Reports of the death of the internal combustion engine have been greatly exaggerated. In 2011, hybrids and EVs like the Nissan Leaf and Chevy’s Volt made many headlines, though not always for the reasons the automakers would prefer.

The truth is that, despite all the publicity and the tax incentives, sales so far have been abysmal with Edmunds reporting that hybrids account for just 2.46 of the market and electric cars not even reaching one percent.

There are many reasons why new car buyers are not willing to shell out a lot of cash for zero-emissions vehicles. First of all, they are expensive and the gains from fuel costs come in the long-term, while the sticker price is immediately visible and clearly understood by everyone.

Ray LaHood is the U.S. Transport Secretary. He is also a man on a mission: to reduce those driving distractions that are believed to be partially responsible for some 5,500 deaths and 500,000 injuries in 2010, accounting to almost 10 percent of all traffic deaths, according to data provided by the Department of Transportation (DoT).

Although LaHood does not support extreme measures, like completely banning hands-free calling while driving, he is determined to limit the use of any equipment that distract the driver’s attention.

“Distracted driving is a dangerous and deadly habit on America’s roadways”, said LaHood. “That’s why I’ve made it a priority to encourage people to stay focused behind the wheel.”

Each year, J.D. Power and Associates release their findings on the overall dependability of three-year old vehicles sold in the States. The 2012 Dependability Study polled some 31,000 owners of 2009 model-year vehicles measuring problems they experienced in the past 12 months.

To understand the numbers you see listed below, the "overall dependability" is determined by the level of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100), with a lower score translating to higher quality.

In this year's study, J.D. Powers found that overall vehicle dependability improved substantially as the industry average was 132 problems per 100 vehicles, representing a 13 percent improvement from last year (151 PP100), while it's also the lowest problem rate since the survey began in 1990.

After the 27-year low 10.43 million sales of 2009, last year American dealerships delivered 12.8 million units, which accounts to a 10 percent increase over 2010.

A recent survey released by Ally Financial reveals that the vast majority of dealers expect to increase their sales even more this year. More specifically, almost all of them (92 percent) said they believe deliveries will rise compared to last year and more than 75 percent estimate that their sales will increase by at least 10 percent in 2012.

While President Obama’s initiative for a significant reduction in vehicles’ fuel consumption and CO2 emissions may sound very ambitious to some, a new study by the University of Michigan Transport Research Institute shows that car manufacturers have managed to improve their new cars’ fuel economy by 3 mpg in the last four years.

If this doesn’t sound a lot, then consider that according to the study, the average fuel economy of all 2012MY light vehicles available on the U.S. market is 21.5 mpg US (10.9lt/100km). That's a far cry from the 54.5 mpg US (4.3lt/100km) target set for 2025, but still an impressive 14 percent up or +3.0mpg from 2008MY’s average of 18.9 mpg US (12.5lt/100km).

To the dismay of Patriot fans, the New York Giants won the Super Bowl XLVI. But aside from the real game on the field, there was also another game taking place on television sets. We're talking of course about the advertising war.

According to Kantar Media Audiences’ commercial ratings analysis, Cadillac scored the highest audience, averaging a 43.5 average household rating with its “Green Hell” ad on the new ATS that aired at 9:37 EST.

The study also found that the ATS commercial was the most-viewed single advertising spot in U.S. television history surpassing the previous record holder, which was “Miss Evelyn,” a spot for the Chevrolet Camaro in Super Bowl XLV last year.

According to the Manheim 2012 Used Car Market Report, new light-vehicle leasing in the U.S. increased to 20 percent of retails sales (excluding fleets) in 2011, one percent higher than 2010.

The report notes that “for the most part”, the new car industry had the right approach towards leasing. This constitutes of leasing new cars to buyers with good credit who like to regularly change their vehicles, as well as projecting realistic end-of-lease resale values.

Brand loyalty is a priority for any car manufacturer. It ensures that they have a healthy core of buyers who will remain loyal when the time comes to change their car for a new one. Luring customers away from a rival, or “conquest” sales, as it is commonly known in the industry, is also one of their key objectives.

Therefore, when a report like the 2012 New Luxury Vehicle Loyalty Study comes out, you can bet automakers pay attention. Conducted by Polk and AutoTrader, the study examines the reasons why luxury car buyers stay loyal or “defect” to another brand.

“Understanding behaviors and attitudes is critical in helping automotive marketers to more effectively reach and influence luxury shoppers during their decision making process”, said vice president of automotive insights at AutoTrader, Rick Wainschel.

Fiat is the brand in the alliance that's in trouble and Chrysler the one blossoming right now having increased its sales by 26 percent in 2011, yet Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne is not happy about the latter's performance in J.D. Power’s December Sales Satisfaction Index study on customer experience at dealerships.

The recent J.D. Power survey placed Jeep, Ram and Dodge in three of the bottom four places amongst the mainstream brands.

As a result, Sergio Marchionne wants Chrysler Group dealers to rapidly improve their Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) scores if the company is to achieve its sales goals. He said that some dealerships’ salespeople weren’t acting properly, failing to make follow-up calls or treat customers “with the dignity they deserve”.

Brand loyalty among customers is something all carmakers aspire to achieve, but sometimes that's easier said than done as proved by the results of J.D. Power and Associates' 2012 Customer Retention Study.

There's a lot to say about the survey that measures the rate at which automotive brands retain their existing customers and which is now in its ninth year, but we can't help but to start from the winner.

Amazingly, the brand that manages to keep most customers is Hyundai with a retention rate of 64%. The South Korean brand's feat is even more impressive if you consider that just two years ago it ranked below average with 47%!

The sixth generation of the Volkswagen Golf is in its final year with a replacement due to be unveiled at the upcoming Paris Motor Show this fall, yet it still managed to sell more cars than any other model in Europe in 2011 for a third year in a row, according to data provided from JATO Dynamics.

Volkswagen delivered 484,547 units of the Golf in 2011, down 1.6% over the previous year. The German company also took second spot with the Polo that sold 356,490 cars, up 0.5%, while the Ford Fiesta with 348,465 sales (-13.3%), the Opel / Vauxhall Corsa with 313,325 units (-1.7%) and the Renault Clio with 294,172 (-13.1%) complete the Top 5.

We should note that all Top 10 best-sellers came from either German (7 models) or French (3 models) brands.

JATO Dynamics says that outside the top ten, certain models performed much better than their predecessors did including Peugeot’s new 508, which saw its sales rise almost three times achieved by its predecessor, the 407, in 2010, the new Ford C-Max/Grand C-Max, Citroën C4, BMW X3 and Kia Sportage.

In a glitzy event held in Beijing, China, this month, the World Luxury Association (WLA), which is a non-profit research organization, named its Top 100 most valuable luxury brands of the year.

In the automotive field, the Top 10 premium car brands included some of the usual suspects such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Ferrari and Lamborghini along with some surprise entrants like Saab's former owner Spyker and Koenigsegg. Not that it matters any more, but Daimler's Maybach brand didn't make the cut.

According to a study published by global automotive market intelligence firm Polk, cars and trucks in the United States are aging - and at a pretty fast rate.

The average age of cars and light trucks currently in operation the U.S. has increased to 10.8 years. Cars have recorded a relatively small surge in age, from an average of 11 years in 2010 to 11.1 years in 2011, while the median age of light trucks, pickups and SUVs rose from 10.1 to 10.4 years.

Diesel-powered passenger cars almost became extinct in the U.S. market but a push in recent years from German carmakers such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and the Volkswagen Group that launched a barrage of models with high-tech oil burners as well as the development of low-sulfur fuel have made American warm up to diesel.

In 2011 alone, sales of new clean diesel passenger vehicles soared by 27.4 percent over the previous year according to sales information compiled by HybridCars.Com and market research firm Baum and Associates.

Electric vehicles and hybrids have often been touted as a logical solution to effectively reduce CO2 emissions and dependence on fossil fuels – at least until fuel cells become commercially viable.

Yet a recent survey conducted by U.S. financial consulting firm KPMG among 200 automotive executives found out that two-thirds of them do not believe that hybrid and all-electric vehicles will make much of an impact on the market. The auto execs estimate that their combined sales in the U.S. and Western Europe won’t exceed 6 percent in 2025.

The analyst gurus at R. L. Polk & Co have issued a new forecast for global vehicle sales in 2012. The automotive market intelligence firm predicts that sales are expected to rise 6.7 percent over 2011 volumes to 77.7 million vehicles, thanks to the global economy riding out the European debt crisis and consumers returning to showrooms.

However, this does not mean that the European car market will recover. On the contrary, Polk estimates that Europe will be the only region where sales will be flat or slightly down to just over 19 million units due to the tight financial plans enforced by most governments.

As far as cars are concerned, hearsay is many times more prevalent than the manufacturers’ own advice. One such case is the change of the engine’s oil: most car owners believe that 3,000 miles (5,000 km) is the appropriate mileage for an oil change.

This might have been true a few decades ago when engines needed extra care, but technology has moved on since then.

Nevertheless, despite the fact that almost all new vehicle manuals advise owners to change oil in their cars every 7,500 to 10,000 miles, studies show that a great number of drivers prefer to do things their own way.

"The 3,000-mile oil change just says that the marketing campaign by quick-lube companies has been effective", Steve Mazor, manager of the Auto Club of Southern California's Automotive Research Center, told the Detroit News.

A report on the seven worst product flops in the U.S. from 24/7 Wall Street that was re-posted on Yahoo Finance includes two vehicle introductions, the Chevrolet Volt and the Fiat 500.

According to the author of the report, Chevrolet's extended range electric vehicle made it on the list because it underperformed in sales while the fact that it is under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for fires related to the car's lithium-ion batteries is also mentioned.

As for the 500, the article says that while the Italians expected to sell some 50,000 cars during its first year in the States, Fiat sold fewer than 12,000 from January through July, and that the company ousted its chief Laura Soave this past November. For the record, Fiat sold 15,826 examples of the coupe and the 500C through October.

The economy may not be at its best, but new car sales in the States keep on rising. J.D. Power and Associates and LMC Automotive said on Thursday that U.S. auto sales in December are expected to top 13 million on an annual rate for the fourth consecutive month.

"For the third straight time, light-vehicle sales are posting strong selling rates at the close of the year", said LMC Senior Vice President Jeff Schuster.

The state of the economy is affecting every aspect of our everyday lives – including cars. And it’s not just the gas prices that affect motorists: a new poll from Consumer Reports shows that almost one in two car owners delay their car’s servicing or repairs.

Lower-income households are more likely to delay necessary work, and younger drivers (18-34 years of age) tend to postpone work on wear items like tires or brake pads – with 21 percent of them admitting that they don’t even pay attention to these items.