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Documents do not shed light on what motivated the decision to eschew use of the first switch.

General Motors made a fateful choice in the fall of 2001.

The company considered two options for ignition switches to be installed on the 2003 Saturn Ion. One drawing submitted that September contained an ignition switch that included a longer detent spring and plunger with greater torque.

In October, one month later, the company considered another engineering drawing that showed a shorter detent spring and plunger, which made it easier for the switch to move between the "run" and "accessory" positions.

Documents do not shed light on what motivated the decision to eschew use of the first switch, but GM's decision to go with the shorter switch has proven to have far-reaching consequences. The shorter switches have been linked to at least 32 car accidents resulting in at least 13 deaths.

Drawings of the two different switches were among the 200,000 pages of documents GM submitted to federal investigators who want to know why the company waited until this February to recall more than 2.5 million cars afflicted with the defective switches when it had knowledge of its flaws for more than a decade. The springs in the shorter switches were 9.6 millimeters; the springs in the longer ones were 12.3 millimeters, according to the documents. The difference between life and death was 2.7 millimeters.

On Wednesday, the Center for Auto Safety, which first noted the differences between the drawings, sent a letter to General Motors CEO Mary Barra, asking if she had been briefed about the differences in the parts – and the documents that illustrate them – in advance of Congressional hearings held earlier this month. Clarence Ditlow, the executive director of CAS, and Joan Claybrook, a former head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, called on Barra to release all documents that shed light on the decision to select the switch utilizing the shorter detent spring and plunger.

In the years before Volkswagen would admit that its Chattanooga, Tennessee plant would build the Passat, it referred to the vehicle the New Midsize Sedan. The sketch above is of sleek four-door called the New Midsize Coupe concept, to be introduced shortly at the Beijing Motor Show, but it warps the dimensions along the Passat-Jetta continuum: it's about 1.2 inches lower and the same amount shorter than the Jetta, but 2.3 inches wider – which makes it a touch wider than the Passat.

The accompanying press release shares just a few other tidbits, highlighting the concept's 220-horsepower, four-cylinder TSI engine on duty up front and the 20-inch low-profile tires it sits on. The project is identified as the "avant-garde proponent of a new, compact saloon class." Its pending introduction in China and production-friendly look has us thinking that this concept will shortly spawn a more compact CC for their roads, but not ours. And like seemingly everything else flowing out of VW these days, we're willing to bet a peek under the sheetmetal will reveal the German automaker's new MQB modular platform, too. You can check out the official words for more clues, in English and German, below.

Meet the refreshed 2015 Dodge Charger; notice anything different? You would have to be pretty farsighted to miss the sedan's new Dart-like nose, and it's likely going to be quite polarizing to the car's fans. Gone are the previous furrowed, aggressive headlights in favor of a wider, friendlier look.

While the more rounded headlights and narrower grille are going to be the first thing most people notice, Dodge claims its designers have made changes to nearly every panel on the Charger. The hood dips down deeper at the front, and the doors show off a more angled version of the car's shoulder blister. LED running lights and taillights are standard on all models, and SXT and RT trims get LED foglights. Even though the front might not be as intimidating, Dodge has hung onto the sedan's muscular stance with angular contours making up the rest of the redesign.

Under the hood is the same engine range you've come to know over recent years. Both the 5.7-liter V8 and the 3.6-liter V6 return for 2015, with the Hemi making 370 horsepower and 395 pound-feet of torque, and the standard Pentestar outputting 292 hp and 260 lb-ft. All models are now equipped with Chrysler's TorqueFlight eight-speed automatic as standard. Fuel economy for V8 Chargers is predicted at 16 miles per gallon city and 25 mpg highway, compared to 15 mpg / 25 mpg last year with a five-speed automatic. All models also come with electric power steering, and the axles are cast from aluminum to save weight.

The interior sees many of the same changes as the Challenger with a new 7-inch display located between the speedometer and tachometer, and all models but the SE come with an 8.4-inch Uconnect infotainment system with optional navigation. Drivers hang on to a redesigned three-spoke steering wheel with available paddle shifters. There are a ton of new safety assistance features available on the sedan, including lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning and more.

Trim levels are simplified from seven entries currently down to four: SE, SXT, R/T and R/T Road and Track. All-wheel drive is now optional on the base SE model, but it's no longer offered on the R/T, which means it won't be possible to get the 5.7-liter V8 driving all four wheels.

The new Charger will be on dealer lots by the end of the year. Scroll down for the entire detailed release on the refreshed sedan.

While it's not seeing the drastic facelift of its brother, the Charger, at the 2014 New York Auto Show, the 2015 Challenger is packing some upgrades of its own. It wears even more retro-inspired styling cues, and there are new 6.4-liter Scat Pack and Shaker trims.

If you thought the Challenger looked retro before, Dodge is taking things even farther with inspiration for the refresh coming from the iconic 1971 model. Up front, it has a new split grille, a larger power bulge in the hood and projector fog lights. At the rear, the classic inspiration continues with split LED taillights with Gloss Black trim, and a rear valance panel redesigned to make the 2015 model look wider and lower.

The '71 motif is carried inside as well with a high-sill center console and aluminum gauge bezels. There's still more than a touch of modernity, with an available 8.4-inch Uconnect infotainment system and 7-inch customizable display between the retro-inspired speedometer and tachometer. For better safety, the Challenger is also now available with forward collision warning, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross path detection. Stability control and electric power steering are standard across all models too.

The biggest mechanical change for the refresh is that the TorqueFlight eight-speed automatic is now available throughout the range. It's standard on the SXT trim and optional on all other models.

Dodge is also adding the new 6.4-liter Scat Pack and Shaker models. The Scat Pack rumbles with Chrysler's venerable 6.4-liter (392 cubic-inch) V8, now with 485 horsepower and 475 pound-feet of torque, offered with either a six-speed manual or the eight-speed automatic with paddle shifters. It also wears Brembo brakes to slow it down, and 20-inch wheels for style. Dodge predicts the big V8 with the automatic will hit 60 miles per hour in the mid-four-second range and sprints the quarter mile in the low 12-second range. The package also adds a bumblebee tail stripe, HID headlights and a gloss black grille surround.

The Shaker is available with either the 6.4-liter or 5.7-liter V8s and boosts performance with a functional hood scoop mated to a cold-air intake. It also comes standard with the Super Track Pak suspension package with Goodyear Eagle F1 tires, a black graphics package and sport seats.

Dodge must think that the retro style of the Challenger is one of its major selling points because it's leaning hard into the look for the refresh. Mixing it with more modern safety equipment is probably a good idea, though. Scroll down to read about all the changes for the 2015 model.

Live, from New York...

Greetings from the basement of the Jacob Javits Center, where we're in the midst of the 2014 New York Auto Show. We still have another full day of coverage to bring you, but go ahead and peruse through our roundup of Day One action to see what's been hot at the show thus far. We'll be back online bright and early to do it all again tomorrow.

Rare is good. Rare cars are very good. Rare Vipers are extra good. So what happens when you add a special edition to an already rare SRT Viper Time Attack? You get the Anodized Carbon Special Edition Viper TA.

SRT was already planning to offer 50 copies of the Anodized Carbon Special Editions, based on the GTS model. While that's pretty rare, the announcement that the last ten AC Vipers will be sold with the Time Attack equipment group makes it one of the most unique Vipers in quite some time.

The new models will wear a special dash plaque, in addition to their very special paint job. Metallic Matte Black paint covers the body, while Satin Black Vapor can be found on the exhausts, fuel door, brake ducts and rear bumper.

While the exterior does away with the TA's trademark orange paint, the interior still sports a bit of the retina-searing color, thanks to the contrast stitching on the cabin's Alcantara trim.

Aside from these few aesthetic changes, this matte gray Viper is just as brutally quick as the TA we drove back in November. You can read all about that test here, or you could just scroll up and have a look at our live images of the Anodized Carbon Special Edition. SRT's press release and stock images are available below.

We won't argue that crossovers are hugely successful vehicles, with automakers working to provide functional CUVs in a wide range of sizes. But over at BMW, things are just getting out of hand, as evidenced by this new X4 "Sports Activity Coupe" that debuts here at the 2014 New York Auto Show.

BMW is seeing fit to offer vehicles in even the most niche of niches, and the X4 is no exception. Want proof? Have a look at the X4, and the compare it to the X3, the 3 Series Gran Turismo, the 3 Series Sport Wagon, and the 4 Series Gran Coupe. Aside from marginal differences in things like ground clearance and the exact slope of the hatchback, what, exactly, is the difference?

Like the other models we just mentioned, the X4 is powered by either a 2.0-liter turbo-four with 240 horsepower or a more powerful, 3.0-liter turbo-six with 300 horsepower, and unsurprisingly, power is sent to the ground exclusively via the company's xDrive all-wheel-drive system. An eight-speed automatic transmission is the sole gearbox available with either engine. All sounds very familiar, right?

Even the shape is familiar, the X4 looking like a smaller, less-functional X6. It's not exactly what we'd call pretty, and it certainly isn't cheap, either. Pricing for the X4 whatcha-mobile starts at $45,625, including destination. Six-cylinder power will cost you just under $50,000, and considering BMW's extensive options list, we don't doubt that you'll easily be able to get one of these up into purely lavish territory.

Scroll down for BMW's official press blast, and check out our fresh crop of live images in the gallery above.

Alfa Romeo has been teasing its return to the United States for years. Each time, it's seemingly been pushed back for one reason or another. The last time we had our Alfa fix fulfilled was when just a few hundred examples of the 8C Competizione crossed the pond late last decade. Now, though, it looks like finally Alfa will be coming back, showing this, the 4C Launch Edition, at the 2014 New York Auto Show.

By now, you should know the brief on the 4C – ultra-lightweight, mid-engined, turbocharged and with non-power-assisted steering. It's a driving instrument, and one we've admired from afar since it hit the European market.

The 4C Launch Edition is the opening volley of Alfa's US return and adds a number of items to the already appealing sports car. The 500 Launch Editions will be limited to three colors - Alfa Red, Rosso Competizione or Madreperla White. It sports standard bi-xenon headlamps, which do away with the polarizing covers that highlighted European models. A carbon-fiber spoiler and mirror caps and unique forged wheels round out the changes for first US-spec 4Cs.

The suspension is firmer, with performance-tuned shocks and stiffer front and rear sway bars. Meanwhile, a racing exhaust should help the turbocharged, four-cylinder engine make its presence known. It doesn't seem like the power output is changing thanks to the new exhaust, although we're expecting the 4C's already throaty warble will sound even better.

You can take a look up top for our full gallery of live images of the new 4C or you can scroll down and take a look at the official press release from Alfa Romeo. Then, hop into the Comments and let us know if you think of the latest Alfa to be sold in the US.

The styling changes to the 2015 Ford Focus were shown off at the recent Geneva Motor Show, so what the EV version looks like is not that much of a surprise. Still, the 2015 Focus Electric is making its world debut here at the New York Auto Show, so we wanted to know what changes we are looking at compared to both the internal combustion engine version and the earlier EV models.

The exterior visual distinctions between the ICE and EV are minimal, and basically nonexistent from the A-pillar to the rear. Up front, you can see the charge port, of course, but the front fascia has also undergone a bit of an adjustment. The front doesn't have the ICE version's flattened grille and the EV's Ford logo creates a bump in the hood line where none exists on the ICE. The 2015's grille is also different than the one on the 2014 Focus Electric, being slightly smaller (you can see this better if you compare pictures in our new gallery above to these of the 2011 Focus Electric and these of the gas-powered 2015 Focus).

The updated 2015 interior – which we couldn't access ourselves – has things like a new center stack, improved cupholders and is basically identical between the gas and electric models. With the car off, you can't even tell if you're in an EV or ICE, Seema Bardwaj, the US brand manager for the Focus, told AutoblogGreen. The only things that are different, she said, are extra menu screens to show EV powertrain information to the driver.

There is also a minor powertrain upgrade in the '15 EV compared to the '14 model: a single-digit increase in kW rating for the electric motor. The range (76 miles) and MPGe (105, combined) numbers for the 2015 MY are the same as they were before, Bardwaj said.

Look closely, kids – you're staring at the face of a refreshed Volkswagen Jetta. Yeah, it's hard to tell, what with the only noticeable changes consisting of slightly updated headlamps and taillamps, and some other aerodynamic tweaks. But the big news for the 2015 Jetta is what you can't see.

For starters, there's a new version of Volkswagen's ever-excellent 2.0-liter TDI four-cylinder diesel engine. With 150 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque on tap, it isn't vastly different in terms of output, but the big gain here is fuel economy. Volkswagen claims that with the six-speed manual transmission, the 2015 Jetta TDI will achieve up to 45 miles per gallon on the highway. And based on our experience with prior Jetta TDI models – our 2011 long-term car comes to mind – we don't think it'll be hard to crest 50 mpg every now and then, while still being pretty great to drive. The rest of the Jetta range will still be powered by 1.8- and 2.0-liter turbocharged engines, and the Hybrid and GLI models carry over with LED lamps.

Other noticeable changes are found in the Jetta's cabin, where there's a wealth of new driver assistance technology. Beyond that, chrome trim is available on mid- and high-range models, and there's a new multifunction color display. Nifty.

It might not look like much, but these updates to the compact Jetta should be enough to keep it fresh until the all-new model arrives in the not-too-distant future. Scroll down for more details in the official press blast.

Wolfgang Dürheimer is still in play, with Bentley Motors announcing that he will return to the Chairman and CEO slot of the English company and French division Bugatti on June 1, 2014. He'll probably remember those chairs from the last time he filled them, since he was promoted to both positions in 2010 and remained there until September 2012, when he was installed as the head of R&D at Audi. That job only lasted until June of 2013, his nine-month tenure reported to be full of corporate drama that lead to his dismissal from the position.

But as if on gardening leave, he's been in the low-profile position of General Representative of the Volkswagen Group responsible for motorsport. Once back at Bentley, he will take over as the company works on getting its SUV to market and expanding its range. Both of those briefs Dürheimer will know well, having proved his ability at Porsche in the first decade of the new millennium. And even though no longer at Audi, his hybrid days don't appear to be over, as Bentley recently announced that it will hybridize of 90 percent of its lineup.

Dürheimer will also take on a third position, joining a VW Group committee focused on the US and Chinese markets. His successor at Bentley and Bugatti, Wolfgang Schreiber, has been promoted to "a leading position within the Volkswagen Group." There's a brief press release below with the official words.

Volkswagen is in New York this week showing off its new Jetta and Golf TDI SportWagen concept. But in less than a week, the German automaker will be off to China for the Beijing Motor Show, where it will showcase the revised Touareg you see here.

A subtle update on the Touareg that's been on the market in its current form for four years now, the facelifted model features reworked styling front and rear, an updated interior and a host of new technologies to keep it current in the highly competitive SUV market. Among those new features are larger bi-xenon headlights, coasting function, Google Maps integration and a post-collision braking system designed to prevent a second crash.

VW will offer the new Touareg with a variety of engines around the world, but in North America it'll carry over the same six-cylinder powertrain options as the outgoing model: a 3.6-liter V6 with 280 horsepower, a 3.0-liter turbodiesel V6 with 240 hp (though torque isn't listed, we'd expect around 406 pound-feet, same as last year) and a hybrid that marries a 3.0-liter supercharged V6 to an electric motor that combine to deliver 380 hp.

Reduced friction from the tires, wind and eight-speed automatic transmission mean, however, that fuel consumption is improved by six percent. And when you're driving a big SUV, every little bit helps. Scope out the full details in the press release below.

Nissan's refresh of its cavernous Versa Sedan is on hand today at the 2014 New York Auto Show. While we continue to appreciate the Versa for its space and low price, this slight restyling of the four-door sedan hasn't done much for its uninspiring appearance.

Newly enlarged headlights and a reworked, more Altima-like grille are the biggest changes to the front of this Versa, although Nissan has also added some brightwork around the revised foglight housings. Integrated turn signals liven up the mirrors, while the rear of the car wears a new and almost strangely sporty bumper.

Perhaps more importantly for prospective owners, Nissan has also made a few interior tweaks, with a new steering wheel and a revised center stack leading the change. There's some new available tech on the top-end SL model, as well.

Power continues to be served up in the form of a 109-horsepower, 1.6-liter four-cylinder and the buyers choice of a five-speed manual, four-speed automatic (S models) or continuously variable transmission.

But more important that displacement, horsepower or aesthetics, is likely the Versa's bottom line: at $11,990 for starters (plus $810 destination), it continues to be America's least-expensive new car.

When Mini introduced the Countryman in 2010, it emerged as the brand's first crossover, its first five-door model and its first to offer all-wheel drive. It also arrived mid-lifecycle in the last generation of Mini Cooper hatchback, with which it shares little more than a passing family resemblance. Now that the Anglo-Saxon automaker is moving on to its third generation of retro hatch, it's given the Countryman a bit of a refresh to keep it current.

Unveiled today at the New York Auto Show, the new Countryman incorporates some very minor cosmetic tweaks to the exterior – so minor, in fact, that you'd be hard pressed to tell one from the other even if viewed side by side. Some subtle enhancements have been implemented to the interior as well, where the large central speedometer remains where it was in the middle of the dashboard (unlike the new Cooper hatch that moves it to where you'd normally find the instrument cluster, behind the steering wheel). The rear seats, however, offer more adjustability.

Mini will offer the new Countryman worldwide in an array of powertrain configurations, ranging from the bare-bones Mini One Countryman with a 1.6-liter naturally-aspirated four offering just 98 horsepower all the way up to the twin-turbo John Cooper Works with 218 hp – North American customers will get the latter, but not the former. The mid-range Cooper S has been enhanced by seven horses to deliver 190 hp, while overseas-only diesel models range from 90 hp to 143. Buyers will be able to choose between a six-speed manual or automatic and front-or all-wheel drive. There are also some new colors on offer and a host of optional equipment, all of which you can read about in the press release below.