A roundup of motoring news from the web:

■ General Motors said Tuesday that the 2015 Chevrolet Corvette equipped with a new 8-speed automatic transmission would get 29 miles per gallon on the highway, becoming the most fuel-efficient Corvette. The new transmission is the same size as the outgoing 6-speed, but G.M. said its engineers moved electronic control components outside the unit to save space. (Automotive News, subscription required)

■ John Mendel, executive vice president of sales for American Honda, says the automaker will stay conservative with its sales strategy. That means spending on incentives will be kept low, and fleet sales for Honda will stay below 10 percent. Mr. Mendel also said that Honda would not offer long-term financing for its cars, calling the practice risky. “We will miss out on those customers if we have to,” he told reporters Tuesday. (The Detroit Free Press)

■ Growth in China, the world’s largest automotive market, and a slight uptick in European sales gave Volvo some welcome good news as sales in the United States remain weak. Volvo, which is based in Sweden and owned by a Chinese holding company, saw sales rise by nearly 10 percent in the first seven months of 2014, Hakan Samuelsson, the company’s chief executive, told Reuters this week. Volvo’s growth had been forecast at only about 5 percent. (Reuters)

■ Sonic Automotive, which owns a sizable network of automotive dealerships, announced this week that it would open a chain of used car stores, with hopes of competing with Carmax, another preowned vehicle sales chain. The stores, which will be set up along the lines of Carmax’s business model, will be called EchoPark. The first one is scheduled to open in Denver this fall. (The Wall Street Journal, subscription required)