Twenty teams of Lexus specialists will hit the road on Jan. 13--the start of a month-long process to prep dealership personnel on how to create buzz for the redesigned 2010 GX 460 mid-sized SUV.

Though the GX has been on the market since September 2002, managers at Toyota Motor Corp.'s luxury division still believe retailers do not understand all of the vehicle's attributes.

According to the EPA, Americans are slowly switching over to fuel-efficient vehicles, buying slightly more of the efficient vehicles in 2008 than in 2007 -- a trend that's expected to continue this year.

Not only are purchases up, but new cars are themselves more efficient: Overall, new U.S. vehicles in 2008 were 2 percent more efficient than the previous model year, achieving 21 miles per gallon versus 20.6 (the EPA uses real-world efficiency estimates rather than automaker's claims). However, 21 miles per gallon is a far cry from the 35.5 miles per gallon the Obama administration has called for by 2016 -- a goal which automakers have pledged to meet.

BMW's appetite for controversial design may have waned since the heights of former design boss Chris Bangle's oft-derided flame surfacing stratagem. But it shows no sign of fading completely, as we see in the first official photographs of the new sixth-generation 5-series, which goes on sale in North America by mid-2010.

Codenamed F10, BMW's midsize sedan is restyled and reengineered in a bid to keep it ahead of key rivals such as the recently renewed Mercedes-Benz E-class and the Audi A6.

GM's recent announcement that it would pay back $6.7 billion in taxpayer money -- even as it simultaneously announced a $1.2 billion third-quarter loss -- got the company some good press and engendered, it would seem, some good will to boot.

Not so fast with that good will, says Edward Niedermeyer in an op-ed piece for the New York Times.

Niedermeyer, the editor of The Truth About Cars, says $6.7 billion doesn't scratch the surface of what GM really owes taxpayers. It doesn't, for example, include two separate bail outs of GMAC, the company's financing arm, nor the $3 million the government spent on the Cash for Clunkers program, nor, tangentially, the $2.8 needed to bail out Delphi, a major GM parts supplier.

Lexus has a plan to head off speculators when its limited-edition LFA sports car goes on sale in January 2011.

The company will offer only two-year leases for the $375,000 two-seater, said Brian Smith, vice president of sales and dealer development for Lexus division. Lexus will hang on to the vehicle's title.

"If someone buys it the first month and then decides to sell it, that could be damaging for the ownership experience," Smith said. "If it is not controlled and hits the speculation market, all bets are off."

When it comes to that sweet, sweet government cash, GM is thinking outside the dollar.

Looking toward a badly needed restructuring of its European operations, the company today asked European Union officials and the ministers of several governments -- including Germany, Belgium, Britain, Spain, Sweden and Poland -- for financial help with the $4.9 billion project. A GM representative cited the high cost of restructuring efforts in the U.S. as the main reason the company cannot feasibly foot the bill itself.

BMW will offer four-cylinder diesel engines in North America as it seeks to improve fuel efficiency and match the performance of its current six-cylinder gasoline engines.

BMW is considering diesels in a range of models, including its 1 series, 3 series and 5 series sedans and possibly the X3 crossover and Z4 roadster, said Tom Baloga, vice president of engineering for BMW of North America.