The "Blizzard" Grand Vitara is designed to fulfill the needs of people with active lifestyles focused on snow sports. With a 2.7-liter turbocharged Suzuki engine, full-time four-mode four-wheel drive system and wide grip studded snow tires, the "Blizzard" is equipped to handle just about any road condition. The Grand Vitara concept offers a dockable iPod station, an in-car video and gaming system and in-car Internet access, allowing passengers to check snow conditions on the way to the mountain. In the rear, the vehicle offers chairlift-style seating for gearing up for the slopes and removing and drying gear afterwards. The "Blizzard" is equipped with built-in glove and boot warmers and ventilated wet gear storage in the rear cargo area. The "Blizzard" also features a custom roof rack system with enclosed, backlit snowboard pods and a television camera to let the driver keep an eye on his/her snow equipment.

Flirting in Traffic is kind of like internet dating in reverse! Rather than looking at photos and reading profiles, you already met the person out on the street somewhere! You see their bold maroon sticker, remember their "Flirting ID" and then come here to meet up! It's that simple, and yes, it's that cool!! Your "Flirting ID" sticker, put together with a profile and registered e-mail address are all you need to make flirting in traffic a lot more fun! Your "Flirting ID" sticker will arrive at the address you enter, within 8 days!

"We are seeing a smattering of sub-$2 prices surfacing like premature crocuses across the country, and we may see a flirtation with $2 or less in a broad swath of the country this month," says Tom Kloza, analyst at the Oil Price Information Service. He warns it won't last, and prices will rebound this spring.

Last time the U.S. average was less than $2 was March 7, when the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported $1.999. Hurricane-related shortages pushed the average to a peak $3.069 Sept. 5. Lowest since: $2.147 on Dec. 5.

To lessen the number of uninsured drivers on state roads, two Kansas senators recently introduced bills to strengthen state law.

One would create stricter civil and criminal penalties for uninsured drivers. Kansas law now says first-time offenders must pay fines between $300 to $1,000 in addition to losing their driver's licenses and vehicle plates, both of which can be reinstated through payment of a fee and proof of insurance coverage.

Under the new proposal, a third conviction for driving without coverage would be considered a felony and, if the uninsured driver caused the death of someone through an auto accident, the driver would be charged with murder instead of manslaughter.

The second bill would require insurance companies to notify the Kansas Department of Revenue when a policyholder either cancels coverage or obtains a new policy. A new Revenue Department computer system would track changes to identify drivers who cancel policies and do not obtain new ones. Under existing state law, uninsured drivers can be fined and face jail time.

The company is expected to make the cuts at its core Volkswagen business. Its shares jumped 8% to 54.79 euros.

Carmakers are facing difficult times as competition increases, raw material costs rise and consumers prove tough to lure into buying new models.

Ford will cut 30,000 jobs, the boss of General Motors has slashed his own pay and Renault has unvield a new strategy.

"In the next three years up to 20,000 direct and indirect employees within the Volkswagen Passenger Car brand could be affected by this restructuring programme," Volkswagen said.

Cruising slowly up a suburban street in Regensburg, southern Germany, it did not take long for the test car - a BMW estate - to spot a space.

Having worked out the geometry, Parkmate made a reassuring melodic chime, which tells the driver to stop and let the car steer itself into the gap. Then, as if by magic, the steering wheel turned and the BMW sidled inches past the car next to it and into the space - before hitting the kerb and mounting it.

In fairness it was a very low kerb.

Attempt number two was similar to the first. One interested spectator was the owner of the blue car at the back of the space.

Next time you're behind the wheel and Sheryl Crow rocks your radio, sing along. Crooning might help you drive better -- and possibly save your life. A survey of 1,780 drivers for a British car-insurance company found that listening to music may help reduce road rage and decrease the chance of an accident. Most respondents with good driving records said music relaxed them when driving and helped them stay alert.

Following along with familiar music and repetitive lyrics keeps your brain engaged (yet not distracted, because you can stop or start whenever you want). Changes in your posture and breathing when you sing keep you from getting sleepy, explains Nicola Dibben, PhD, professor of music psychology at Britain’s University of Sheffield.

But be careful if you're more tempted to crank a techno wizard like Moby than a pop queen like Crow. Earlier research suggests that fast, loud music like dance and punk rock is more distracting than softer fare like light rock, pop, and classical. And the survey showed that younger people who listen to the raucous stuff while driving are even more prone to accidents.

Volkswagen AG's American unit on Friday said it is working on a prototype vehicle which features Google Inc.'s satellite mapping software to give drivers a bird's eye view of the road ahead.

The two companies are working with the graphics chipmaker Nvidia Corp. to build an in-car navigation map system and a three-dimensional display so passengers can recognize where they are in relation to the surrounding topography.

Volkswagen of America Inc., working through its Electronics Research Laboratory in Palo Alto, California, in Silicon Valley, is working on other advancements, including automatic personalized information updates for the navigation systems.

Google confirmed on Monday that BMW.de had been removed from all search engine results. A spokeswoman said the company could not comment on specific cases but said: "We cannot tolerate websites trying to manipulate search results as we aim to provide users with the relevant and objective search results."

The website used "doorway" pages, which can be employed to trick search engines into leading their users to websites that are not directly related to the search terms.

Marc Hassinger, spokesperson for business and finance communications at BMW Deutschland, said the BMW.de doorway pages only redirected users to relevant pages -- for example, one doorway page that frequently used the German word for "used car" redirected users to a page about BMW used car sales. He said this was done so that German web users searching for a second-hand BMW car dealership would find an index of dealerships around the country.

"We can't see a 'manipulation,' which they said was happening regarding those websites," Mr Hassinger said.

The study concludes that young buyers aren't turning to traditional media like television, magazines and newspapers for the information. Lonnie Miller, managing director of the Polk Center, said auto companies need to explore new marketing techniques, such as podcasts, in order to reach young buyers over the Internet and through cell phones.

"Generation Y is tuning out traditional advertising and watching what they want when they want," Miller said in a statement. "Creating breakthrough content and developing relationships with customers through emerging media technologies will separate the winners from the losers in the next five years."

The study also found that first-time buyers are independent decision makers and rarely visit the dealers their parents last used. Sixty-five percent said they made their purchase with no influence from family or friends.