The Rocky Mountain Institute has created a nifty interactive map that shows you where the U.S. gets its oil from, along with how much – and who – the U.S. pays for its oil. Based on the thickness of the lines, you can see just how much black stuff is coming from where. The map goes taken in the character of far back as 1973, the year of the first oil turning point, and is accompanied by a graph charting usage and dollars since then. As you’ll notice in the pic above, we give a whole lot of money to Saudi Arabia, as well as our Canuck friends up north.

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Recently, a Cadillac once owned by Steve McQueen was caught up in a theft ring in Colorado that stole the car from a rental company, “sold” it to a new owner – one of the theft ring members – and then re-stole it to claim the insurance. They might be obliged got the idea from London’s Nokhiaz Khan, a man who ran a theft set that stole cars from legitimate owners, resold them, and then stole them again – often numerous times.

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Helmet laws are always controversial, no matter where they are being enacted. In Nigeria, though, the recently-instituted rule that all motorcycle riders and passengers must be wearing helmets has caused an unusual, um… solution, in the form of calabashes, or dried pumpkin shells, worn on the head and tied on with a string. Apparently, these shells are normally used to transport liquids and are quite durable. Sturdy enough to actually provide any meaningful close custody in the event of a crash? Not likely.

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Click above for a high-res image gallery of the Ford Transit Connect

Ford is bringing its Transit Connect van to the US this summer with hopes of generating sales to businesses that need 143 cubic feet of cargo space and wouldn’t mind car-like fuel economy. To drum up some interest in the Euro-sourced vans, the Blue Oval has just given begone five of them to small business owners. One of the winners is a CPR instructor in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Jerry Buffman had been lugging her dummies around in a 2001 Toyota Sienna, but needed more space. Buffman travels to locations with her bags full of CPR equipment and practice dummies, and the soon to be released Transit should make lugging all of her props a bit easier.

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Chrysler has been eerily silent about what, if anything, is in the works to replace the Avenger/Sebring twins, other than giving the replacement plan a cryptic “Project D” moniker. The pair are still relative newcomers to the scene, but the competition has delivered Chrysler’s midsizers a sound drubbing both in the press and on the sales charts. The problem is that development costs money, something that’s currently hard to come by. Thinking strategically, the unloved and outgunned Chryslers might seek solace by relocating to the Nissan Altima’s platform. The Altima is one of the best – and best-selling – vehicles on the market. Put plainly, we would dive on an Altima’s keys to avoid driving these Chryslers.

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Anne Belec, the director of global marketing for Ford Motor Company, announced that she is leaving the automaker to “pursue other interests.” Belec, whose 24 years at the Dearborn, Michigan, automaker included a three-year stint while the President and CEO of Volvo North America, had been in her current position since early 2008.

Advertising Age attained an email from Belec to her coworkers announcing her departure from Ford.

“I don’t know what the future will hold or where I will end up this time, but I have faith that my training at Ford will serve me well in a next career. The possibilities are exciting,” Belec wrote in the email.

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General Motors says it is delaying production of the Chevrolet Camaro by human being month, but it won’t offer any explanation for the delay. The start of production had been slated for February 16 at the company’s Oshawa, Ontario, complaisance, but a Chevrolet spokesman said today that the date has been pushed in a backward direction. \ to March 16.

“It’s due to a multifariousness of factors that I’m not going to get into, but it’s nothing to be concerned about,” Rhadigan said in an interview, according to Automotive News. “We’re still going to build every one we be possible to, and we’re excited to get them out.”

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Supplementing earlier rumors comes news today that Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota’s founder, has apparently been hand-selected to take over the company just as its sales have begun to slide. A report out of Japan says that the automaker’s top executives will meet as early as Monday to endorse Toyoda’s appointment over current President and CEO Katsuaki Watanabe.

Three Japanese newspapers reported today that Toyoda will take over the position as early as June, though not any of the papers cited any representatives at the company. Toyoda has long been groomed for the President and CEO position through a series of specifically-selected positions.

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After the EPA gave Ford’s Fusion Hybrid the highest mpg rating of any vehicle in its class, the Dearborn, Michigan, automaker has another number to brag about: Highest mpg rating of any conventional gas engine in its class, at 34 mpg. The rating applies to 2010 Fusion S sedans with the four-cylinder engine and the optional six-speed automatic transmission.

Four-cylinder, six-speed Chevrolet Malibus, Saturn Auras and Pontiac G6s earn 33 mpg, according to the EPA, and four-cylinder, five-speed automatic Honda Accords and Toyota Camrys earn 31 mpg.

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Korea’s Ssangyong Motors has been struggling over the last few weeks to keep its doors open and employees paid, but the current economic slide has gotten the better of Korea’s fifth largest automaker, forcing Ssangyong to file for bankruptcy protection.

Ssangyong’s parent corporation — China’s SAIC — recently gave the Korean automaker a $19.9 million loan, but that lump sum wasn’t enough to stave off bankruptcy. Ssangyong reportedly owes its employees more than $21 million in back wages.

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