Toyota will unveil a slew of hybrid and hybrid concepts next month at the 2012 Geneva International Motor Show. The models include a production-ready Toyota Yaris Hybrid — which isn't coming to the U.S. — and models already seen here, like the NS4 Plug-in Hybrid Concept.

A new concept at the show will be the FT-bh sedan. The model hints at a future four-door compact dedicated hybrid hatchback … maybe even the next-generation Toyota Prius? An initial sketch of the concept (shown above) shows an extreme wedge look and separated hood and front fender housings. The hood and grille seem to come to a point, and the headlights lay prostrated on top of the wheel housings. It looks like something straight out of "Tron: Evolution."

Toyota says the model is 30% more aerodynamic and spews 50% less carbon dioxide than other subcompact vehicles on the road today.

Another new release for Geneva will be the FCV-R hydrogen concept. The vehicle, which looks pretty much like the NS4 concept, can accommodate four passengers and features Toyota's latest generation of fuel-cell technology.

Despite the recent surge of interest in electric vehicles, Toyota is committed to a hydrogen future. It plans to have a practical and production-ready hydrogen vehicle for sale by 2015.

Both vehicles will be shown off to the public on March 6.

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Honda has announced it is recalling about 45,800 Odyssey EX-L and Touring minivans from the 2008 and 2009 model years because the power tailgate struts may fail.

The gas-filled struts, which help raise and support the power tailgate, may be prone to early-life failures, Honda says. If a strut fails, the tailgate may close unexpectedly under its own power, increasing the risk of injury.

Honda will start notifying affected owners in mid-March. Dealers will replace the two power tailgate struts free of charge. Owners can also visit www.recalls.honda.com to find out if their vehicles need repair or call 800-999-1009 for more info.

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently amended its child seat guidelines and now recommends that children weighing up to 80 pounds be restrained in a booster seat. Previously, the agency specified that children sit in a safety seat until age 8 or until they are 4 feet 9 inches tall.

NHTSA also announced it is adding a new child-size crash-test dummy to evaluate how higher-weight child seats perform in a crash.

Crashes are the leading cause of death among children ages 3 to 14, NHTSA says. The new dummy weighs 78 pounds and simulates the size of a 10-year-old child. It joins several siblings in the test-dummy family, including a newborn, a 12-month-old, a 3-year-old and two 6-year-olds, all with varying weights.

The child-size dummy is a long time coming; NHTSA has been developing it for more than a decade. In 2000, NHTSA worked with the Society of Automotive Engineers’ Dummy Family Task Group to develop the test subject. It first tested a prototype of the dummy in 2002.

“Our new dummy is an excellent addition to NHTSA’s extensive child seat compliance testing program and will enable the agency to gather the best data yet on the performance of higher-weight child seats,” NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said in a statement.

Although some child seats on the market are rated for the new weight, NHTSA says manufacturers will have two years to certify their higher-weight car seats and boosters to meet the new requirements.

View current child seat standards here.

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The headphones that come in cars are simply too big to fit most kids properly. My girls are constantly fussing with them, trying to get the headphones to stay propped up on their heads. This causes my daughters to inadvertently press the power button, turning off the headphones. As the driver, this causes a distraction for me as I try to figure out why the girls can't hear their movie and then try to talk them through the process of getting their headphones working again. Sound familiar?

My family and I have given up on factory-installed rear entertainment systems in part because of this problem, opting instead for the simplicity of having the kids use their own in-car entertainment (or borrow my iPad and/or iPhone).

The subsequent issue is that earbuds don't fit inside kids' ears. It's also difficult to find over-the-ear headphones sized for kids of a higher quality that cut out background noise and also limit the volume to protect their delicate eardrums.

I've been searching for a solution to this common family problem for years and have finally found it in Kidz Gear headphones.

Kidz Gear wired headphones cost $29.95 and are for use with iPad, iPhone and iPod. They fit my 9- and 11-year-old daughters perfectly, have a volume-limiting feature so they can't blast their music and also have a built-in in-line microphone, which is awesome since they love chatting away on my phone and catching up with Grandma while we're driving.

While the Kidz Gear headphones solve a problem I've been dealing with for years, they won't last my kids' entire childhoods – the headphones are made out of plastic after all. However, at their affordable price point, I can restock every few years. Just for the record, Kidz Gear, I'd be willing to fork out up to up twice the price if these same headphones were built for longevity.

Kidz Gear also has a wireless in-car headphone version for those more patient parents among us who haven't yet given up on their in-car rear entertainment systems.

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Here's what we have our eye on today:

• As prospects in the European car market continue to look grim — 2012 is expected to be another down year — there's word that GM and French carmaker Peugeot are looking into a business alliance, according to Bloomberg News. The partnership could include shared development of engines and vehicles. The plan would help bolster GM's Opel brand – which is closely aligned with Buick in the U.S. — and Peugeot and help reduce development costs. It could also allow the two carmakers to compete better against Volkswagen, which controls nearly a quarter of the European market. The alliance could be announced at the 2012 Geneva International Motor Show.
• Speaking of the Geneva show, Ford plans to unveil a concept commercial van that will look similar to the E-Series replacement for the U.S., which will be called the Transit. The Tourneo Custom Concept (pictured above) is a one-ton passenger van that, unfortunately, won't be coming to North America, Ford says. A rear-wheel-drive, two-ton Transit van — larger than this concept and with a higher payload capacity — will be revealed later this year, says the automaker.
• The parent company to Land Rover and Jaguar says it will double its annual investment in the car brands, according to Reuters. Tata Motors will start investing about $2.4 billion a year into the brands. Last year, Tata said it was planning three new Jaguar models, including an entry-level sedan. The recently released Land Rover Range Rover Evoque is currently responsible for a surge in revenue growth at Jaguar Land Rover, Reuters reports. Overall, Jaguar Land Rover accounted for about 95% of Tata Motors' profit in the last fiscal quarter.
• Struggling Mazda is looking to raise more capital in a public share offering that it hopes will bring in about $2 billion, according to Reuters. The carmaker says it may also borrow about $872 million from banks, too. The new stock offering would dilute existing shares by 69%, says Reuters. While the strong yen has hurt most Japanese automakers, Mazda (the fifth-largest automaker in Japan) has been hit the hardest, according to Reuters. Mazda makes about 70% of its vehicles in Japan, and 90% of those vehicles are exported to other markets, including the U.S. Mazda says it needs to raise money to help build factories in Mexico and Russia. The goal is to have 50% of Mazdas built outside of Japan by 2016.

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During a speech in Georgia, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich raised a lot of eyebrows when he lambasted the Volt for its inability to hold a gun rack. Chevrolet executive Selim Bingol fired back this morning via GM's new blog, called BTW:

"Newt Gingrich has taken up saying that 'You can't put a gun rack on a Volt.' That's like saying 'You can't put training wheels on a Harley.' Actually, you can. But the real question is 'Why would you?' In both examples:

It looks weird,

It doesn't work very well, and

There are better places for gun racks and training wheels — pickup trucks and little Schwinns, respectively.

Seriously, when is the last time you saw a gun rack in ANY sedan?"

During his speech, Gingrich also called the Volt an "interesting experimental car" and slammed it for being pricey. At the heart of Gingrich's message is his opposition to President Barack Obama's proposal to raise electric-car subsidies and the president's use of the auto bailout's success in his re-election campaign platform.

But experimental? Hardly. Cars.com bought a Volt last February. So far, we've put about 16,000 real-world miles on it. As far as adding a gun rack, we won't go there, but USA Today is reporting that one guy actually did. Watch both videos here:

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