Saab's fate, it seems, is frozen in time -- once Koenigsegg backed out of the deal and their once-partner, China's BAIC, made no move to pick up the pieces on its own, the future of the brand has remained up in the air between closing and finding a last-minute savior.

What's not stuck, though, is support for Saab from a small -- but vocal -- community, as CNBC's automotive correspondent Phil LeBeau recently found out. After asking, essentially, "where's the outcry?" over the possible demise of a once-loved brand in his Behind the Wheel column, LeBeau was inundated with emails -- most of them not too nice. Accusations ranged from being one of the "writers who are nailing the coffin shut with a grim reaper smile" to shoddy and irresponsible journalism.

Lexus has introduced its first sport package on the LS 460 to take aim at the Mercedes-Benz S-class.

The flagship LS, redesigned for the 2007 model year, is getting long in the tooth. And Lexus wants younger BMW and Mercedes owners. The sport package, available only on the base rear-drive 2010 model, costs $71,755, including shipping, a $6,200 premium over the $65,555 base price.

It's not too often that you hear a bold claim from a front-running manufacturer like the one Volkswagen made this past weekend: It wants -- no, intends -- to be the world's leading automaker by 2018. Unlike in sports, where No. 2-ranked fighters or football captains repeatedly announce their plans to take over the top spot, carmakers tend to be a little more tight-lipped about their intentions, even if everyone already assumes they know what they're trying to do (after all, isn't every automaker trying in its own way for the top spot?).

VW, though, is breaking that mold. Its goal, by 2018, is to be "No. 1 in the world in terms of (production and sales) numbers," according to VW Group management board member Christian Klingler. VW still trails Toyota, of course, and once-dominant GM has been in a bit of a free fall since declaring bankruptcy and closing or selling off once-prominent brands such as Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and, soon, Saab.

Nissan will introduce an accessorized version of its Rogue compact crossover in hopes of attracting more male buyers.

The Krom Rogue, on sale Dec. 9, will sticker for about $23,000 in its two-wheel-drive version and about $25,000 as a four-wheel-drive. That's a premium of $2,000 to $4,000 over models without accessories.

The Krom versions will feature an entirely new front end with a mesh grille, fog lights, rear spoiler, tinted glass, center exhaust pipes and 17-inch alloy wheels.

Even with the merits of corn-based ethanol debunked and disgraced, the government just can’t help itself: The Environmental Protection Agency may kowtow yet again to Big Corn and boost the percentage of ethanol blend allowed in gasoline from the current 10 percent to 15 percent. Never mind that it might wreck the pollution-trapping catalytic converter in your car, void your warranty or damage the engines of boats, lawn mowers and other small-engine machinery.

           

What’s downright, bizarro-world crazy about the deal is that unimpeachable scientific studies have finally blown apart the ethanol scam. As a replacement for gasoline, ethanol actually increases global-warming emissions, in part because of massive clearing of forests and grassland required to grow corn for ethanol.

You may recall when Papa John's founder John Schnatter shelled out a whopping quarter of a million bucks to a Kentucky couple who sold back to him the very same 1971 Z28 Camaro that he had sold years before to keep his father's tavern open. Well, his love affair with the car has apparently gone on unabated: Papa John's is selling miniature 1:64 die-cast toy replicas of the car for $4.99.

A new car-pool rental service has launched stateside in Austin, Texas.

The company, car2go, debuted in Ulm, Germany. It's similar in concept to other car-sharing services, which provide area-wide vehicles that customers can book in advance via phone or Internet and pick up for use without any human contact whatsoever (think Zipcar). What's different, though -- at least in car2go's Austin test run -- is that expenses such as gas are included, not to mention the fact that thanks to a usage-fee-based agreement with the city of Austin, parking within city limits is free for car2go vehicles. (In the opening stages of the program, car2go car's are available only to employees of the city, though the program is to be open to all Austin citizens in 2010.)