Toyota ended 2010 as the world's largest automaker despite suffering a series of recalls and safety issues.

Toyota overtook General Motors in terms of total vehicle sales in 2008, after GM had held top spot for nearly 80 years.

Toyota’s reputation for quality has suffered since, as it recalled over 10 million vehicles around the world for issues ranging from faulty floor mats to computer software faults. It hung onto to its #1 position however, with 2010 sales of 8.42 million vehicles, against GM’s 8.39 million.

Permission has been granted for construction of the final nine kilometres of the Corrib Gas Pipeline in Ireland.

The final stretch of the pipeline will bring gas onshore from the Corrib Gas Field, located 83 kilometres off Ireland’s north-west coast. The onshore section of pipeline will be underground along its entire route, linking the end of the offshore pipeline at Glengad to the gas terminal at Bellanaboy, County Mayo.

Permission was granted by Ireland’s planning board, An Bord Pleanála.

Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways has expressed “top level interest” in the UK airline Virgin Atlantic, according to reports.

According to the Sunday Times newspaper, the chief executive of Etihad has written to Deutsche Bank, who Virgin Atlantic hired last year to examine the aviation market and identify growth opportunities, to express his interest in acquiring the airline.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad has so far refused to comment on the reports.

A two-day conference is being held in Michigan this week, focusing on global corporate responsibility issues, including raw material transparency, due diligence, ethics and compliance, and effective communication.

The Road to Corporate Responsibility conference will be held on Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26 January at the Management Education Center, 811 W. Square Lake Road, Troy, Michigan.

CleanTech Innovations, Inc announced today that it has signed two initial wind tower supply contracts totaling $11 million with a subsidiary of China HuaNeng Group, the largest energy company in China. The wind towers will be supplied to HuaNeng later this year.

"These two recent contracts represent approximately 50% of our entire 2010 revenues,” said Bei Lu, chairman & CEO of CleanTech. “The new contracts are critical to meeting our 2011 revenue targets in a favorable market environment.”

Petra Diamonds has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the Finsch diamond mine in South Africa from De Beers.

Finsch is one of the world’s major diamond mines and South Africa’s second largest diamond mine by production. Petra said its acquisition marked a continuation of the company’s strategy to build a world-class diamond mining group.

Finsch will become Petra’s second major mine producing over one million carats per annum (mctpa), and will become its eighth producing diamond mine.

Perrigo Company announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of Paddock Laboratories, Inc., a privately-held, Minneapolis-based manufacturer and marketer of generic pharmaceutical products, for approximately $540 million in cash.

Spain’s biggest power utility, Iberdrola, is set to acquire Brazil’s Elektro for €2.4 billion in a move designed to expand its presence in growing markets.

The purchase of Elektro, a distribution company which serves 2.2 million clients in Sao Paulo state, will turn Iberdrola into one of the leading operators in Brazil’s electricity sector. It will also complement the company’s existing presence in north-eastern Brazil.

The global market for coatings is forecast to reach almost $100 billion by 2015, according to research by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. (GIA).

The new GIA report, Coatings: A Global Strategic Business Report, predicts that the market will expand to $98.69 billion in the next five years, led by rapid industrialization, economic activity and vibrant demand from automotive and construction sectors in developing countries.

Honeywell announced today that it would turbocharge the new Chevrolet Sonic unveiled this week at the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

The Sonic launch expands the number of new smaller, turbocharged gas engines introduced into the US auto market to boost fuel economy without sacrificing performance.