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News watch December 2011: today's auto industry news

Welcome to CAR Magazine's news aggregator as we round up the daily stories in the auto industry. Top tip: news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hourFriday 30 December 2011• Fisker has recalled all 239 Karma plug-in hybrids manufactured between 1 July and 3 November this year to fix a glitch in its battery. Supplier A123 Systems says the problem affects the battery's cooling system, but Fisker is adamant no customers have complained and this is a precautionary step (Automotive News)• Supplier Continental says business looks brisk in the first quarter of 2012, thanks to strong demand in the US and Asia (Automotive News Europe)• Toyota chief executive Akio Toyoda is gradually changing the culture at Japan's biggest car maker, according to the Detroit News.

Concept Car of the Week: Pontiac Banshee (1964)

In 1964, the Pontiac Motor Division was headed John DeLorean, who would go on to become one of the automotive industry's most divisive figures. He believed that Pontiac needed a compact, exciting car to compete with the newly launched Mustang and approved funding for the experimental Pontiac two-seat sports-car program, codenamed XP-833. Inspired by another GM show car, the rear-engined Corvair Monza GT from 1963, the lines of the XP-833 were a perfect example of the Coke-bottle bodystyle: long hood, short deck and sweeping fender curves.

VW Beetle to get bigger seat

TThe successor to the New Beetle will arrive in 2012 with more space in the back seat and better packaging, said Stefan Jacoby, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America. Speaking at a press event in Germany, he also said the next generation of the Beetle will be "more of a halo car" for the Volkswagen brand. And Jacoby said he expects the next Beetle to achieve higher sales.