Wheelies: The Flagship-Rising Edition - NYTimes.com Kia has teased a full-size rear-wheel-drive luxury sedan said to presage its worldwide flagship. The model, internally known as KH, is scheduled to be introduced in South Korea in coming months, with introductions in other markets to follow. Hyundai, Kia's corporate sibling, brought out its Equus sedan in South Korea before bringing it to the United States in 2010. Kia The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into roughly 310,000 Chevrolet TrailBlazers from the 2006-7 model years after receiving reports that the driver's doors caught fire. A problem with the power window master switch was suspected to be the cause of the fires, which occurred both when the vehicles were in motion and when they were parked with the ignition off. Last week, N.H.T.S.A. began a probe into 830,000 Toyota Camry and RAV4 models for a similar condition. The Associated Press, via The Detroit News N.H.T.S.A. has levied a $3 million civil penalty against BMW for failing to promptly alert the safety agency of its plans to recall nearly 340,000 vehicles in 2010. The automaker was given 30 days to pay the fine. It was the largest penalty levied against a car company since the record $16.4 million fine paid by Toyota Motor Company in 2010, the maximum allowed, over a recall of sticking accelerator pedals on 2.3 million vehicles. Michael Macht, the head of manufacturing for Volkswagen Group, said in an interview with Automotive News Europe that the conglomerate would select a location for its Audi production facility in North America this summer. Audi, which sold 117,561 cars in the United States last year, has committed to selling 200,000 units in the country by 2018. The luxury automaker has not commented on the model or models that the plant would produce. As Brad Spurgeon wrote at the Formula One blog, racing teams gave the 2012 campaign cars their inaugural winter shakedown in Jerez, Spain, late last week. Some of the fastest times on the circuit, however, came from Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, of the Mercedes factory team, driving cars from the 2011 season. The 2012 Lotus cars performed well, setting the fastest times of the new cars on the first day. But the Jerez tests concluded Feb. 10 with Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso posting the fastest run of the day among drivers in new cars. The season begins March 18 with the Australian Grand Prix. Formula One blog