Around the Block | 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt: A Cobalt That’s More Like a Camel. The Cobalt gets better highway mileage then the Civic or Corolla, and offers the most horsepower of the three.

Around the Block | 2009 Ford Escape XLT: A Revised Escape Strategy. In the original announcement of the Escape, Ford boasted about its towing power. Now the company brags about the soy-based seat foam. How times have changed.

Behind the Wheel | 2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid: My Hybrid Is Bigger Than Your Hybrid. The Escalade Hybrid is a step in the right direction, but its economy is merely respectable rather than outright impressive.

Behind the Wheel | 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI: A High-Mileage Masterpiece. Among a wave of diesel cars and trucks, the Jetta TDI is the people’s choice, as well as the current champion of fuel economy.

Motoring: Your Mileage May Still Vary. Since the Environmental Protection Agency fine-tuned its fuel-economy estimates, many drivers are saying their mileage is better than the estimates.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow. The Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango hybrids are almost certainly the shortest-lived new models from a major manufacturer in modern times.

Cranking the Volt to 100 M.P.G.. The tricky process of rating the fuel economy of hybrid-powered cars like the Chevrolet Volt is still being finalized.

G.M. Sells Suzuki Stake in Its Effort to Raise Cash. Cash-strapped General Motors will sell its entire stake in the Japanese automaker for $230 million.

Congress Remains Divided on Bailout. New members of Congress were welcomed to Capitol Hill on Monday, but the celebratory mood did not extend toward an economic recovery measure or a bailout for U.S. automakers.

Chief Fights for G.M.’s Future and His Reputation. Rick Wagoner and his company, G.M., have become the lightning rods of the debate over whether Detroit should get a bailout.

Clout Has Plunged for Automakers and Union, Too. The Detroit automakers and the United Automobile Workers union face stiff headwinds of public opinion as they push for a bailout.

A Sea of Unwanted Imports. Unwelcome by dealers and buyers, thousands of cars are being warehoused on crowded port property, creating a vivid picture of a paralyzed auto business.

Facing a Slowdown, China’s Auto Industry Presses for a Bailout From Beijing. China’s car industry is quietly pressing Beijing for government help as it copes with a jarring slowdown, top Chinese auto executives said.

Detroit’s Bid for Aid Fails — For Now. Democratic leaders in Congress gave auto industry leaders 12 days to come back with a plan showing that federal aid would be well-spent.

Hoping Not to Repeat the Mistakes of the Past. Specialists said the last big effort to help Detroit, the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles, was not something to repeat.

Motoring: Strategies for Car Shopping in a Time of Tighter Credit. Finance companies have cut back on loans and become stingier with leases. But for consumers, the credit crunch may have a silver lining.

LA Auto Show | Design: Future Visions of Far-Out Races. The Design Challenge at the Los Angeles auto show offers a revealing peek into the fantasies of car designers.

Los Angeles Auto Show: Brave Faces, Hard Times. While grim prospects drained some of the usual optimism, there seemed to be little alarm on display at this year’s auto show in Los Angeles.

Big Three’s Troubles May Touch Financial Sector. Detroit’s largest automakers owe more than $100 billion, and Wall Street is wondering how much will be paid back.

G.M.’s Latest Great Green Hope Is a Tall Order. The Chevrolet Volt is the centerpiece of G.M.’s strategy to convince Congress of the strength of its business plan.

Ford Scion Looks Beyond Bailout to Green Agenda. William C. Ford Jr. could play a critical role in how the Obama administration decides to aid the auto industry.

Caravan of Auto Company Backers Hopes to Win Over Washington. Car dealers, parts makers, union leaders and others intend to tell lawmakers that the auto industry is vital to the economy.

The Prestigious Design of Ferrari’s Factory. Ferrari is highlighting a brand and underscoring a claim to luxury style through the innovation of a factory design.

Latest Chrysler Buyout Offer Lures Quarter of Salaried Staff. The day before Thanksgiving was a moment of reckoning for white-collar workers who were offered buyout deals.

Risky Business: Suffering Campaign Withdrawal? Read Up on Detroit. Spin. Gaffes. The auto crisis debate is a gift to political junkies who just can’t let go.

Auto Dealerships Teeter as Big Three Decline. Government help will probably come too late for dealers whose sales are dropping along with consumer confidence.

Digital Domain: Only the Rich Can Afford It. Should Taxpayers Back It?. Tesla Motors says it cannot move forward on plans to bring out a second-generation electric car without federal funds.

Toyota Trims Management Pay. Toyota Motor said it would cut management bonuses by 10 percent as the global economic slowdown deepens.

Big Three May Need to Trim Number of Brands. For automakers to win over lawmakers in their bid for aid, they will have to prove that they are serious about shrinking their vast lineups of different models.

Motoring: Clicks, Leaks and Flickers. Bad wheel bearings on Audis and various troubles with General Motors crossovers and S.U.V.’s are among the issues covered in recent technical service bulletins.

Where Have the Trabis Gone?. It’s been estimated that 800,000 Trabants survive, so it’s fair to ask: what happened to the other 2,296,099?

A People’s Car as Flawed as the People’s Paradise. East Germany’s leaders decided that Sachsenring Automobiltechnik could do for the communist bloc what Volkswagen did for the rest of the world.

A Red Menace That You Can Drive Yourself. There are several ways to tour Germany’s capital, but for those who want to steep themselves in cold war history, a Trabant transports you to the 1960s.

Behind the Wheel | 2009 Aston Martin DBS: Just Think ‘007’ and Add $269,993. With 510 horsepower burbling from the DBS’s V-12 engine, supervillains and angry stockholders quickly vanish in the rear-view mirror.