On September 20, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics –WWL –unveiled its news largest car carrier in Yokoyama Port, according to recent media reports in Tokyo.

Japan Automotive News reported that this carrier called Fidelio was built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering of South Korea and it sails under Swedish flag.

The 228-meter ship has capacity to carry up to 8,000 standard cars, one of the largest car carriers in the world.

The new car carrier is expected to sail from Yokohama/Nagoya to Europe, USA and Australia.

The company plans to have a total of 7 such carriers by 2009 to meet Japan’s growing needs to transport new and used cars around the world.

Honda is exhibiting production and concept automobiles with new technologies at the 40th Tokyo Motor Show 2007.

The theme for Honda’s automobile for this year is: “For the endless joy of mobility on our earth”.

Based on this theme, Honda is displaying a variety of advanced environmental technologies that address environmental issues such as a reduction in CO2 emissions, together with the fun of mobility.

The CR-Z is a next-generation lightweight sport car equipped with Honda’s original gas-electric hybrid system which achieves both clean performance and a high level of torque.

The PUYO is a fuel cell vehicle which was designed based on out-of-box thinking to add fun for both the vehicle owner and people around them as well.

The all-new Fit is also on display. Since it was first introduced in 2001, the Fit has been widely acclaimed for its style, functionality, and outstanding fuel economy with worldwide sale topping two million units.

‘PUYO’ is a Japanese word that expresses the sensation of touching the vehicle’s soft body. It is meant to convey a warm, friendly impression.

The PUYO represents a new idea in mobility that brings together ‘clean’, ‘safe’ andendly ‘fun’ functionality in an environmentally responsible, people-friendly minimalist design featuring high efficiency, small frame and fuel cell technology to please both users and onlookers alike.

The development theme for the PUYO exterior was to create a corner less. The goal was to create a personable design with the feel of an adorable pet, while taking advantage of the maximum spaciousness of the box-shaped design.

The PUYO’s gel body features soft materials to promote greater real-world safety.

Moreover, the body has been made luminescent to guide ing a people into the proper operating position and notify them of the vehicle’s condition, facilitating a more intimate relationship people have with their cars.

Developed to have a ‘silky feel’ the PUYO’s interior is designed to provide a refreshing, people-friendly space imbued with a feeling of transparency.

Features such as an instrument panel monitor, controls that take advantage of the elastic qualities of cloth to rise up, luminous fluid meter displays, and a joystick for intuitive operation are all designed to gently support occupants’ senses and sensibility.

General Motors says it will open a research lab in Shanghai and work with its Chinese partner SAIC Motor Corp to develop cars powered by alternative fuels for the world’s No 2 vehicle market.

The GM Center for Advanced Science & Research, to be part of a new US$ 250million GM campus in Shanghai, will look into developing alternative-fuel cars, including plug-in hybrids, bio- fuel and fuel-cell vehicles, Rick Wagoner, the group’s chief executive officer, said recently at a press conference in Beijing.

The first phase of construction will be completed late next year, according to Wagoner.

The center is expected to employ 1,500 engineers and scientists when fully staffed.

This plan will “accelerate research in the areas of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly automotive technologies, as will as alternative fuel pathways that are socially responsible, economically viable, environmentally sustainable, and technologically feasible”, he said.

America’s worldwide exports of new cars, trucks, and buses reached 2,054,485 units in 2006. Total value of export of new vehicles is estimated at $43,393,667,000 by US Department of Commerce.

Canada and Mexico are top destinations of America’s export of new vehicles in 2006. Top 20 export destinations for America’s new vehicles in 2006.

Nearly two years late, Airbus finally recently delivered its first A380 super jumbo, a revolutionary mega aircraft that includes luxury suites equipped with comfortable double beds, according to media reports from Paris.

Singapore Airlines says the passenger jet, the world’s largest, was worth the wait, and the delivery marks a badly needed morale-boosting milestone for Airbus.

Airbus is committed to handing over 13 planes in 2008, 25 in 2009, and 45 in 2010.

With 189 orders, Airbus is hoping to see 200 on its books by year-end.

Meanwhile, it looks like Airbus is having problems with its next big project the A400M military cargo plane.