"Top Gear's" silent masked racer, known only as the Stig, is the subject of many rumors, mysteries, and fables -- mostly put forth by the show's co-hosts, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. Now the mystery driver, whose real identity is reportedly known only by the three presenters and a handful of top British Broadcasting Co. execs, wants to write a book -- and the BBC is set to throttle him with a lawsuit if he does.

The issue, according to the BBC, is that the Stig is under contract to keep his identity a secret. 

Last Thursday Mazda notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of steering issues on its Mazda3 and Mazda5 models; a week later, it's turned into a major recall, with the manufacturer planning to summon back more than half a million vehicles worldwide to repair power-steering systems that fail without warning. Currently, 215,000 recalls have been filed in the U.S., with an additional 10,000 affected vehicles sold in China. Recalls will also extend to Europe and Australia. 

Today we will discuss the new Boss Mustang, Honda CR-Z, GM's plan to go public and more.

 

http://live.foxnews.com/strategy-room

 

The Phaeton large sedan is coming back to Volkswagen's lineup in the United States, according to the head of the German plant that builds the car.

VW pulled the $85,000 Phaeton from the U.S. market in 2006 after four years of falling short of sales expectations.

The new Phaeton for the States will be a complete redesign, according to a report by Bloomberg.

“We have our eyes firmly set on the U.S. market,” Juergen Borrmann, director of VW's plant in Dresden, Germany, told Bloomberg in an interview.

 

There’s no denying that cars have swollen in size over the past 10 years. While crash standards are often pointed to as one of the many reasons for the auto industry’s apparent thyroid problem, the truth is that few things contribute to the overall size of a vehicle quite like consumer demand. Here in the good old U.S. of A., buyers are driven by the mantra that bigger is better, and according to a Consumer Reports article, that may be because American drivers weigh more now than they ever have before.

The report says that obesity has grown by 1.1 percent in this country in the three years from 2007 to 2009, and that the number of states that have an obesity rate of 30 percent or more has tripled in that time period. That’s a problem, sure, but what does it have to do with the auto industry? Consumer Reports cites a study from a nonprofit called Resources for the Future that claims that a 10 percent increase in obese drivers from 1999 to 2005 contributed to a reduction in the average fuel economy of in-demand vehicles by as much as 2.5 percent. While people were piling on the pounds, demand for large vehicles such as trucks and SUVs climbed in unison. 

Over at Consumer Reports, Liza Barth takes a look at the year that has passed since the car crash that killed an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer and his family in San Diego kicked off the long, often confusing saga of safety defects and Toyota and Lexus recalls. So what has the past year meant for Toyota, and the issue of safety recalls for the auto industry at large? According to Barth's post:

"Since last fall, Toyota dealers have serviced over half of all recalled vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is conducting investigations into Toyota safety and operations, having fined the company for failing to report problems in a timely fashion. Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate grilled the company in a string of televised hearings that added more insights to the unfolding story. Even Consumers Union weighed in and spoke before Congress, calling for significant changes in automotive safety."

 

Man's best friend can turn into man's biggest annoyance if you spend a lot of time in the wrong car with your dog. Try driving cross-country with a hyperactive Australian cattle dog like mine, pictured, if you don't believe me. Yes, our canine companions have their own needs, and some cars deal with four-legged passengers better than others.

With 45 million American households home to one or more dogs, and with many owners regularly taking their pet for a ride, having the right transportation for the task can save you some headaches. In that spirit, AAA has released its list of vehicles best-suited to keeping your dog safe, comfortable and happy. Check out its list after the jump. 

Kia Motors America and its suppliers are reviewing their manufacturing processes to track down what caused one driver to lose all steering ability in a two-month-old 2010 Kia Soul.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday it had opened a preliminary investigation into the issue after it received one complaint from an owner of an almost-new Kia Soul who said the steering shaft decoupled from the steering wheel and then fell onto the driver's side floor in a way that interfered with the brake pedal.

The investigation could affect more than 51,000 Kia Soul vehicles, NHTSA said.