UPDATE 1-Ford investing $500 mln in China engine plant (16/06/11)

Ford has said it has begun building a $500 million engine plant in Chongqing with its Chinese joint venture partner.

It is part of a drive to boost car sales in China that is designed to spearhead the goal of a 50 per cent increase in deliveries globally over the next few years.

Ford said the plant will double the Changan Ford Mazda Automobile venture's engine capacity to 750,000 per year when it opens in 2013.

Volkswagen, BMW Lead Europe Car Sales Recovery in May on German Demand (17/06/11)

Volkswagen and BMW led a recovery in European car sales in May as registrations rose 7.6 per cent from a year earlier to 1.25 million, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association.

Germany and France led the surge, where deliveries rose by 22 per cent and 6.1 per cent respectively.

VW group saw its European market share rise to 23.9 percent, while BMW sales increased 22 per cent.

Ford and GM sales also rose, both Toyota and Renault posted declines in new vehicle deliveries.

"The European market shows signs of recovery," said Fiat SpA head of sales Andrea Formica. "It's still a two-speed market. Germany and France are growing, while Italy, Spain and Greece are still facing difficulties."

Toyota, Honda to hire contract workers to up production (21/06/11)

Japanese car firms are taking on thousands of extra contract workers to boost production following disruptions caused by March's earthquake and tsunami.

Following a 75 per cent drop in production in April, Toyota will hire 4,000 people, while Honda is to take on an additional 1,000 contract workers.

Carmakers in the country expect production levels to return to close to normal by July.

Toyota spokesman Dion Corbett said the company estimates to suffer 450,000 units of lost production for the fiscal year ending March 2012.

This is in addition to the 220,000 units lost around the world between the March 11th disaster and the end that month.

Ford India to focus on cars based on diesel platforms (29/06/11)

Ford India is turning its attention to diesel engine models as a result of the soaring cost of petrol.

Nigel Wark, Ford India executive director, said the company plans eight product launches by the middle of the decade.

"The upcoming products will be mainly on the diesel platform. This has created a lot of stress to manufacture diesel cars," he added.

BMW Boosts U.S. Luxury Sales After Losing to Lexus for 13 Years (02/07/11)

BMW outsold Mercedes-Benz in the US during June off the back of deliveries of its 5 Series saloon.

The Munich-based automaker also looks set to outsell rival luxury brand Lexus in 2011 for the first time in 13 years.

Both BMW and Mercedes registered a 13 per cent rise in deliveries in June, while those for Toyota's Lexus models fell 38 per cent as it continues to be affected by March's earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

BMW expects sales to be further boosted by its X3 sport-utility vehicle and four-wheel drive version of the 5 Series, the 528i xDrive.

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