Nationally, the average price was $2.642 a gallon, down 4.9 cents over the previous week.

At this time last year, the average cost per gallon was $4.573 in California and $4.095 nationally.

"They go up like a rocket and come down like they are on a parachute," said mechanic Lloyd Haines as he filled up on $2.85-a-gallon gas at a Chevron station on his way to work Monday morning.

The 'AluFrame' trolleys were designed to perfectly fit into the luggage compartment of the Gran Turismo, as well as of all the other Porsche models.

The hard shell luggage pieces are made from a combination of aluminium and polycarbonate, which offers a light and stable structure. There are three models in various sizes, which are available in the original Porsche exterior colors, so that they match your car.

The series is manufactured in Germany and features a safety lock system incorporated into the aluminium frame and adjustable dividers with an inner compartment for better convenience when packing. The 'AluFrame' M and XL sizes are equipped with an aluminium handle integrated into the case, for better handling. Moreover, all the trolleys carry the Porsche signature.

The concession means consumers who are injured in car accidents after GM emerges from bankruptcy protection will be able to bring product-liability claims against the government-owned auto maker. Under GM's original bankruptcy plan, the auto maker planned to leave such liabilities behind after selling its "good" assets to a new GM owned by the government. That meant future car-accident victims who believe that faulty manufacturing by the old GM caused their injuries would be unable to sue the new GM. Instead, they would have been treated as unsecured creditors, fighting over the remains of GM's old bankruptcy estate.

GM's agreement to take responsibility for future product-liability claims, outlined in a court filing late Friday, represents a partial victory for more than a dozen state attorneys general and several consumer-advocacy groups. They had objected to GM's original plan to shed these liabilities, arguing it would rob future car-accident victims of their legal rights because they would have no way of knowing they might be entitled to claims.

GM advisers, members of President Barack Obama's auto task force and the attorneys general negotiated for several days to address concerns about product-liability claims, among other issues. The talks heated up Friday ahead of GM's Tuesday court date, when it will ask a judge to approve the auto maker's plan to create a new GM by selling its desirable assets to the government.

In Europe, where nearly a dozen European countries have clunker programs, the details vary. But generally, the programs require only that the vehicle being turned in is old. In Germany, eligible cars have to be at least nine years old, and the subsidy covers the purchase of any new car, regardless of its size or fuel efficiency. The American program, by contrast, is far more complicated. To qualify, consumers must turn in a vehicle that is no more than 25 years old and has a combined city and highway fuel economy rating of no more than 18 miles per gallon, as calculated by the Environmental Protection Agency. The E.P.A. lists vehicles' ratings at the Web site FuelEconomy.gov.

The old vehicle must be drivable, and it must have been insured by and registered to the same person for at least the last year, preventing shoppers from buying an old car and flipping it to get a discount on a new vehicle. The credit cannot be applied toward a used vehicle or toward new vehicles that cost more than $45,000.

To get the full $4,500 credit, consumers must buy either a new truck or sport utility vehicle that is rated at least five miles per gallon higher than the scrapped vehicle or a passenger car that is rated at least 10 miles per gallon higher than the scrapped vehicle. Because the old vehicle will be destroyed, the credit is given instead of the regular trade-in value — not in addition to it — though some dealers might compensate customers for the vehicle’s scrap value. The rules mean that the owner of a 2003 Chevrolet Trailblazer, which qualifies because it gets about 16 miles per gallon, would get nearly $2,000 less under the program than by making a normal trade-in. Conversely, a 1992 Honda Civic, which is worth only a few hundred dollars, does not qualify because its gas mileage is too high.

"It has to be worth not very much and it also has to get very poor E.P.A. fuel economy," said Jack R. Nerad, the executive editorial director and market analyst for Kelley Blue Book. "It's a fairly narrow profile. You're talking about people who are probably economically challenged to begin with and they have to be able to qualify for a new car purchase in the midst of a deep recession. Those are some difficult parameters."

Global sales at the German carmaker declined 28% to 53,635 vehicles between August 2008 and the end of April, compared with a year earlier.

On a financial basis, its sales fell 15% to 4.6bn euros ($6.4bn; £3.9bn).

The figures do not include those of Volkswagen (VW), in which Porsche increased its stake to 51% in January.

Saab's new owner, Koenigsegg, founded in 1994 by Christian von Koenigsegg, makes the CCXR, a $1.2-million car that produces 1,018 horsepower, as well as the CCX, which has topped 240 mph. Together, the carmaker and its founder will control nearly two-thirds of Saab, with the rest held by Norwegian and U.S. investors.

The purchase is something of a David and Golaith story: Koenigsegg has just 45 employees, compared with 3,400 at Saab, and Von Koenigsegg, at 37 years old, has no experience running an international manufacturing, marking and distribution business.

A price was not disclosed, although GM said the acquisition would be bolstered by $600 million in financing from the European Investment Bank, backed by the government of Sweden. GM said it would provide additional support to help Koenigsegg take over Saab and complete work on vehicles in development.

1. New York
2. Dallas/Fort Worth
3. Detroit
4. Atlanta
5. Minneapolis/St. Paul

1. Portland, Ore.
2. Cleveland
3. Baltimore
4. Sacramento
5. Pittsburgh

President Barack Obama has encouraged Congress to approve consumer incentives for new car purchases as part of the government's work to restructure General Motors and Chrysler. The House approved the bill 298-119. Supporters pushed for the measure to stimulate car sales and increase the fleet of fuel-efficient vehicles on the nation's highways. The auto industry has sought the incentives after months of poor auto sales. In May, overall sales were 34 percent lower than a year ago.

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Under the House bill, dealers participating in the program would receive an electronic government voucher for the trade-in to apply to the purchase or lease of a qualifying vehicle. The old vehicle would be disposed of rather than resold. Car owners could get a voucher worth $3,500 if they traded in a vehicle getting 18 miles per gallon or less for one getting at least 22 miles per gallon. The value of the voucher would grow to $4,500 if the mileage of the new car is 10 mpg higher than the old vehicle. The miles per gallon figures are listed on the window sticker.

Owners of sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks or minivans that get 18 mpg or less could receive a voucher for $3,500 if their new truck or SUV is at least 2 mpg higher than their old vehicle. The voucher would increase to $4,500 if the mileage of the new truck or SUV is at least 5 mpg higher than the older vehicle.

Gas prices have risen 41 days in a row, to a national average of almost $2.62 a gallon. That is a sharp increase from the low of $1.62 a gallon that prevailed at the end of last year.

Refinery problems are producing especially high prices in the Midwest, a region that was already reeling from the economic crisis. Michigan, the state with the highest unemployment rate, at 12.9 percent, is now paying the highest gasoline prices, averaging $2.93 a gallon.

The national jump in prices, far larger than the normal seasonal increase, is pulling billions of dollars from the pockets of drivers. It threatens to curtail a modest recovery in consumer spending on items like apparel and electronics.

After increasing 62 percent since December, the price of gasoline is actually lagging behind the increase in the price of oil, which has doubled in the same period, to more than $68 in recent days.

The serious poses are urged by DMVs that have installed high-tech software that compares a new license photo with others that have already been shot. When a new photo seems to match an existing one, the software sends alarms that someone may be trying to assume another driver's identity.

But there's a wrinkle in the technology: a person's grin. Face-recognition software can fail to match two photos of the same person if facial expressions differ in each photo, says Carnegie Mellon University robotics professor Takeo Kanade.

Dull expressions "make the comparison process more accurate," says Karen Chappell, deputy commissioner of the Virginia DMV, whose no-smile policy took effect in March.

A total of 31 states do computerized matching of driver's license photos and three others are considering it, says the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. Most say their software matches faces regardless of expressions. "People can smile here in Pennsylvania," state Transportation Department spokesman Craig Yetter says.

The deal gives Penske the rights to the 19-year old brand including its five different models. GM would continue production of only the three highest-selling models: the Aura sedan, and the Vue and Outlook cross-over SUVs, for the next two years. The Saturn Sky and Astra models will be discontinued.

Penske, which has no Saturn dealerships in its network, will act only as a distributor for Saturn cars and parts to the brand's dealer network. Like almost all car dealerships in the U.S., Saturn dealerships are independently owned businesses.

Penske has no plans to open any Saturn dealerships, said Anthony Pordon, senior vice president at Penske Automotive.

"We will be investing in the HUMMER brand and its research and development capabilities, which will allow HUMMER to better meet demand for new products such as more fuel-efficient vehicles in the U.S.," Tengzhong CEO Yang Yi said in a prepared statement.

The Hummer headquarters and operations will remain in the U.S., and executives plan to expand the dealer network globally --including new and underserved Chinese markets.

"With Tengzhong's investment and strong support, we will be able to make our visions a reality," Hummer CEO James Taylor said in a prepared statement.

Based in the Chinese province of Sichuan, Tengzhong is a privately-owned company that makes road, construction and energy industry equipment. It said it was looking to grow Hummer both in the U.S. and overseas markets, particularly China.

Hummer "is synonymous with adventure, freedom and exhilaration, and we plan to continue that heritage by investing in the business," Yang Yi, chief executive of Tengzhong, said in a statement.

He said Tengzhong plans to invest in research and development to produce Hummer-branded products such as more fuel-efficient vehicles for the U.S. market.

In recent years Americans appeared to be hooked on it and took advantage of home equity loans, easy credit and cheap short-term lease deals to send new-car sales to levels of more than 17 million a year. Now the market has collapsed by 46 percent to below 10 million, as people are making do with the cars they have, leaving the industry to debate — and worry — about what the new normal will be once the recession ends.

Some say the downturn is temporary and that sales will spring back in a few years. Others believe Americans will rethink whether they need so many cars, particularly new ones. The answer will be important to the Obama administration as it prepares to put G.M. into bankruptcy on Monday. After the company emerges from bankruptcy, the federal government will own about 70 percent of it, in return for $50 billion in taxpayer aid. G.M. has already received about $20 billion in federal help.

The Treasury Department’s advisers, who initially expected auto sales to pick up late next year, now foresee no jump in demand this year or in 2010. And even five years out, they expect annual sales to be about 15 million, still well below the peaks of this decade.

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Donald Grimes, an economist at the University of Michigan, is forecasting the lowest sales for the driving-age population this year since 1970. From 1970 to 2001, there were 0.76 vehicles sold per driver in the United States. Now that figure has dropped to 0.4 vehicles per driver, and he does not see much of a rebound in coming years. The swift decline has spooked the industry. "I don't think there has ever been a period in our history like this," Josephine Cooper, Toyota’s group vice president for government and industry affairs, said of her company, which lost $7.1 billion in the first three months of the year. "It is very, very sobering."