Weekly auto agenda: Rally Sweden

The World Rally Championship returns next week, arriving first in Sweden. Names to watch out for include Petter Solberg and former Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen, along with new vehicles the Citroen DS3 WRC (driven by Sebastien Loeb) and the Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

Rally Sweden
February 10-13
Karlstad, Sweden

Expect a high-octane opening to the World Rally Championships season from Sweden, which boasts a heavily revised route to counter previous problems with the surface. Snow, slush and skidding are par for the course here, and Scandanavian drivers tend to come out on top. Several automakers, including Ford and Mini, will be giving new cars their first rally run at the event.
http://www.rallysweden.com/

103rd Chicago Auto Show
February 11-20
Chicago, IL, USA

The Chicago Auto Show is the longest-running in the US and also one of the largest - exhibition space spans some 121,000 square meters and over 1000 vehicles are traditionally on display. Therefore, there's plenty of room for demonstrations and the show is popular with people looking to purchase, rather than see new debuts.
http://www.chicagoautoshow.com

5th Boca Raton Concours d' Elegance
February 25-27
Boca Raton, Florida, USA

Jay Leno will be the star guest of the fifth Boca Raton Concours d' Elegance, one of the most prestigious automotive events in the US. DuPont sponsors the annual Hangar Party, a veritable who's who of car enthusiasts, while the new "Legends of Indy" exhibition celebrates 100 years of the Indianapolis 500.
http://www.bocaratonconcours.com

World Car of the Year Award Finalists Announced
March 1
Geneva, Switzerland

A shortlist of ten candidates will be whittled down to three contenders for the World Car of the Year award, which is awarded at the New York International Auto Show in April. At the same time, finalists in the World Performance Car of the Year category are announced.
http://www.wcoty.com/

81st Geneva International Motor Show
March 3-13
Geneva, Switzerland

The first major show of the year in Europe, Geneva traditionally hosts unveilings from a raft of high-profile European automakers, and manufacturers from other countries. This year's show emphasizes the environment, with a 3,000 sq. meter Green Pavilion and Green Test Drives using environmentally-friendly cars. Over 690,000 visitors attended in 2010.
http://www.salon-auto.ch