Continental AG says it will issue 31 million shares, raising €1.1 billion to help pay down €11 billion in debt from its 2007 acquisition of Siemens AG’s VDO automotive electronics unit.

Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs International and J.P. Morgan Securities Ltd. are underwriting the stock offer.

In November Conti announced plans to issue the shares. In December it obtained €2.5 billion in financing from creditor banks.

The equity sale will help Conti prepare for a merger with the Schaeffler Group, which ran up €11 billion in debt while acquiring 90% of Conti during a hostile takeover bid last year. The two companies agreed in June to merge.

Scrappage incentives in France, Italy, Spain and the U.K. helped boost December passenger car sales to 995,000 units, up 18% from a year earlier, according to J.D. Power and Associates.

Full-year sales for the 17-nation region totaled 13.6 million cars last year, up 0.5% from 2008, according to the U.S. market analysis firm.

Sales in Germany, the region’s biggest market, slipped 5% last month to 216,000 vehicles. That country’s scrappage incentive ended in September.

In France, passenger car sales jumped 49% to 228,000 vehicles as consumers rushed to qualify for the government’s €1,000 incentive before it dropped to €700 in January. In the U.K., December car sales rose nearly 39% to 151,000 units. Consumers took advantage of a €2,225 scrappage incentive that may run out of funds as early as next month.

In Italy, where the government pays €1,500 to scrap an old car, December sales were up 16% to 165,000 units. J.D. Power notes that sales of natural gas-fueled cars have been especially strong in Italy, which has doubled the incentive for these vehicles. In Spain, the government’s €2,000 scrappage bonus introduced in May helped push sales up 25% to 91,000 units.

Full-year car sales in 2009 rose 23% in Germany and 11% in France. They declined by 0.5% in Italy, 18% in Spain and more than 6% in the U.K.

Formula One magnate Bernie Eccelstone says he has joined with the Luxembourg-based Genii Capital private equity firm in a late bid for General Motors Co.’s Saab Automobile unit.

Ecclestone tells Bloomberg News that Saab is a “good brand” that has probably been neglected by GM. Last month Genii, which is controlled by businessman Gerard Lopez, bought 75% of Renault SA’s F1 racing team.

GM said earlier this week that it had not yet received any bids for Saab that were properly financed. The American company reportedly asked that any final bids be submitted by yesterday and said it has already begun steps to close down the business. Earlier this week GM CEO Ed Whitacre said a sale was unlikely.

China’s largest carmakers all report strong sales in 2009. Demand was generated for much of the year by aggressive government incentive programs.

Volkswagen AG says its sales reached a record 1.4 million in China last year, up 37% from 2008. The company says it is confident it will achieve its goal of 2 million sales before its 2018 target.

To help bolster sales, VW says it will add seven new models this year. It also is investing more than €4 billion on its Chinese operations through 2011. VW is China’s largest carmaker, although General Motors Co. sold more vehicles, including commercial vehicles. GM’s sales surged by two-thirds to a record 1.83 million last year, with vans and trucks accounting for nearly  60% of the total.

Ford Motor Co., a relative latecomer to the Chinese market, reports its sales surged 44% to 440,600 vehicles. Toyota Motor Co. says its sales in China expanded by 21% to 709,999 vehicles. It expects to reach sales of 800,000 this year.

As expected,  the Bank of England decided to leave its benchmark interest unchanged at a record low 0.5%.

The central bank also will continue to buy assets under its so-called quantitative easing program for at least another month. The bank launched the €223 billion program last March to help expand the money supply.

Next month the bank will decide whether to continue that program when it reviews updated inflation forecasts and data about the U.K.’s fourth-quarter gross domestic product. Analysts say the sluggish British economy may prompt the bank to delay raising interest rates until 2011.

Retail sales in the 16-member eurozone slipped 1.2% from October to November, reversing 0.2% in growth from September to October, reports Eurostat.

Sales across the 27-nation EU fell 0.8% from October to November. Analysts say the declines indicate that the region’s economic recovery has not yet established momentum.

But that may be changing. The European Commission’s latest economic sentiment index shows that consumer optimism improved in December for the ninth consecutive month. Within the eurozone, the index hit 91.3, up from November to December. In the EU, it rose by 4.1 points to 92.0.

The EC says confidence rose sharply in the U.K. and improved in France, Germany, Spain and Italy.

The cost of lithium-ion batteries is falling, but not fast enough to create a big worldwide market for electric vehicles, according to a study by Boston Consulting Group.

The authors told the Automotive Press Association in Detroit yesterday it would take an owner in the U.S. at least 15 years to offset the high cost of their EV’s battery with the lower cost of buying energy for the car. The payback period would drop to 3-5 years if governments provided EV buyers with €5,200 in incentives and to 3 years if crude oil prices more than quadrupled to $375 per barrel.

The report predicts that EVs, including those with piston-powered generators that extend their range, will account for about 6% of the global car market by 2020. Hybrids are likely to capture 20% of sales over that period.

Nissan Motor Co. says the production version of the Qazana concept vehicle it revealed at last year’s Geneva auto show will be called the Juke.

The crossover model goes on sale in October. It will be positioned between Nissan’s squarish Note mini-MPV and the midsize Qashqai crossover. Nissan will build the vehicle at its Sunderland, U.K., plant, which already produces the Note and Qashqai.

Nissan will show a production version of the Juke at this year’s Geneva auto show. The company described the Qazana’s styling as inspired by “dune buggies and four-seat motorcycles.”

The European Commission has approved Faurecia SA’s plan to take over Emcon Technologies, a Detroit-area maker of emission control equipment, from One Equity Partners, a division of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Faurecia will issue 20.9 million shares to complete the all-stock deal early this year. It plans to merge Emcon into its exhaust systems business, which will be renamed Faurecia Emissions Control Technologies.

The acquisition will dilute PSA Peugeot Citroen’s ownership of Faurecia to 57% from 71% currently. One Equity will gain a 19% stake in the new company and gain two seats on Faurecia’s board of directors.

Emcon was formed in 2004 when U.S.-based ArvinMeritor Inc. sold its exhaust systems operations to One Equity for €217 million.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd. says its new Ghost sedan, sometimes called the “baby Rolls,” should help it triple sales in Asia to about 750 units this year.

The company says it has already received 250 orders for the Ghost, which is powered by a turbocharged 6.6-liter V-12 engine that generates 563 hp.

Rolls-Royce, a unit of BMW AG, sold 1,200 cars worldwide in 2008 and aimed to sell 3,000 last year. Asia accounts for about 20% of the company’s total volume.

The Ghost, initially offered only as a four-door sedan, is intended for wealthy owners who prefer to drive themselves. The company’s flagship Phantom is typically purchased by people who are chauffeured.

General Motors Co. says it hopes to sell its Nexteer Automotive Inc. steering gear unit as soon as possible. GM bought the unit from Delphi Holdings LLP, its former partsmaking unit, in October.

The global business operates six engineering centers and 15 plants in the Americas, Europe and Asia that supply such carmakers as Chrysler, GM, Fiat, Ford, PSA and Toyota.

Automotive News reported shortly after GM bought Nexteer that the carmaker intended to sell it. Now the Detroit-based newspaper says the most likely buyer is China-based Yubei Power Steering System Co. Delphi tried unsuccessfully for several years to sell the unit during its bankruptcy.

Mazda Motor Corp. has delayed the launch of its RX sports car because engineers are struggling to meet development targets for the car’s Wankel rotary engine, according to Autocar, which cites unidentified sources.

The magazine says Mazda’s goals are to make the next-generation 1.6-liter engine 30% more fuel efficient than the current 1.3-liter Wankel it uses in the RX-8 sports car. It also says developers are trying to reduce the new engine’s oil consumption, boost top engine speed and improve the powerplant’s midrange torque. Mazda first showed a prototype of the engine at the Tokyo auto show more than two years ago.

Mazda introduced its first rotary engine-powered car, the Cosmo Sports car, in 1967. It has offered Wankel engines in 17 other models since then. The current-generation RX-8 Wankel-powered sports car debuted in 2003.

Autocar notes that Mazda could adopt direct injection technology to improve engine performance but may decide not to because such systems weigh too much. Mazda has previously said it plans to reduce the average weight of its worldwide fleet by 100 kg by 2015.

FORD SHOWS TOUCH SCREEN CONTROLS

Ford Motor Co. says it will rapidly deploy a new interior controls system that uses touch screens and voice recognition technology.

The technology, which is called MyFord Touch, will be introduced in the U.S. this summer. Ford says the system will be built into 80% of its vehicles in North America within five years and will appear in Europe in 2012 in the Ford Focus.

A 20-cm touch screen can be used to control audio, climate control, navigation and mobile phone functions. These functions are color-coded to help reduce driver distraction. Ford says the capabilities will be integrated with other advanced controls, such as the company’s popular Sync hands-free communication system. The vehicle can access wireless Internet services when the vehicle is not moving, and operators will be able to download maps and real-time traffic data.

The new Ford interface offers other features too, including multi-function buttons on the steering wheel and  a pair of digital LDC screens in the instrument panel used to display such gauges as speedometer and fuel level. The displays can be reconfigured by the driver, who will be able to decide how data is presented.

“ROAD TRAIN” TESTS TO BEGIN THIS YEAR

This year researchers will begin proving ground tests of cars that follow each other electronically. The system enables as many as seven cars to closely follow a lead vehicle. Each trailing car’s steering, braking and acceleration would be automatically adjusted to match that of the lead vehicle.

The concept is being funded by the EU and developed by Safe Road Trains for the Environment (Sartre) at facilities in Spain, Sweden and the U.K. The program is being coordinated by U.K.-based Ricardo UK Ltd.

Developers estimate the system could improve the fuel economy of all vehicles in the convoy while reducing their collective CO2 emissions by 20%.

Cars equipped for the system would automatically link up as they approach the road train. Any vehicle in the convoy could leave at any time, and cars behind it would automatically close the gap.

Developers point out that the technology can be used on virtually any road without the need to install sensors or other roadway technology to guide the cars. They envision the lead vehicle in a road train being driven by someone familiar with the route, such as a truck driver or taxi operator. Drivers in following cars would be able to safely read, talk on a mobile phone or perform other tasks.

DENSO DEBUTS A BETTER SPARK PLUG

Denso Corp. says its new “Twin Tip” spark plug improves a car’s fuel efficiency by 1.2%, boosts torque by 1.1% and lowers CO2 emissions by nearly 1%.

The company attributes the improvement to the shape of the electrodes and a new nickel alloy. The spark plug’s center electrode is 40% thinner than conventional nickel spark plugs, which helps improve combustion.

KIA, MICROSOFT DEBUT HANDS-FREE CONTROL TECHNOLOGY

This week Kia Motors Corp. unveiled its new UVO voice-activated control system that enables drivers to speak commands in a normal tone of voice to operate cell phones, dictate or listen to text messages and access music from multiple media sources.

Kia developed the system with Microsoft Inc. as an open platform intended to work smoothly with a broad range of consumer electronic devices. The technology uses Microsoft’s Windows Embedded Auto software to recognize speech and perform other functions. UVO includes an 11-cm color display screen that becomes a display linked to a rear-view camera when the vehicle backs up.

Kia will introduce UVO this summer in the 2011 Sorrento crossover vehicle. It will expand installations soon thereafter, and Kia owner Hyundai Motor Co. is expected to adopt similar technology soon.