Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus luxury car unit is seeking feedback on its LF-Ch hybrid concept car from potential buyers in the U.S., division General Manager Mark Templin tells Automotive News. The hatchback, which was unveiled in September at the Frankfurt auto show, was shown again at last week’s Los Angeles auto show.

Lexus says the LF-Ch features a full hybrid powertrain, but it didn’t release any other details. If approved, the compact five-door would compete against the Audi A3 and BMW 1 Series. Lexus said the concept was developed in response to the growing demand, especially from young urbanites, for smaller and more fuel-efficient cars.

Confirming earlier reports, Volkswagen AG and Suzuki Motor Corp. yesterday announced plans for the German automaker to acquire a 19.9% stake in Suzuki for $2.5 billion. The deal, which is due to be completed in January, also calls for Suzuki to spend up to half the proceeds to buy about 2.5% of VW.

In addition to the potential for sharing parts and purchasing economies of scale, Volkswagen aims to tap into Suzuki’s compact car expertise, particularly in India and other emerging markets. Suzuki is the second-leading maker of 660-cc minicars in Japan behind Toyota Motor Corp.’s Daihatsu unit. In India, the Japanese company’s Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. joint venture controls 50% of the market, thanks mainly to its small car dominance.

Suzuki, which has lagged in emerging “green” technologies, hopes to tap into VW’s experience with diesel engines and hybrid/electric development efforts. It also plans to reinvest some of the $2.5 billion it will receive from VW into research and development. The Japanese company also stands to benefit from VW’s market-leading position in China, where Suzuki has struggled to make an inroad.

Partnering with Suzuki could help VW achieve its goal of surpassing Toyota as the world’s top-selling automaker by 2018. Combined, VW and Suzuki sold some 7.2 million vehicles-5.3 million by VW and 1.9 million by Suzuki-through the first 10 months of 2009. Toyota sold 6.4 million units during the same period.

Longtime Chairman Osamu Suzuki stresses that the Japanese automaker will retain its autonomy, declaring to reporters that Suzuki will not become just another VW brand. Suzuki bought back a 20% stake in itself last year that General Motors Corp. had owned.

A new study by Consumer Reports urges automakers to add “smart-throttle” technology on all vehicles to help drivers regain control of a vehicle if they experience unintended acceleration. Such a system would allow the brakes to override the accelerator if the latter gets stuck or both pedals are depressed at the same time.

In its analysis of some 5,900 problem reports the U.S. National Highway Transportation received on 3,000 2008-model vehicles, the magazine found 166 cases in which the complaint involved prolonged, unintended acceleration.

Although the incident rate is relatively low, Toyota Motor Corp. and Ford Motor Co. were singled out for having a disproportionate number of vehicles in which unintended acceleration occurred. Toyota and its Lexus brand account for more than 40% of such complaints filed by consumers with the federal government. Ford vehicles accounted for another 28% of the total. Chrysler and General Motors vehicles accounted for only 12% and 5% of the total, CR says.

Six of the powerplants named to this year’s Ward’s Auto.com “10 Best Engines” list features boosting technology. Of the six, three used turbocharged gasoline-direct-injection systems, one was supercharged and two were turbodiesels.

The remaining four winners included a pair of hybrid drivetrains, a naturally aspirated GDI and a DOHC V-8. Volkswagen Group led in the standings with three of the 10 winners, including two Audi applications. Ford fueled a pair of winners: a turbocharged V-6 GDI and its DOHC I-4 hybrid system. Perennial champ BMW managed only one win this year, for its 3.0-liter I-6 diesel. General Motors, Hyundai, Subaru and Toyota each had one winner.

Reflecting the trend toward smaller engines, six of the winning engines were four-cylinder mills. Another three were six-cylinder engines. Hyundai’s 4.6-liter Tau engine was the lone V-8 in the group-the first time in the award’s 16-year history there haven’t been multiple V-8s.

Half the engines were first-time winners, while the other half were repeats from last year. Among the newcomers to the list is Audi’s 3.0-liter supercharged V-6 that generates 333 hp for the high-performance S4 sedan yet achieves as much as 24 mpg in some tests. The S4 made the list three years in a row (2004-2006) with the larger 4.2-liter V-8.

Another first-time winner is GM’s 2.4-liter four-cylinder GDI that makes 182 hp in the revamped Chevrolet Equinox crossover. The powerplant also will be offered in the Buick LaCrosse and Buick Regal sedans.

The three other newbies to the list are Ford’s twin-turbo 3.5-liter GDI V-6, which is fitted in the new Taurus SHO sport sedan, Subaru’s 2.5-liter turbocharged boxer engine that generates 265 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque in the all-new Legacy GT and Toyota’s upgraded hybrid powertrain in the all-new Prius. The latter, which features a third-generation hybrid system teamed with a 1.8-liter Atkinson-cycle I-4, has an EPA fuel economy rating of 51 mpg in the city and 48 mpg on the highway.

Ward’s notes that the winners embody the increasing demand for higher fuel economy and lower emissions without sacrificing performance. As a result, automakers are employing advanced technology and unique designs to boost output while downsizing engines and increasing fuel efficiency.

To be eligible for the competition, engines had to be all-new, undergone significant technical upgrades or won last year. Contenders also had to be available in a regular-production U.S.-specification model by the end of the first-quarter of 2010, in a vehicle priced no higher than $54,000.

Six editors of Ward’s Automotive Group tested eligible engines in 34 vehicles in their normal driving cycles in metro Detroit. Entrants were rated on horsepower, torque, refinement, technical relevance and comparative data. The winning OEMs, and the engines and cars tested, are:

• Audi   -   2.0-liter TFSI turbocharged DOHC I-4   -   A4
• Audi  -   3.0-liter TFSI supercharged DOHC V-6   -   S4
• BMW   -   3.0-liter DOHC I-6 turbodiesels   -   335d
• Ford  -   2.5-liter DOHC I-4 Hybrids   -   Ford Fusion
• Ford   -   3.5 liter EcoBoost Turbocharged DOHC V-6   -   Taurus SHO
• GM   -   2.4-liter Ecotec DOHC I-4   -   Chevrolet Equinox
• Hyundai   -   4.6 Tau DOHC V-8   -   Genesis
• Subaru   -   2.5-liter turbocharged DOHC H-4   -   Legacy 2.5GT
• Toyota   -   8-liter DOHC I-4 Hybrid   -   2010 Prius
• VW   -   2.0-liter SOHC I-4 turbodiesel   -   Jetta SportWagen TDI

Following months of speculation, IndyCar driver Danica Patrick has confirmed she will expand her IndyCar racing career by also driving the number 7 Chevrolet Impala for JR Motorsports in NASCAR’s second-tier Nationwide Series. She also will drive in one ARCA RE/MAX Series race.

The 27-year-old Patrick, who recently signed a three-year extension with former driver Michael Andretti’s IndyCar team, will complete a full 18-course IndyCar season. In addition, she will drive about a dozen stock car races-mostly before and after the IndyCar season-starting with an ARCA series tune-up event on February 6, 2010, at Daytona International Speedway.

JR Motorsports is co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Rick Hendrick. Patrick’s crew chief will be Tony Eury Jr., Earnhardt’s former Cup crew chief. Her IndyCar sponsor, Web site hosting service GoDaddy.com, will sponsor her Nationwide car.

Some racing experts question Patrick’s chances in the new venue, saying that racing in both series will make the NASCAR learning curve more challenging. Speculation continues that Patrick might replace 50-year-old Mark Martin in his GoDaddy.com-sponsored ride for Hendrick Motorsports Sprint Cup team when Martin’s contract expires in 2011.

In her rookie campaign in 2005, Patrick took the racing world by storm when she became the first woman to lead a lap in the legendary Indianapolis 500, eventually earning a fourth-place finish. But in five IndyCar seasons, she has notched only one win, at Motegi, Japan, in 2008. She finished fifth in points last season.