Germany’s consumers registered 215,000 new cars in December, down nearly 5% year-to-year, in the wake of the company’s now-ended scrappage program, reports VDIK.

Full-year car sales jumped 23% to 3.8 million in 2009, the highest total since 1992, according to the German carmaker group. VDIK predicts that a lack of new government stimulus will cause registrations to fall to 2.8 million units this year-or perhaps 2.9 million if Germany’s economy improves.

The group’s forecast matches the outlook of the Germany Association of the Automotive Industry. It projects 2.7 million-3 million new-car registrations in 2010.

Demand for cars and minivehicles in Japan fell more than 9% to 4.6 million units last year, reports The Nikkei. Sales were nearly 7.8 million units in 1990.

Last year marked the fifth consecutive year of declining car sales in Japan, the newspaper notes. Demand for minivehicles (powered by engines smaller than 660 cc) dropped 10% to 1.7 million, and sales of larger cars fell 9% to 2.9 million last year.

But December sales (excluding minivehicles) surged nearly 37% to 250,400 units, marking the fifth straight month of year-over-year increases due primarily to government incentives that encourage the purchase of more environmentally friendly vehicles.

A French court has overturned the lifetime ban from participation in FIA-sanctioned racing imposed on Flavio Briatore, the former leader of Renault SA’s Formula One team.

Briatore charged last year with ordering Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash his car during the Singapore Grand Prix in 2008. The accident enabled teammate Fernando Alonso to win the race.

Citing “irregularities” in FIA’s sanctions, the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris awarded Briatore €15,000 in compensation and ruled that he is now free to take a job in motor sport management.

The court also overturned the FIA’s five-year ban on Pat Symonds, the Renault team’s engineering chief. Symonds was awarded €5,000 in damages. The FIA may file an appeal regarding both rulings.

A delegation of Swedish government officials will meet in Detroit with General Motors Co. next week to discuss the future of GM’s Saab Automobile AB unit.

Multiple media reports say GM intends to begin closing down Saab unless it receives a viable offer to buy it by Thursday. State secretary Joran Hagglund tells Sweden’s TT news agency that GM is willing to extend its deadline.

GM said last month it would begin the shutdown process after separate failed attempts to sell the unit to Koenigsegg AB and later Spyker Cars NV.

The next-generation Opel Meriva people mover will feature second-row doors that are hinged at the rear.

The so-called FlexDoors, which open to an angle of 84¡, improve rear-seat access, according to the General Motors Co. unit. Opel previewed the doors on a concept Meriva at the 2008 Geneva auto show.

GM says the production version will debut 4 March at the Geneva show. The vehicle goes on sale this summer.

Other vehicles with similar rear-hinged doors include the Rolls Royce Phantom and redesigned Ghost, the Mazda RX8 and the Honda Element. Unlike the Element, however, the Meriva does not require passengers to open the front door before opening the rear door.

The Meriva, which was first launched in 2003, also will get a new choice of engines. GM says the array of six turbocharged powerplants, which range in output from 75 hp to 140 hp, will reduce fuel consumption by an average 15%.

Car and light-truck sales in the U.S. surged to an annualized rate of 11.3 million units in December, the second-highest rate in 2009, reports Autodata Corp. Demand for European brands grew more than 9% for the month.

Actual unit sales in December, which had two more selling days than December 2008, reached 1.03 million units versus 894,800 a year earlier. European brands accounted for 87,900 of the monthly total.

For the full year, U.S. car and light truck sales totaled only 10.43 million in 2009, the lowest volume in 27 years. Passenger cars accounted for 53% of total sales, up by 1.5 percentage points from 2008, a trend that favors European carmakers. Sales of trucks fell about 24%.

Sales of European brands fell 16% last year, outperforming the overall market, which fell 21%. As a result, Europe’s carmakers gained 0.6 points of share to capture 8.4% of the American market. Asian brands gained 2.8 points, raising their collective share to a record 47.4%.

Detroit’s Big Three carmakers accounted for only 44% of the American market last year. Demand for General Motors and Chrysler vehicles plummeted 30% and 36%, respectively. Ford’s full-year sales dropped by a relatively small 15%. Until 2008, the Big Three controlled more of the U.S. market than Asian and European brands combined.

Kia Motors Corp. has launched a seven-year warranty on all cars sold in Europe. The company previously has offered a similar guarantee on two models: the Sportage SUV and cee’d compact hatchback.

The new warranty will apply to all Kia passenger vehicles sold and registered in more than 20 European countries beginning this year. Coverage remains in effect after the owner sells the vehicle. The program does not include commercial vehicles.

Kia also notes that paintwork is covered for five years, audio systems for  three years or 97,000 km and service parts, accessories and batteries for two years. Wear-and-tear on such items such as tires, brake pads and clutch linings is not covered.

Honda and Toyota are using this week’s New Delhi auto show to unveil new low-cost sedans developed for such emerging markets as India, Latin America and Russia.

Toyota’s Etios, which goes on sale later this year, is expected to sell for less than Û6,900. The company predicts it will sell 70,000 of the cars in India alone.

Honda is showing a concept of a five-passenger small car it plans to begin selling in India and Thailand next year.

Think Global AS says it will begin making as many as 20,000 of its City electric vehicles annually next year at a new plant in the U.S. The Û31 million facility will be in Indiana in America’s Midwest.

The Norwegian company has applied to the U.S. Department of Energy for a loan to help pay for the plant.

Lithium-ion batteries for the City will be supplied by EnerDel, which already supplies European assembly operations from two plants in Indiana.

Tata Motors Ltd. Chairman Ratan Tata says he will not buy Fiat SpA’s Termini Imerese assembly plant in Sicily, which will halt production of the Lancia Ypsilon in 2011.

Italy’s Business Standard newspaper reported last month that Tata and rival Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. were interested in the facility. Observers had speculated that Tata might use the plant to produce the Nano Europa minicar in 2011. Tata has a joint venture with Fiat to produce the Italian company’s Palio, Linea and Grande Punto in India.