Good news yesterday from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration pushed electric car builder Tesla’s stock up more than 5 percent yesterday.

Climbing to $151.41 on the New York Stock Exchange, shares in Tesla are beginning to regain some of the ground they lost over the last three months after a number of high profile fires made big news. Tesla’s stock was at a record high of $193.37 at the end of September before tanking more than 25 percent on account of concerns related to the Model S sedan’s battery pack.

Yesterday, however, Tesla was granted another five star safety rating by NHTSA, the federal agency responsible for testing the crash worthiness of new cars. NHTSA opened an investigation into the Model S earlier this year, but the agency says it won’t report its findings until sometime next year. The five star award is a carry-over from last year; no major changes were made to the Model S for 2014, but Wall Street was apparently happy with the news anyway.

Germany’s NHTSA equivalent cleared the Model S in its similar investigation earlier this month.

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A new report finds France’s Peugeot is busily developing a premium sedan that will compete head-to-head against the Audi A3 Sedan and the popular Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class.

Tentatively called 408 GT, the car will wear an aggressive front end characterized by sharp headlights, wide air dams and Peugeot’s signature floating grille. It will boast an elegant, low-slung silhouette that will enable it to stand out from the more family-oriented 508.

The 408 GT’s cabin will reflect Peugeot’s ambitious upmarket shift by packing a full panoply of high-tech equipment including electronic driving aids, a heads-up display and a touch screen-based infotainment system. All but the lowest-priced trim levels will come standard with leather upholstery on the seats and chrome trim on the dashboard and on the center console.

408 GT buyers will be able to choose from a wide palette of engines borrowed from the 308 hatchback. The output of the gas-burning mills will vary between 130 and 270 horsepower, while the diesel-burning units will go from 120 to 180 ponies. Power will be sent to the front wheels via either a manual or a dual-clutch transmission.

A diesel-electric hybrid drivetrain similar to the HYbrid4 system currently offered on several Peugeot and Citroën products will round out the lineup. Made up of a diesel-burning four-cylinder and a small electric motor linked to a lithium-ion battery pack, the drivetrain will transfer power to all four wheels.

If the rumor proves true, the 408 GT will bow as a thinly-veiled concept at a major auto show in 2015 and go on sale across Europe shortly after. The car will also be sold – and possibly built – in China.

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A small, state-owned Chinese automaker called Shanxi Victory has published details about the new Jinchi X1, a pickup truck that bears more than a passing resemblance to the Avalanche-based Cadillac Escalade EXT that recently went out of production.

Up front, the Jinchi X1 gains sharp vertical headlights clearly inspired by the ones found on the last-gen Escalade, horizontal fog lights mounted in the lower bumper and a plastic radiator grille with rectangular air vents. The Jinchi X1 is designed as a work truck and it does without the Escalade’s numerous pieces of chrome trim.

The Cadillac influence fades past the A-pillar, and the rest of the body is standard work truck fare save for a BMW-inspired X1 emblem on the tailgate. The story is largely the same on the inside, where the Jinchi X1 ditches the Escalade’s lavish interior in favor of hard plastics, cloth seats and a no-frills AM/FM stereo.

Shanxi’s Cadillac lookalike is powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine available with either 91 or 100 horsepower. Power is sent to the rear wheels via a five-speed manual transmission, and four-wheel drive might be offered at an extra cost.

The truck is scheduled to go on sale across China next year with a base price of approximately $11,500. A more expensive SUV variant of the truck will join the lineup later in the production run.

Cadillac has not commented on the truck. Taking the matter to court is a costly and complicated endeavor but it sometimes pays off: Ford managed to block China’s JAC from launching a F-150 lookalike called 4R3 at last year’s Beijing Motor Show.

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Although December is isn’t over yet, analysts suggest that Nissan could post the most improved figure when new car sales for the month are reported in early January.

The Japanese automaker’s sales are expected to grow 13 percent on a year-over-year basis to around 112,000 vehicles, a big increase over the roughly 5 percent average expected among larger automakers.

The second highest gain for the month should be Chrysler at around 8 percent, reports Edmunds, while Honda (7 percent), Hyundai/Kia (6 percent) and Ford (6 percent) will also buck the curve.

On the other hand, Volkswagen is expected to continue losing market share; its sales are anticipated to slide 9 percent over last December to around 53,600 deliveries.

Here’s a look at the full estimates courtesy of analysts at Edmunds:

• General Motors – up 0.8 percent to 247,686
• Ford Motor Company – up 5.9% to 225,543
• Toyota – up 3.6% to 201,188
• Chrysler – up 8.3% to 164,954
• Honda – up 6.5% to 141,385
• Nissan – up 13.1% to 112,326
• Hyundai/Kia – up 6% to 104,508
• Volkswagen – down 9% to 53,556

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