Hyundai have come a long, long way! From being known as the purveyors of cheap, unreliable cars in years past, to makers of the North American Car of the year winner, they indeed have. The Hyundai Genesis sedan, launched last year, was the Korean carmaker’s first go at the high-end luxury market. It is earning a lot of plaudits from everywhere for basically everything.

Yes, the styling is a bit bland and derivative of other luxury cars, but you can’t fault the Koreans for trying their best. This is after all their first shot at it, and you can only expect them to get better, just like a lot of their cars.

Gone are the days when you bought a Hyundai because you can’t afford anything else. Soon, Hyundai hopes that all of the stigma brought about by their previous offerings will be gone as well.

The Hyundai Genesis Sedan beat out the Volkswagen TDI and the Ford Flex to win the award. It is worth noting that the Jetta TDI is the first ever diesel finalist for the award. A selection of 50 automotive journalists from different media from the United States and Canada vote to choose the North American Car of the Year.

Honda has announced that the Honda Formula One team, based in Brackley in England is up for sale. Honda has decided not to participate in this year’s FIA Formula One World Championship in light of the tough economic times that almost everyone in the auto sector is experiencing.

Honda, who came back into the sport full-time after buying out the rest of British American Racing, a team it used to supply with engines, are once again leaving like thay have done in the past. In these tough economic times, nobody can fault Honda for quitting the pinnacle of motorsport.

One of the main reasons carmakers join Formula One is to promote their products to the audience. The lack of an American and Canadian Grand Prix in the upcoming season may have helped in Honda’s decision to quit, as North America is one of the most important markets for the company.

The future of all of the team’s employees, including drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello are still clouded in doubt as Honda have yet to find a buyer.

Meanwhile, Toyota, the other Japanese manufacturer in F1 has repeatedly said that they are in F1 for the long haul and have no plans of quitting anytime soon.

Years before fuel-efficiency and global warming became big global issues, Toyota quietly launched the world’s first production hybrid, the Prius. Its sales were modest at best, as it was quite expensive and the styling was a bit polarizing. The first-generation, which was originally only launched in Japan, bowed out to a second-generation Prius which was subsequently launched in the US.

As the issue of global warming became well-known, and as fuel-prices steadily increased, the popularity of the Prius grew exponentially. It became the poster boy for fuel-efficient green cars, and a lot of Hollywood celebrities got themselves their own Prius.

Now though, Toyota have a released an all-new model with more added features to help increase fuel-efficiency. The new Prius now has options for solar panels on its roof. The energy these panels collect is going to be used to help the Prius’ air-recirculation system…ingenious!

The car also has a bit more character now, looking a little less bland than the previous version. It also gets a bigger 1.8 liter engine to help increase efficiency when used on the highway.

The new Toyota Prius is expected to go 50 miles per gallon to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s stricter standards.

Lexus have in the past produced hybrid versions of some of their cars and SUVs. This is in line with what most other carmakers have done in recent times with the goal of improving fuel-efficiency, as well as promoting a green image overall.

However, what’s been missing has been a true dedicated luxury hybrid…until now that is. Lexus has just unveiled the HS250h, the world’s first and so far only dedicated luxury car.

The HS is a compact four-dour sedan fitted with all the luxury accoutrements one is used to finding in a Lexus. The car is powered by Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive system and a 2.4 liter four-cylinder engine that produces 187 horsepower.

Inside, the HS is equipped amenities one expects to find in a modern luxury sedan. Options include a heads-up display visible even in sunlight and LED head lamps.

The HS250h dedicated luxury hybrid sedan is going on sale later in the summer of this year, though Lexus have yet to release pricing details.

It is only fitting that Lexus are the first carmaker to release a dedicated luxury hybrid. After all, Lexus’ parent, Toyota, was also the first to release a dedicated hybrid in the market.

We all know that the earth’s supply of oil is limited. We know that it is dwindling, and some people have even said that we are right now at so-called “peak-oil”, the point where we are getting the largest amount of oil and that after this, it will only begin to become much, much less.

To this, car makers and governments have various answers. One of these is the hybrid car. Hybrids use a combination of an electric motor and a gasoline engine to power a car. At slow speeds, the gas engine is not used as the car gets power from its batteries. Right now, Toyota is the dominant player in this market with its Prius.

Another solution presented is the plug in electric vehicle, a car that runs solely on electricity. As the name implies, it is charged by plugging it into one of the electric outlets in your home. Another though is the use of Biofuels. Biofuels are classified as fuel derived from relatively recently dead biological materials. They can be made from waste materials such as used cooking oil which is processed to be able to run a car engine, or from grown crops high in sugar or starch such as corn or sugar cane.

Biofuels have proven to be as effective in powering vehicles. The biggest question people have about biofuels is the fact that most are produced by growing crops. In a world where hunger is still prevalent, why would people farm crops for fuel when they can use it for food instead?

Whether biofuels become a lasting solution to the world’s growing energy demands remains to be seen.