"Toyota is considering setting up a separate brand for Prius, and may broaden the Prius lineup with bigger and smaller Prius models, the head of Toyota's American sales arm said today. … The separate Prius brand would be specific to the United States, and is not under consideration for other parts of the world." White people are going to love this! http://is.gd/3NdM

"Honda's Insight hybrid, introduced Thursday at the Paris Motor Show, is designed to take the measure of the Toyota Prius." And boy does it look an awful lot like the Prius. EPA mileage testing not yet complete, but the price is expected to be below $20,000.

"The debt crisis is going to create a domino-like collapse of our industry in the next six months. Who will be the first to go? And who might emerge controlling the American newspaper business?" John Duncan's first post in six months is a good one, though frightening.

"In which I explain the advantages of using a popular fraud-detection tool in reporting."

Yes, please. Via Will Sullivan.

"With Google, the value to users and the value to advertisers is perfectly aligned. Everybody wins. With Facebook, if you read between the lines, it’s really the same value proposition as traditional advertising — advertisers forcing themselves on users, in a way that creates little or no value for the users."

Thanks to Will Sullivan for bringing this important cat-finding tool to my attention.

Now that's unique value!

The "'hyperlocal' or 'long tail' philosophy, to use the parlance of our time, may ultimately be where a lot of us end up, but blockbuster news is still happening and there's no reason all the same tools that made the Chicago Crime successful can't be used to cover the hell out of a big story when it breaks."

"Porsche raised its stake in Volkswagen, a fellow German automaker, to more than 35 percent — a move that gave it effective control over Europe's biggest carmaker." This doesn't make my 2001 Jetta suck any less.

"The car will have a 40-mile range on batteries alone (G.M. says it's on target to deliver that) and a top speed of 100 miles per hour. The company said the Volt will cost less than two cents a mile to drive on battery power. No pricing was announced, but according to this recent article, although G.M. "initially hinted at a $30,000 starting price, executives have recently suggested that the Volt might end up in the mid- to high-$40,000 range."

Because I know you were wondering.

"Boeing told me Tuesday that it could offer a bigger tanker to the Air Force than its 767-200, given that the Pentagon is saying it will give extra credit to the tanker that can offload more fuel. In that case, Boeing's options would appear to be either the 767-400 or 777-200LR- assuming it does not rebid the 767-200. Or, as I wrote Monday, Boeing may decide not to bid at all. Or it may first protest the final RFP that is expected to be issued soon by the Pentagon."

Inky's decision to hold investigative, enterprise, etc. for print-first: "My concern is that the Philly effort doesn’t go far enough. I say, never put those stories online, but still make sure every single reporter and editor is working hard to ensure a great online edition." I don't see what the big deal is, frankly, as the stories the Inky is talking about typically don't have any time-specific urgency, and don't play terribly well online, anyway.

"The automaker said that its worldwide net income for the quarter fell 28 percent, hurt by slumping sales of its Tundra pickup truck and S.U.V.’s made and sold in North America." My neighbor just bought a Tundra, which follows last month's boat purchase, which followed the purchase of three motorcycles. Gas prices clearly affect some of us more than others.

"Voices in and around the newspaper industry would have us believe the industry is falling apart and taking its last gaps. Investors are fleeing newspaper companies, publishers are decrying the lack of newspaper advertising growth, debt challenges are plaguing many companies, and there are layoffs and buyouts everywhere. If one rationally looks at the industry, however, one sees that it is fundamentally sound, but that a unique, financially golden period in its history is ending. It is that change which is creating the bulk of the turmoil in the industry, but the biggest problem is that those working in the industry have short memories about the newspaper business and don't remember it any other way."

"With the Pentagon perhaps just a week or so away from sending out a request for proposals on the Air Force tanker, the ongoing war of words between Boeing and Northrop backers has turned more ugly. The Boeing camp is upset at a hard-hitting radio ad from a group that calls itself "Alabamians to Build American Tankers.'' A sample from the ad: "The reason we are still trying to replace our aging refueling tankers is because Boeing executives were involved in a scandal of bribery and cheating in the last bid. Our Air Force is working hard to protect our country but it appears that Boeing's corporate policy is 'if Boeing can't win no one can' … and that means our troops lose." Woof.

"The Chicago Fire just got a lot tougher Wednesday when the Major League Soccer team acquired striker Brian McBride in a deal with Toronto. … Despite his age (36) and some hard knocks sustained when he wore the captain’s arm band for Fulham, McBride appears as healthy and reliable a player now as he was for the U.S. national team." The man has titanium plates surgically implanted in his face.

"With the best of intentions and concerns about ethics and standards, we've built walls between journalism and the people and places we write about. America's newspapers were founded by activists, boosters and community-builders. The institutions they built had hearts and souls that over the years have been lost, forgotten, or just thrown away."

“While there is no denying pockets of curmudgeons remain in newsrooms, perhaps it’s time to shine a light on the need for swift change in other departments, as well.” Start with the biz-side whiz who once told me “long-term thinking is a luxury.”

“Google’s new ‘how to’ site, called Knol, is something I’ve pitched to newspapers for the last four months during my job search. Now I’m sharing the plan with everyone.”