Chrysler has released three teaser images of its upcoming 200 midsize sedan, a vehicle it hopes will help the brand -- under Fiat's stewardship, of course -- on its long march back towards legitimacy.

The 200 will have the option of two powertrains: the 2.4 liter inline 4-cylinder or, for higher trim levels, the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 putting out 283 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque. A 4- or 6-speed automatic transmission is also on the table. 

 

Good news from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: Highway fatalities fell to their lowest number in 60 years in 2009. Even more telling, the fatality rate fell to its lowest level in history, at 1.13 deaths for every 100 million miles of travel.

 

Now brace yourself: The same safety agencies that correctly cite improvements in safety technology or seatbelt use will start haranguing Washington about how much safer roads would be if only we stopped more speeders. As ever, take their apocalyptic warnings and crush them beneath your high-speed radials -- preferably at 75 or 80 mph, which is the highway speed that’s eminently safe and sane for any reasonable driver when traffic and weather conditions allow.

 

The single-year drop in highway fatalities was perhaps most remarkable: 33,808 last year, a nearly 10 percent drop from the year before. Injuries fell to 2.2 million from 2.35 million. Those drops came even as Americans drove 0.2 percent more miles than in 2008. As Dave McCurdy, CEO of the American Association of Automobile Manufacturers, noted, that statistic -- more miles driven, but vastly fewer deaths and injuries -- defied skeptics who suggested that the recession was somehow responsible for declining deaths. And of course, I'll argue that the same goes for speeding; it's a distraction, of course, and dangerous when done by a drunk or an idiot, but it's not the crisis we should be focused on.

 

We missed this on Thursday night, because we unfortunately missed the kickoff to the NFL season (I don't want to talk about it), but Nissan ran a one-minute ad for its new electric Leaf that the Autoblog staff called "as subtle as a bag of hammers to the face." Sounds interesting -- let's check it out!

Here's the gist: A polar bear makes the trek from his natural habitat all the way down to Suburban Somewhere, USA, all in order to give a big ol' bear hug (pun intended) to a Nissan Leaf driver. Because he's saving the environment, you see.

Check it out after the jump. 

 

According to Jalopnik, unnamed sources are reporting that the U.S. version of "Top Gear" will have its own masked driver. Details are scarce, and Jalopnik is awaiting a response -- any response -- from the BBC, which has so far been mute.

Of all the contenders, we know who it won't be: un-masked BBC Stig (and Formula 3 and NASCAR racer) Ben Collins.

Actually, if he got back behind the mask on the other side of the pond, that would be pretty funny. 

Toyota has found one software glitch during its ongoing investigation into its unintended-acceleration issues -- though in an unexpected place.

Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota's executive vice president for research and development, told interviewers in Detroit on Monday that a bug in the manufacturer's event data recorders caused some of the devices to record vehicle speed incorrectly. The glitch was first noticed when a data recorder from a Toyota Tundra involved in a crash in 2007 reported that the truck was traveling faster than 170 mph. 

Lexus has been steadily marching its way out of the bland, nameless void of Japanese luxury and more toward a performance-oriented vision over the past few years. We felt the first tickle of the company’s performance itch with the introduction of the IS-F a few years ago, complete with 5.0-liter V8 engine, rear-wheel drive and a laundry list of go-fast parts on board. The car was about as far as it could get from the retirement-center image the company had, since its inception, worked to cultivate.

Or at least that’s what we thought at the time. This year saw Lexus unveil the LFA, a limited-edition V10 midengine racer. Talk about uncharted waters. What’s more, the company plans to spread its performance momentum to the rest of its fleet, starting with the upcoming hybrid CT 200h. From what we’ve heard, Lexus is aiming to position the little hatchback against the likes of both the BMW 1 Series and Audi A3 -- two models that prize driving dynamics above all else.