Detroit, Michigan  - The Hyundai Genesis was named 2009 North American Car of the Year at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Sunday.

Detroit, Michigan  - The Ford F-150 was named the 2009 North American Truck of the Year at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Sunday.

The decision was made by a jury of 50 motoring journalists from the United States and Canada, the show's organizers said in a statement.

"Winning 2009 North America Truck of the Year honours is a special distinction because it acknowledges the team's efforts to push harder and deliver even more for customers - including quality, safety leadership, unsurpassed fuel economy and smart features aimed at further improving their productivity," said Mark Fields, Ford's president for the Americas.

Berlin  - Germany is to inject government funding into engine-design work in the car industry, Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a newspaper interview published Sunday.

She spoke as the industry, a key German exporter, scales back production amid plunging worldwide sales.

"Germany invented the first cars a century ago. Now we are in a fresh competition to see if German industry can build the 21st century car," Merkel, who has a doctorate in physics, told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

She said German carmakers had to try harder to innovate.

London, Jan 11 : The Terrafugia Transition, which can transform itself from a two-seater road car to a plane in 15 seconds, is scheduled to take to the air next month.

If it survives its first test flight, the technological breakthrough, is expected to land in showrooms in about 18 months' time.

Its manufacturer says it is easy to keep and run since it uses normal unleaded fuel and will fit into a garage, reports TimesOnline.

Taipei - Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC) will join Japans's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd in developing regional jets, the Central News Agency (CNA) said Saturday.

Mitsubishi has invited AIDC to jointly develop regional jets due to AIDC 's capability in aircraft design and manufacturing, CNA quoted Economics Minister Yin Chi-ming as saying.

AIDC and Mitsubishi have formed a "partnership relationship" on developing commercial regional jets. Yin will visit Mitsubishi's aeronautics department next week to push the deal, CNA said.

Berlin - Defying recession, the Skoda division of German Volkswagen intends to expand its factory in China and build another in India, according to the chief brand officer at Skoda, Reinhard Jung.

In a report released Saturday by the German weekly Auto Motor und Sport, he said, "This year we want to double our Chinese capacity, which is currently 50,000 to 60,000." He said Skoda would set up new factories in Russia and China.