Cars & Car Care

Bernard Condon / AP Business Writer NEW YORK—You’ve heard of the iPhone and iPad. How about the iCar? The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple has hired hundreds of people to work on a secret project—code name “Titan”—to develop an electric vehicle. The newspaper cites people familiar with the project who spoke under condition of anonymity.

The future has arrived as far as Honda Philippines Inc. (HPI) is concerned. A fuel efficient scooter using advanced engine technology and futuristic design was launched over the weekend by the country’s leading motorcycle firm.

Tami Abdollah / The Associated Press LOS ANGELES— Investigators have dug deeper into a weekend chain-reaction crash on Malibu’s Pacific Coast Highway that involved Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner and left one woman dead.

DETROIT—Tesla Motors ended 2014 on a sour note, with production hiccups and a bungled launch in China, but the electric car maker is confident it can significantly grow sales this year as it launches a new SUV.

Sylvia Hui / The Associated Press LONDON— Driverless cars are hitting Britain’s public roads for the first time, giving a glimpse of future travel that’s billed as safer and more efficient.

SCOTLAND-—Paisley, a historic region in the lowlands of this country was flooded with 10,000 car enthusiasts last week as the Monte Carlo Classic Rally revved into town for the second time.

Shanghai—A total of 23.72 million automobiles were produced and 23.49 million sold in China last year according to figures released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

MINNEAPOLIS— A Toyota Motor Corp. lawyer has told a Minnesota jury deciding whether the automaker is responsible for a crash that killed three people that the car couldn’t have accelerated so quickly if the driver hit the brakes as he claimed.

The A7 uses sensors, radars and a front-facing camera as “eyes” and advanced computer technology to intelligently negotiate traffic. A self-driving Audi A7 traveled from Silicon Valley to the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, while Mercedes-Benz and Ford also made announcements about autonomous technology, reports Time.

Toyota expects overseas sales to grow 2 percent this year to more than 8 million vehicles from 7.9 million vehicles last year. Tokyo—Toyota Motor Corp. stayed at the top in global vehicle sales in 2014, taking that auto industry crown for the third year straight, but was less upbeat about this year.