BMW will soon offer a more fuel efficient diesel engine option in its flagship 7-Series sedan.

BMW announced on Friday that an all-new 740Ld xDrive Sedan model will join its lineup for the 2014 model year. Based on the long-wheelbase version of the all-wheel drive 7-Series, the 740Ld xDrive Sedan will make use of BMW’s 3.0-liter TwinPower Turbo diesel engine.

Under the hood of the 7-Series that oil burner will develop 255 horsepower and a V8-like 413 lb-ft of torque. Shifting through an eight-speed automatic, BMW says the 740Ld xDrive Sedan will be capable of accelerating from 0-60 in 6.1 seconds.

Fuel economy ratings are not yet available for the 740Ld xDrive, but BMW notes other vehicles equipped with its diesel engine – such as the 328d and 535d – have returned a 25-30 percent improvement in fuel economy compared to their gas counterparts. If that holds true for the 740Ld xDrive, expect to see a highway rating of about 36mpg.

The 2014 BMW 740Ld xDrive Sedan will make its first public appearance at next month’s Chicago auto show. BMW says its diesel flagship will arrive in showrooms later this spring.

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General Motors has announced that Tim Lee will soon retire from his position as executive VP of global manufacturing. He will be succeeded by Jim DeLuca, a 35-year GM veteran who currently serves as VP of manufacturing for the company’s international-operations unit.

Lee has been praised for his role in building the company’s international presence. Serving as chairman of GM China, he managed a dozen joint ventures as the region continued to grow in importance. The company set another sales record in China last year, delivering over three million in its largest market.

“Tim inspired a collaborative approach across the organization and a true global mindset that made a difference for our customers, stockholders and employees,” said GM’s new CEO, Mary Barra. “His creativity, dedication, strength in building relationships and commitment to people development set a strong example for his team and for the company.”

After Lee leaves his post in April, DeLuca will take responsibility for GM’s manufacturing facilities spread across the globe. The move is the latest shakeup in GM’s global operations, following GM China president Bob Socia’s departure and the arrival of former Volvo CEO Stefan Jacoby.

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The good times are expected to keep on rolling with J.D. Power and LMC Automotive calling for a strong month of January sales.

Following a mostly positive 2013, a sales forecast created jointly by J.D. Power and LMC Automotive predicts that January retail sales will inch up 3 percent to 847,400 units. That forecast nets a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, or SAAR, of 13.1 million retail sales, up 400,000 units over December and 300,000 units over January 2013.

Moreover, those sales are expected to be profitable. Average retail prices in January are on pace to exceed $29,500, marking a $300 improvement over the average price in January 2013.

“We are forecasting January 2014 to have the strongest level of retail sales for a January since 2004, and transaction prices will be the highest on record for the month of January,” said John Humphrey, senior vice president of the global automotive practice at J.D. Power. “In combination, the strong sales rate and record transaction prices are expected to result in record levels of consumer spending for the sector.”

The compact CUV segment is shaping up to be one of the hottest of 2014. Early estimates suggest compact utility vehicles will account for 16.3 percent of January retails sales, up 3.5 points from the same period last year.

Total light vehicle sales, which includes fleet deliveries, should be about 1.1 million, or 1 percent better than last year. The overall market SAAR should be around 15.3 million in January.

LMC Automotive predicts automakers will sell 16.2 million vehicles in the United States this year, up from 15.6 million units last year.

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Renault and Nissan are reportedly preparing to further combine their production and development efforts, potentially saving more than 400 billion yen (~$3.78 billion USD) per year, according to a Nikkei report. Both automakers are expected to reorganize their operations to minimize overlap, sharing parts and reworking factories to build models from different brands.

The companies have maintained a strategic partnership for more than a decade, operating independently and maintaining separate brands. The latest plan marks a significant shift toward tighter integration, putting the manufacturing departments of both companies under common management.

The alliance already boasts of 2.69 billion euros (~$3.6 billion USD) in savings during 2012, thanks to combined purchasing power and other strategies. The pair also took a controlling stake in Russia’s Avtozaz, adding another global facet to help them achieve their stated goal of 10 million annual sales by 2016.

The mixed-model manufacturing line is expected to be refined at a joint-venture facility in India, initially producing approximately 400,000 cars per year by 2015, before expanding to the companies’ other global facilities by 2020.

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Nissan and FedEx Express have announced the start of a test program that will see the all-electric e-NV200 van put to use in real-world conditions as part of the delivery company’s fleet in Washington, D.C.

The tests, which mirror similar studies that have taken place in Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Brazil, are intended to help determine if the e-NV200 is up to the task of serving as a greener alternative to traditional U.S. delivery vehicles.

The e-NV200 utilizes a variant of Nissan Leaf‘s electric drivetrain that provides an estimated range of up to 73 miles. Charging can be accomplished with either 120V or 240V electrical outlets, and a quick charge port can restore 80 percent of battery capacity in roughly 30 minutes.

Drivetrain aside, the e-NV200 is essentially identical to the standard NV200, a Ford Transit Connect-fighting small van that launched in the U.S. last spring.

“We’re eager to work with FedEx and other companies to put the e-NV200 through its paces to continue to build awareness of the capability of electric vehicles and to evaluate how well it meets the needs of the commercial consumer,” Erik Gottfried, Nissan director of Electric Vehicle Sales and Marketing, said in a statement. “We’d also like to explore clever uses of EVs in work environments where carbon emissions of gas-powered vehicles make them impractical or impossible to use.”

Nissan has committed to eventually launching a taxi version of the e-NV200 for New York City, where its gas-powered sibling is currently utilized as a cab, but general retail sales are still up in the air.

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Subaru has announced that the second generation of its EyeSight suite of safety technologies, as well as a trio of other new safety systems, will debut in the U.S. for the 2015 model year.

Like the original EyeSight system that hit the market in 2012, the new setup will rely on a pair of upper windshield-mounted cameras to monitor the road ahead and provide forward collision alert with pre-collision braking, lane-departure warning and adaptive cruise control functions.

What sets the new system apart is upgraded cameras with color recognition technology that increases Eyesight’s viewing angle and distance by 40 percent.

Those improvements allow the forward collision warning system’s automatic pre-collision braking feature to operate at up to 31 mph, while pre-collision brake assist – it primes the brake system to respond quickly to the driver – functions from velocities as high as 43 mph. Both figures represent increases of 12 mph over the original EyeSight system.

The second-gen EyeSight’s other advantages – both of which could help to pave the way for autonomous Subaru models in the future – are its ability to recognize vehicle brake lights and red traffic lights and automatically brake accordingly, as well as its Lane Keep Assist system’s to gently steer back into the correct lane.

As with the current system, the new iteration of EyeSight will be offered on the Legacy, Outback and Forester. Pricing will be announced closer to the one-sale date this summer.

Subaru will also use the 2015 model to introduce blind spot warning, lane-change assist and rear cross traffic alert systems to its U.S. lineup. Availability for these new safety technologies has not yet been detailed.

The Federal Trade Commission has announced that Nissan and its ad agency, TBWA Worldwide, have an agreed to a settlement over allegations that a Frontier pickup commercial deceived consumers.

Entitled “Hill Climb,” the YouTube-style spot depicted a Frontier coming to the aid of a stuck dune buggy and pushing it up a steep sand dune.

The FTC’s problem with the advertisement: the Frontier isn’t capable of performing that feat in real life. In fact, both the pickup and dune buggy were towed up the dune by cables, and an extreme camera angle was used to make the hill look steeper than it actually is.

“Special effects in ads can be entertaining, but advertisers can’t use them to misrepresent what a product can do,” Jessica Rich, the director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. “This ad made the Nissan Frontier appear capable of doing something it can’t do.”

The settlement will prevent Nissan and TBWA from employing potentially misleading demonstrations in future pickup commercials, but neither will be required to pay fines.

The ad in question is viewable below.

In an unusually frank assessment, Volkswagen’s labor boss has characterized the brand’s U.S. performance as “catastrophic.”

“The U.S. is a case of disaster” for Volkswagen, said Bernd Osterloh, the company’s works council chief, at a press conference in Wolfsburg, Germany.

Volkswagen’s U.S. sales tumbled 7 percent in 2013, despite overall industry growth of eight percent. The year was capped by the abrupt departure of Volkswagen of America CEO Jonathon Browning.

Osterloh called for Volkswagen to move quickly in bringing new models to turn around its flagging operations, but noted that he doesn’t expect the situation to improve until 2016, when the production version of the CrossBlue concept arrives.

The CrossBlue, a three-row crossover, will follow in the U.S.-market Jetta and Passat’s tiremarks in its mission as a volume-selling model aimed the heart of the American market, in marked contrast to the premium-priced, niche-oriented Tiguan and Touareg models.

Osterloh voiced concern over Volkswagen’s continued indecision regarding whether it will build the long-delayed CrossBlue at its Pueblo, Mexico, facility or its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which is currently moving towards unionization.

Intriguingly, Osterloh also suggested that Volkswagen’s U.S. lineup would benefit from the addition of a pickup. Volkswagen executives have shown little interest in entering the domestic-dominated full-size pickup arena in the past, but the company could conceivably import the Amarok if it saw an opportunity in the midsize market.

A Honda dealership in New Jersey has become the first-ever to achieve an “Electric Grid Neutral” status, meaning the franchise produces as much as or more energy than it consumes from the grid.

Honda announced on Thursday that Rossi Honda of Vineland, New Jersey, is the first of approximately 17,500 car dealers in the United States to achieve an Electric Grid Neutral status.

Spurred by Honda’s “Green Dealer” initiative, Rossi Honda installed a 223kW solar PV system in 2012 that was able to fulfill 90 percent of the dealership’s energy needs. Looking to push the green needle even farther, Rossi replaced its metal halide parking lot lights with LED units in the spring of 2013, allowing the dealership to rely on solar power for 100 percent of its energy needs.

The move to all solar power has reduce Rossi’s annual grid electricity consumption by approximately 321,000 kWh and annual CO2 output by approximately 341,000 lbs.

“Rossi Honda has pioneered a new era for automobile dealers in which they too can be environmental leaders,” said Steven Center, vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc., in charge of the company’s Environmental Business Development Office. “By virtually eliminating CO2 from the consumption of electricity and saving money in the process, Rossi has created a path that other dealers can follow.”

Honda launched its “Green Dealer” program in 2012 and now has 200 participants. Of those dealers, 28 have managed to reduce their electricity consumption by at least 10 percent.

Jeep’s upcoming sub-compact model has been spotted for the first time testing in Europe. The so-called “baby Jeep” is likely to hit the market as the Latitude, although the Jeepster nameplate is also being thrown around.

Although still covered in heavy camouflage, this is the first time we’ve seen the Latitude wearing its production-intent sheet metal. Previous iterations of the baby Jeep were clad in Fiat 500 bodywork.

Still, a few design cues can be peering out from beneath its cover. The Latitude will sport Jeep’s iconic seven-slat grille, with the compact’s round headlights mimicking those found on the Wrangler. Though difficult to discern, it looks as though the Latitude will have an overall boxy look like the Patriot instead of the more streamlined look of the Compass. The Latitude will eventually replace both of those models in Jeep’s lineup.

The Latitude will reportedly make its global debut at the Geneva Motor Show this March. Following its unveiling, look for Jeep’s smallest model to arrive in dealer showrooms during the fall.