While the seasons have changed and the automotive season is spinning up for North America, the stream of news that fills spaces or causes gut-lurching reactions hasn’t stopped. We’ve trod through the stream and have managed to fish out some gems that should whet your appetite for something kinda bland and kinda bad. Here’s this week’s Scrapple:

1. Volkswagen is going to partner up with Renault-Nissan for a new truck

Pictured above is the Nissan NP300 Navara. It’s the next generation of the truck we knew as the Nissan Frontier and is meant for non-U.S. markets. Renault-Nissan has entered into an agreement with Mercedes-Benz that allows the Germans to re-engineer and re-body the Navarra platform to their liking, which is a cop-out method of creating their own mid-size pickup truck. We don’t know if M-B is going to try to sell the kitbash in the States or not yet, but nothing is off of the table…mainly because between Renault-Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn and Daimler AG’s Dr. Dieter Zetsche, there is a whole lot of vagueness about this project.

2. Ford’s Panther platform cars are being investigated for lighting failures, again

For the second time, the NHTSA is opening up an investigation into 2001-2003 Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis vehicles due to the potential failure of the front-lighting module. The prior investigation, performed between 2008-09, resulted in the NHTSA finding no need for a recall while Ford warrantied the part to 15 years/250,000 miles. The new investigation, prompted by a complaint from the North Carolina Consumers Council, was started after an investigation on NHTSA’s website located over six hundred complaints and seven crashes, and allegations that Ford dealers were claiming that replacement warranty parts weren’t available.

3. Tanner Foust got a new drift toy: a 900hp V8 Passat

A 900hp V8 powered Volkswagen Passat. A drifting, 900hp V8 powered Volkswagen Passat. Part of this is off-the-chain insane. Part of me really needs to go chew on some antacids. Oh, and the crowning point? Take a look at the V8…

Care to guess what it is? It looks familiar enough to me…

4. The new Ford Taurus will debut in China first

The current-gen Ford Taurus is essentially an extremely re-warmed 1999 Volvo S80. It’s heavy and it certainly could use an update, which it’s supposed to get next year, dropping weight and possibly becoming a stretched Fusion. But America will not be the first country to see it…instead, it’s expected to debut at the Shanghai Motor Show, where Ford hopes the sedan will keep the sales figures climbing.

5. Kia GT’s arrival seems imminent 

Kia is readying the GT, an upcoming shot across the bow packing a twin-turbo V6 and looks that, quite frankly, are pretty impressive. It’s main target is a very eye-raising one: the Maserati Ghibli. That’s pretty high up the food chain from the company that brought you the Sephia and Rio, but there’s no denying that Kia and parent company Hyundai have been making strong strides in quality and attractiveness. Technically, the car hasn’t been officially announced yet but a Kia America executive hinted that it was coming to Australia’s Drive magazine. Will it work? We’ll see.