Spain will get another major investment from a carmaker

The German company Volkswagen said last week it would invest around 785 million euros ($1 billion) in a plant in northern Spain over the next five years, making it the third company in recent months that announced a major investment in that country with severe economy problems.

First it was Ford that said they were going to move production from their Belgium factory to Spain, then Renault announced it was hiring 1.300 new people, but just last week Nissan canceled the plans to expand production of a new model in Spain because they didn't reach an agreement with union workers adding that Spain was losing 4.000 jobs and an investment of 130 million euros.

The Volkswagen plant is in Pamplona in the region of Navarra, can produce up to 1.400 vehicles every day and provides work for 4.600 people, so this was good news for the struggling country. But the Spanish government boasted that these investments happen because "they are the result of a labour market reform that makes the country more competitive for businesses and also makes it cheaper for companies to hire and fire employees.".

I am not sure if its a good thing to make it cheaper to fire people but it seems that's what the companies want.

Source: reuters

Read More

Is this a Hyundai truck testing in Scandinavia?

According to the German website, Verkehrsrundschau, Hyundai is testing their new truck near the arctic circle, meaning that the Korean company might bring their heavy trucks to the old continent. When questioned about that the company refused to comment.

What we do know is that a few years ago Hyundai sold the the HD in several European countries and promised to bring more models, and with the Euro6 standards soon to be forced on every manufacturer and the hard European market, Hyundai doesn't have an easy task at hands, so they better keep getting that truck until everything is flawless.

Source: verkehrsrundschau

Read More

Nissan confirms Nismo version of the Leaf

Shoichi Miyatani, President of Nissan Motorsport International Limited (Nismo) said to Autocar that the Leaf Nismo, which was recently introduced at the Tokyo Auto Salon, will enter production in Japan this summer, and depending on how it performs it may also be sold in Europe and/or in the United States of America.

While this version doesn't have any mechanical upgrades, meaning the power is the same over the regular version, with 107hp (80kW), 280Nm (210ft/lb), a top speed of 145km/h (90mph) and a range of 175km (108miles), it includes several aesthetic improvements, like the aerodynamic body kit taken from the Leaf RC concept, new alloy wheels and a lightly redesigned interior.

Miyatani also said that the Leaf RC "race car", which was introduced at the New York Motor Show in 2011 for a one-make race series, won't really happen after all.

Source: autocar

Read More

Citroen C5 facelift revelead in China

Another facelift revealed in China, something normal nowadays. This time we have here the Chinese face lifted Citroen C5 that now has LED taillights and a different grille with more chrome accents, which i find pretty ugly. I don't know if this will be available in Europe or not.

On the inside have a larger LCD screen for the navigation and infotainment system, while the rest remains practically unchanged from the previous model. The engines also remain the same from the last year model.

Source: autohome

Read More

McLaren previews the P1 in a Video

Click here for the production version

The successor to the legendary F1 supercar will be named the P1 and has been shown in the Paris Motor Show in September 2012, but one thing is the look of the car another is how it drives, and the people at McLaren are hard at work on that aspect, so to prove that they released this video featuring the new supercar in a "relentless testing program".

Even if the new car still has some camouflage it doesn't look any different from what we have seen. The somewhat weird lines are a proof that form follows function. Rumors point to an V8 twin-turbocharged engine with 3.8liters and around 800hp, meaning it will be fast. Probably even faster thanks to the use of carbon fiber to keep the weight down.

The production version should be introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in March with sales starting in the summer. Only 500 will be built for a price of over €750.000 ($1.000.000).

Read More