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Watch these Super Bowl car commercials [UPDATE]

On Sunday, February 3, the New England Patriots take on the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl 53 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. Some will watch because of the storyline of the old-school dynasty facing off against the new-school wunderkinds, but a large chunk of people will solely be watching for the commercials. Lucky for those who slot into the latter category, many of the manufacturers release their super bowl ads ahead of time, or have simply opted to release the commercials only online. Scroll down to see what car companies have already shown their cards. Audi Audi goes the comedic route in its clip for the Big Game. It starts with a grandpa showing his grandson a gorgeous Audi e-tron GT tucked away in a garage before he's shaken awake. Turns out he was just choking on a cashew in his cubicle at his boring job. Dodge Dodge does what it knows: create enough smoke to punch more holes in the ozone layer. Set to "The Devil Went Down to Georgia (the Super Bowl is in Atlanta, get it!?), a Challenger SRT Hellcat widebody, Charger SRT Hellcat, and Durango SRT are seen ripping through a city, leaving a trail of rubber crumbs in their wakes. Genesis Genesis has not yet released a commercial prior to the Super Bowl, but it is the official luxury vehicle of the NFL. Because of this, Genesis is hosting a fan experience for 10 days before the game. It will showcase the brand's cars, offer games, and have photos opportunities and autograph days. Hyundai Jason Bateman alert! Hyundai is one of the few companies to hook a major celebrity for its advertisement, and the casting is perfect. Bateman plays a doorman who takes people to various terrible events in life, including root canals, the middle seat, and shopping for a car. The ad centers around Hyundai's Shopper Assurance, which is Hyundai's new method for car shopping. Jeep An old 1963 Jeep Gladiator finds its strength in the crusher and transforms into a a new 2020 Gladiator, with a firm declaration that the nameplate is officially back. Kia Through Kia's commercial, a young boy wonders out loud what it'd be like if the millions spent on Super Bowl commercials were used to help others.

Semi-autonomous Nissan Leaf certified for road use in Japan [w/video]

In order to meet its goal of having an autonomous car in production by 2020, Nissan is going to have be able to test its technology in real-world driving conditions. For this, the automaker has just received a license plate to legally test its semi-autonomous driver assist systems in Japan, marking the first time such technologies have been tested on that country's roads. Not ironically, the license plate number is 2020.
Though not fully autonomous, this Leaf prototype will test various components of a self-driving car including exiting the highway, the ability to stay in its lane and change lanes when needed, stopping at red lights and overtaking stopped or slow traffic. Nissan is also in the process of building a proving ground in Oppama, Japan dedicated solely to autonomous cars, but the ability to test on public roads will obviously play a crucial role in the development of these cars. Scroll down for a short video and press release Nissan posted to mark the occasion.

Datsun's lackluster initial sales fall below Tata Nano

When Tata introduced the Nano back in 2008, everyone was amazed at how cheap it was. They called it a game changer, but no game was changed. In fact, it took Tata five years to sell the 250,000 units it had the capacity to build in a single year. As it turns out, even buyers in what economists call "developing markets" like India aren't necessarily interested in buying an ultra-cheap automobile. And now it appears that Nissan may be falling into the same trap.
A little over a year ago, Nissan revived its old moniker Datsun to serve as a budget brand - similar to what ally Renault did with Dacia. Its lineup (consisting of models like the Go hatchback, Go+ minivan, On-Do sedan and Mi-Do hatch) is largely based on old architecture, packaged with little more than basic equipment and sold at rock-bottom prices. But Bloomberg reports that, even in the brand's core markets like India and Indonesia, the new Datsuns haven't been selling.
According to local industry figures, Datsun has sold fewer than 10,000 units of its $5,100 Go hatchbacks in India since its introduction back in March. Maruti Suzuki, by comparison, sells twice that many of its similarly priced Alto hatchbacks every month. In fact, after peaking in April, Datsun only sold 607 units in India this past July, dipping 77 percent to drop below even the number of Nanos which Tata sold that month.