevrolet Express (pictured right) and GMC Savana vans from model years 2009-2014, and with gross vehicle weights under 10,000 pounds. Said vehicles do not comply with a head impact requirement for unrestrained occupants, and will need a reworking of the instrument panel material to be sent back on the road. It doesn't sound as though there's a quick fix for this one, as the GM press release states: "Unsold vehicles have been placed on a stop delivery until development of the solution has been completed and parts are available."

Finally, the third recall affects 63,900 Cadillac XTS luxury sedans from model years 2013 and 2014. A brake booster pump may be susceptible to corrosion by way of the relay, potentially causing and electrical short, overheating, melting of plastic components and even engine fires. GM says it is aware of two engine fires in unsold XTS models and two cases of melted parts. Repairs for the issues affecting the XTS have not not mentioned by GM in the release.

The Detroit News is also reporting that along with news of the triple-recall, GM is taking a $300-million credit to help pay for the repair costs, and to deal with the ongoing costs associated with the ignition switch recall. In an attempt to explain just what GM has been doing in the face of these very serious issues, newly minted CEO Mary Barra has addressed the issues in a new video. Scroll down to watch Barra's mea culpa update, and to find the brief GM press release.

Blindfold slalom racing sounds like a really dumb, albeit entertaining, idea. The concept is quite simple: blindfold a driver, find a co-driver to bark orders and see who can negotiate a set course the quickest. Of course, any time you have someone behind the wheel who has no idea where the car is going, there's the potential for crashes, and this short video delivers.

This video demonstrates how blindfolded slalom is supposed to go, as well as what it looks like when things go wrong. You even get a glimpse at the aftermath. It seems like it would be a lot more fun with beater cars you didn't care about, not what looks like a pretty clean third-generation Toyota Supra. By running this event on a drag strip with retaining walls, these guys are putting themselves and some nice cars in harm's way. That said, the video below would also appear to be a good reminder of one of life's key tenets: Always pick a good co-driver.

Fair Warning: the video contains some mildly explicit language. Scroll down to check it out, and let us know in Comments if you'd be willing to try blindfold slalom racing.

My boyhood shelves were packed with all sorts of toys, but my favorites were miniature diecast cars. Even though I'd spend hours building challenging gravity tracks for the smallest and sleekest of the bunch, my prized vehicles were not scaled-down production models. Instead, I preferred to daydream about the fascinating showcars and fictitious models with their radical styling, giant wheels and oversized engines. They were the standouts that didn't need to roll down a plastic road, as they could shoot across the carpet, launch over a book and drive up the walls with impunity.

Understandably, then, I was recently compelled to shake off a flood of youthful memories when a 2014 SRT Viper GTS was dropped off in my driveway, complete with bright-red paint, black racing stripes, massive tires and the biggest engine in the land. It was exaggerated and outrageous – nothing short of a life-size version of my favorite childhood Matchbox car.

Only this time, I was handed a real key.

The famous Italian coachbuilder and designer Bertone may be on its deathbed. The company that penned the beautiful shape of the Lamborghini Miura has been facing financial hardships for months, and Autocar is reporting that the Turin, Italy firm has just declared bankruptcy.

The last we heard from Bertone, it was showing the Jet 2+2 station wagon based on an Aston Martin Rapide at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. The Turin-based carrozzeria became famous for its wild designs like the BMW Spicup concept, Lancia Stratos and the initial shape of the Lamborghini Countach. In recent years, it had been limited to creating mostly one-off vehicles.

The company has slowly been shrinking recently. It sold its small factory to Fiat a few years go and let go of 165 employees and 10 interns in December. Bertone has been shopping itself in hopes of finding a new owner. According to PistonHeads, even with the money problems, the business generated 20-million euros ($27.9 million) in revenue in 2013 and has been working on projects in China. A Turkish firm was rumored to be interested in buying it for just $2.7 million, and GT Spirit claims that there are also seven Italian companies potentially interested in purchasing it.

Bertone has a long and proud automotive history, and it wouldn't be surprising if it were bought just for the value of the brand – perhaps we haven't seen the last of its stylized B logo.

One of the bigger knocks against hybrid and electric vehicles is that while they don't directly produce much in the way of harmful emissions (if they make any at all), the process of building their electric motors and batteries can be very, very bad for the environment. Take graphite, for example. It's an essential ingredient in lithium-ion battery packs, like the one shown above in the back of a Toyota Prius Plug-In. According to Bloomberg, the average hybrid car uses about 22 pounds of graphite, and pure EVs like the Tesla Model S require about 110 pounds.

Graphite mining and processing is particularly bad for the environment. In China, one of the world's leading graphite producers, the effects of the so-called "graphite rain" – a silver dust that falls from the skies in areas around the mines – along with the hydrochloric-acid-infused waste water from processing are reportedly rapidly poisoning the environments around the mines. This has led China to slash production, closing a number of mines.

Bloomberg has an excellent piece on the environmental effects of graphite, as well as the impact of China's move on the global price of the material, the latter of which is expected to impact the future pricing of electric vehicles. Hop over to the site and have a look.

Chrysler announced recently that it has added some 800 new jobs at its Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (SHAP) to support the production of its all-new 2015 Chrysler 200 sedan. Total employment at the Sterling Heights, MI plant grows to almost 2,800 with the hires, an impressive figure for a plant that was slated for closure in 2010.

Speaking to a crowd of employees and community leaders, Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne was on hand to celebrate the kick-off of 200 production last week. "We're making a big bet on its success," said Marchionne of the sedan, "we've invested nearly a billion dollars in this facility."

That billion-dollar bill has been used to construct a spanking new paint shop, install a new body shop and install "machinery, tooling and material-handling equipment" according to the Chrysler press release. The company says that SHAP now runs to nearly five million square feet of manufacturing space – loads of room for all the new employees to do their thing – and that the facility can handle multiple vehicles on two unique architectures.

Marchionne also poked fun of the fact that not all of the money Chrysler has spent on the lead-up to the 200, was allocated to SHAP. Quipped the CEO, "With all due respect to Bob Dylan and to the generous amount of money to air this commercial during the Super Bowl, it is the men and the women here at SHAP that are real stars."

You can find the full video of Sergio's speech and another one touring the reborn SHAP, below.

Honda is recalling nearly 900,000 2005 to 2010 model year Odyssey minivans due to a fault with the fuel pump that could cause them to catch fire.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration filling, if exposed to "acidic chemicals and a high temperature environment," the cover of the fuel pump strainer could crack and cause a gasoline smell in the minivan or possibly allow the fuel to leak out. Denso supplied the fuel pumps on the vehicles, and the report says that Honda first began studying the problem in October 2012 but didn't finally confirm the cause until March 6, 2014. The recall affects 886,815 Odysseys, and Honda has received 187 warranty claims related to the issue. However, there have been no fires or injures reported.

Unfortunately, Honda says that it currently doesn't have enough replacement fuel pumps to fix all of the vehicles and doesn't expect to have the parts ready until this summer. It's sending a letter to owners telling them about the recall and is sending a second notification when the pieces are at dealers. The entire notification including affected VINs can be viewed as a PDF here, and the shortened version from the NHTSA can be viewed below.

Audi could be getting even more diverse with its powertrains for the A6, A8 and Q7, moving beyond offering just gas- and diesel-powered models and adding plug-in hybrid variants of the three luxury vehicles. The report comes from Indian Autos Blog, which spoke to Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Audi's research and design chief, who confirmed the PHVs.

The next-generation Q7, due in 2015, will be the pioneer for the full-size PHV movement from Audi, although the A3 Sportback E-Tron (shown above) will precede it. The move toward plug-ins by Audi is a big step, as the German marque has stayed quite firmly in the diesel camp, outside of its racing efforts. It's developed a few E-Tron cars over the years, including a version based on the R8, although it wasn't until recently that production of the electric sports car became serious again.

It's believed that this hesitance to really dive into the PHV market is why Audi sacked former research and design boss Wolfgan Dürheimer, with IAB speculating that his approach was too conservative.

Naturally, we're looking to hear from you. Should Audi just leave plug-in hybrids alone and continue plugging along with its excellent diesel offerings, or are more E-Tron products necessary to the brand's survival? Let us know what you think in the informal poll below.

Rearview cameras sound like a good bet if you're concerned about safety, but a new study just published by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety indicates that their benefits may be limited. Parking sensors, says the study, provided drivers with no more safety protection than using just your mirrors, and combining those and backup cams together was actually more dangerous in some cases.

The study examined 111 volunteers who were asked to perform normal driving behaviors. When they left a parking spot, the cutout of a child either jumped up or moved into place to surprised them. The vehicles were equipped with parking sensors, backup cameras, both or neither.

The study results are surprising. For the stationary object: 100 percent of those tested using just their mirrors hit it, about 95 percent with parking sensors, 56 percent with the camera and 75 percent with the both. For the moving obstacle: 13 percent collided with it using no technology, about 40 percent with the sensors, 13 percent with the camera and less than 10 percent for the combo. The results can be seen in graph to the right.

Parking sensors were found to be almost useless in these cases. The major problem was that they had a range of only around eight feet, which doesn't give enough time to react. They were made even less helpful in combination with backup cams because drivers were less likely to look at the video display when they had a parking system.

"Right now cameras appear to be the most promising technology for addressing this particularly tragic type of crash, which frequently claims the lives of young children in the driveways of their own homes," says David Zuby, the group's executive vice president and chief research officer, in a statement on the official site of the IIHS. It also provides an abstracted view of the study and graph showing each system's effectiveness. Take a look for the full results.

The first chapter of the new Formula One era has been written with the conclusion of the Australian Grand Prix, and it included a rookie rush, some resurgent and some unsurprising performances, the sound of screeching tires and a couple of firsts.

Outside predictions as to the pace of the Mercedes AMG Petronas team were proved as soon as the Friday practice sessions, with Lewis Hamilton recovering from an engine sensor fault in the first session to top the second, followed by teammate Nico Rosberg. That didn't change come the start of qualifying, not even the rain slowing down the Silver Arrows, Hamilton taking pole as the last man across the line in Q3.

The surprises were in the order behind him, with new Infiniti Red Bull Racing man Daniel Ricciardo grabbing second spot just three-tenths of a second down on Hamilton. Ricciardo not only looked like he belonged at the front of the grid the entire weekend, but he seems to have reversed the Mark Webber jinx: four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel had car issues and didn't get into Q3, having to settle for 13th on the grid.

After Ricciardo came Rosberg in the second Mercedes, McLaren rookie Kevin Magnussen in fourth, then Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari in fifth, Jean-Eric Vergne in the first Toro Rosso, Nico Hülkenberg in the Force India, rookie Daniil Kyvat in the second Toro Rosso and the Williams duo of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas rounding out the top ten.

Almost all of that would change as soon as the lights went out.

It looks like 2014 Porsche 911 GT3 drivers might actually get to drive their cars again soon. Reports of fires affecting the track-ready Germans first began about a month ago. Then, a few days later, the automaker confirmed two of the five alleged blazes and said owners shouldn't drive their cars until further notice. Porsche then went so far as to offer to pick up the GT3s and transport them to the nearest dealer until the problem was identified and a fix was found. Finally, there appears to be a repair.

"We know the reason and the problem-solving measures. We're testing them," said Porsche CEO Matthias Müller to Bloomberg. The technical fix will be released to owners shortly.

The recall affects all 785 GT3s that have been sold so far, but there have been no reported injuries caused by the fires. When it first announced the safety campaign, Porsche said: "Internal studies to determine the cause of the engine damage have not been completed yet."

With winter rapidly turning in spring, hopefully Porsche can fix these road-legal racecars in time for drivers to enjoy the nicer weather.

We've heard of EV kit cars that can take a week (or an hour) to build, but how long do you think it would take to build an EV from scratch, using this new-fangled 3D-printing technology? If the technology from Local Motors works as advertised, it should take no more than the five days. The public will get to see for ourselves during this year's International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago, IL in September. Two years ago, at the 2012 International Manufacturing Technology Show, Local Motors built its Rally Fighter (pictured) on the grounds during the six-day event.

So runs the plan, anyway, and Local Motors says it will create the "direct digital manufactured vehicle" based on the plans created by the company's "global community." Some of the advanced manufacturing techniques came from the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and once any kinks have been worked out, the plans could be fairly easily adapted to make EVs that work exactly right for local conditions.

The people involved are not afraid to hype up the possibilities of a 3D-printed. Or even overhype them. Bonnie Gurney, the director of communications for AMT, said in a prepared statement that, "Local Motors is undeniably the first disruptive entrant into the US automotive industry in decades." Tesla fans would likely disagree, but the idea of a 3D-printed car would certainly be something fresh and interesting. Scroll down for a press release.

The 3.0L turbodiesel V6 in the 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel earned a slot on Ward's Automotive 2014 10 Best Engines for its power, fuel economy and refinement. In a piece looking at how Fiat subsidiary VM Motor developed the engine, Ward's also makes note of the fact that the same lump goes in diesel versions of the Maserati Quattroporte and Ghibli. They're tuned a bit differently, naturally, with the QP putting out 275 horsepower and 442 pound-feet of torque, the smaller, lighter Ghibli making do with the same number of horses but a lower torque output of 420 lb-ft.

The 240 horsepower and 420 pound-feet put out by the oil-burning six-cylinder in the Ram was tamed with a host of advances, but it appears that Ram hasn't tamed demand: the initial allocation of 8,000 engines was spoken for within three days of the truck going on sale. Head over to Ward's to read the story of how Ram worked out the equation light-duty-pickup + diesel = success.