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YouTube's Super Bowl commercial buzz list dominated by automakers [w/videos]

After Sunday's big game, YouTube will be the place to watch every commercial that you missed when you left your seat for an emergency guac refill or, as we say in Cleveland, took the Browns to the Super Bowl. That makes YouTube the nation's water cooler on Monday, and it's got some preliminary stats to share in the lead up to kickoff.
As you know, Super Bowl advertisers, particularly automakers, like to endlessly tease their big budget commercials in the weeks before the game, many times revealing them outright days in advance. Because of this, YouTube can tell us which commercials have been viewed the most so far, and their top five list is all automakers.
Kaley Cuoco appears to have been a good investment for Toyota, as her ad for the RAV4 has garnered the most YouTube views - six million and counting - among Super Bowl commercials so far. Second place goes to Mercedes-Benz, though not its actual Super Bowl commercial, but rather the teaser for it. You know, the one with Kate Upton and the car washing, which is up to 5.6 million views. Third place is Audi's Prom commercial (3.3M views), fourth goes to Volkswagen's slightly controversial Get In, Get Happy ad (3.3M views), and the fifth and final spot is bookended by the teaser video for Kaley Cuoco's commercial (3.2M views). You can watch all five in order below.

French probe alleges 2 million PSA cars had engine cheats

PARIS — A French investigation into alleged emissions cheating by PSA Group found that suspect software had been used on almost 2 million vehicles sold by the maker of Peugeot and Citroen cars, Le Monde reported on Friday. Paris-based PSA denies any use of fraudulent engine software, a spokesman said in response to the newspaper report, which sent PSA shares sharply lower. The stock was down 4.4 percent at 17.78 euros as of 1019 GMT. So-called "defeat devices" restrict exhaust output of toxic nitrogen oxides (NOx) under regulatory test conditions while letting emissions far exceed legal limits in real-world driving. In February, PSA became the fourth carmaker to be referred to French prosecutors by the country's DGCCRF watchdog over suspected emissions test-cheating, after Volkswagen, Renault and Fiat Chrysler. PSA's engineering chief acknowledged at the time that emissions treatment in the group's diesels was deliberately reduced at higher temperatures to improve fuel efficiency and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in out-of-town driving, where NOx output is considered less critical. According to Le Monde, an internal PSA document obtained by DGCCRF investigators includes discussion of the need to "make the 'defeat device' aspect less obvious and visible." However PSA insists there is nothing fraudulent or illegal about its engine calibrations. "PSA denies any fraud and firmly reaffirms the pertinence of its technology decisions," the company said on Friday. Reporting by Laurence FrostRelated Video: Image Credit: Getty Government/Legal Green Volkswagen Citroen Peugeot Emissions Diesel Vehicles dieselgate volkswagen diesel

Volkswagen's 261-mpg hand-built XL1 headed for Geneva

After years of rumors, development and testing, the Volkswagen XL1 is finally about to become a reality. The project that began life as a daring 1-Liter concept car in 2002, will finally get its production-ready curtain call at the Geneva Motor Show in just a few weeks.
As soon as it hits the streets, the two-seat XL1 will instantly become the most fuel-efficient and most aerodynamic production car in the world. The car uses a plug-in hybrid system to achieve mind-blowing consumption of just 0.9 liters of diesel fuel consumed every 100 kilometers (and average of roughly 261 miles per gallon). Plus, the XL1 can go up to 50 kilometers on its battery power alone. Coefficient of drag is a miniscule 0.189, thanks to a tiny frontal area and an obviously slippery shape.
XL1 power comes from a two-cylinder diesel motor connected to a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, while the 20 kW electric motor is fed by a lithium-ion battery. Both combine to give the XL1 performance figures that are, while not stirring, not shabby considering its extreme frugality: 0-62 miles per hour comes up in 12.7 seconds and top speed is nearly 146 mph.