Toyota is doubling down on its best-known model for gas mileage, the Prius hybrid.

It’s already added two models to sit beside the 2012 Prius five-door hatchback, and now, the last new addition to the Prius lineup has been revealed.

The 2013 Toyota Prius C, the first compact Prius since the original 2000-2003 model, was unveiled today at the Tokyo Motor Show. It will make its formal U.S. debut at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show in January.

Cadillac had a momentary lapse where it thought today was the Los Angeles Auto Show, as it ‘accidentally’ revealed the production 2013 XTS sedan on its website. Fortunately for all of us, we grabbed a shot of the luxo barge before Cadillac had the chance to correct its mistake.

The XTS was first shown at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show as the XTS Platinum Concept. To our eye, the production car wears sheet metal that is a little leaner and features a few more creases. The front end looks somewhat short and stubby to our eyes. While the whole vehicle seems narrow. But we’ll reserve final judgment until we can see it in the metal next week.

How times change.

Startup Bright Automotive announced last week that, once the company completes its funding, its advanced plug-in hybrid Idea delivery van would be assembled under contract by AM General.

That’s the outfit that built the Humvee and Hummer, and spawned the now-defunct HUMMER brand, including the HUMMER H1 and HUMMER H2–which AM General also assembled.

It might be celebrating a global total of 15,000 all-electric Nissan Leafs since the model was launched last year, but Nissan isn’t planning to keep its plug-in technology inside pure electric cars, it has revealed today.

Talking at an event in Yokohama, Japan earlier, Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn confirmed that Nissan has been working on a plug-in hybrid model which it plans to bring to market in 2015.

That’s one year later than the expected 2014 Nissan Altima Hybrid, which will be based on the new Xtronic CVT hybrid system found in the 2012 infiniti M35h.

It’s been a tough week for Fisker.

The startup electric-car company finally got its car approved for sale, many months late, only to have the EPA rate its gas mileage at just 20 mpg in range-sustaining mode.

Now, a new wrinkle to those ratings has come out: Based on the volume measurements it uses to allocate cars into different size classes, the EPA calls the 2012 Fisker Karma a “subcompact” (the category for vehicles with 85 to 100 cubic feet of interior space).

Five months ago, we drove the 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid–which gave us slightly more than 45 mpg using “Econ” mode. That’s the best gas mileage of any Honda Civic in recent memory.

So we were eager to test the new-for-2012 Civic HF model, which forgoes the electric motor and lithium-ion battery pack of the Civic Hybrid.

Its standard 1.8-liter gasoline engine is paired with the aerodynamic tweaks (a new front fascia and decklid spoiler, among others) and low rolling resistances tires used on the Civic Hybrid, along with unique alloy wheels.

With the 2012 Infiniti M35h already setting Guinness records and the 2013 Lexus GS 450h shown off at the Frankfurt Auto Show, today’s unveiling of the 2013 BMW ActiveHybrid 3 makes it a three-way race for sport-sedan hybrid supremacy. How do the numbers stack up?

Performance

First up, lets look at each car’s hybrid drive system. The 2012 Infiniti M35h starts with the familiar 3.5-liter V-6 paired with a 50 kW electric motor for a net output of 360 horsepower. The 2013 Lexus GS 450 follows a similar path, pairing an Atkinson-cycle 3.5-liter V-6 with an electric motor of not-yet-specified output and net power of 338 hp. The 2013 BMW ActiveHybrid 3 slots in just below the other two, but does it a little differently, with a 300-horsepower twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder paired with a 40 kW electric motor for a net output of 335 horsepower.

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BMW’s new 3-Series, the sixth generation of the automaker’s entry-level sedan, is now bigger, bolder, and with a revamped engine lineup including a hybrid option, more fuel efficient than ever.

Set to go on sale in February as a 2012 model, the ‘F30’ 3-Series also debuts BMW’s new face, which features elongated headlights reaching along as far as the trademark kidney grille.

Ford’s Flat Rock assembly plant, also know as AutoAlliance International, currently builds the Ford Mustang and the Mazda6 sedan. We previously reported that Mazda is exiting this joint venture, and will build the Mazda6 in Mexico, which leaves Flat Rock with quite a bit of surplus capacity.

Per Autoblog and a contract summary document (PDF link) released to UAW workers, that capacity will be filled by building some next-generation 2013 Ford Fusion models in Flat Rock. That doesn’t mean that Ford will cease Fusion production in Hermosillo, Mexico, current home to the Fusion. Instead, Flat Rock will be used to provide a second source of manufacturing for the Fusion product line.

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The BMW 5-Series is still quite new, having just received its M5 variant this summer. Today, the ActiveHybrid 5 joins the ranks, though it won’t be available for purchase until March 2012.

Based on the 535i, the ActiveHybrid 5 marks the third production hybrid from BMW, though it will be one of only two on sale (the other being the ActiveHybrid 7) soon as the ActiveHybrid X6 ceases production.

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