Briefs

Toyota to expand production at US plant

BUFFALO, W Va (AP): Carmaker Toyota is planning a US$64-million investment in its Buffalo plant to expand production of six-speed automatic transmissions.

Toyota representatives and state and federal officials announced the investment Friday.

United States Senator Jay Rockefeller says the expansion will create 40 jobs.

Toyota's 2-million-square-foot Buffalo site currently employs 1,100 people, and produces parts for several Toyota and Lexus-brand vehicles.
_____________________


Hyundai breaks ground in Brazil

SAO PAULO (AP):South Korean automaker Hyundai has begun building its seventh overseas plant in southeastern Brazil.

Hyundai Motor Company says in a statement that production at its US$600 million plant in the city of Piracicaba will begin in the second half of 2012, and will eventually reach a capacity of 150,000 units a year.

The groundbreaking ceremony took place Friday.

The statement says that the first model to be produced will be a small hatchback designed for the Central and South American markets. All cars will be flex-fuel models that can run on ethanol, gasolene or any combination of the two.

Hyundai has plants in China, India, Turkey, the United States, the Czech Republic and Russia.
_____________________

Auto sales up in China

SHANGHAI (AP): A Chinese auto industry group says passenger car sales by manufacturers rose 16 per cent in January from a year earlier as dealers restocked following a year-end buying spree.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Friday that sales of passenger cars hit a record of 1.5 million last month, also rising 16.8 per cent from the month before.

It said the strong shipments to fill showrooms depleted by surging sales late last year helped manufacturers to "digest inventory". But sales growth is forecast to weaken in coming months due to the expiration of subsidies and tax incentives.
___________________

Volvo eyes Far East

SHANGHAI (AP): Chinese officials say Volvo Car Corp plans a manufacturing base in the western Chinese city of Chengdu as it aims for expansion in the world's biggest auto market following its buyout by independent automaker Geely.

An official with the city's Automotive Industry Investment Bureau confirmed a report Tuesday that the Swedish carmaker has chosen Chengdu as a manufacturing base, but would not give further details.

The Volvo factory reportedly will be focused on making compact and economy cars on a large scale. Shanghai and the northern city of Daqing also had been vying for new Volvo factories following the acquisition last year by Geely.

Volvo plans a news conference to announce its strategy in China later this week in Beijing, the Chengdu Overseas Media Service, a local, non-governmental media group, reported, citing officials from the city's trade-development zone.

______________________

Toyota to expand production at US plant

BUFFALO, W Va (AP): Carmaker Toyota is planning a US$64-million investment in its Buffalo plant to expand production of six-speed automatic transmissions.

Toyota representatives and state and federal officials announced the investment Friday.

United States Senator Jay Rockefeller says the expansion will create 40 jobs.

Toyota's 2-million-square-foot Buffalo site currently employs 1,100 people, and produces parts for several Toyota and Lexus-brand vehicles.

_______________________

Hyundai breaks ground in Brazil

SAO PAULO (AP): South Korean automaker Hyundai has begun building its seventh overseas plant in southeastern Brazil.

Hyundai Motor Company says in a statement that production at its US$600 million plant in the city of Piracicaba will begin in the second half of 2012, and will eventually reach a capacity of 150,000 units a year.

The groundbreaking ceremony took place Friday.

The statement says that the first model to be produced will be a small hatchback designed for the Central and South American markets. All cars will be flex-fuel models that can run on ethanol, gasolene or any combination of the two.

Hyundai has plants in China, India, Turkey, the United States, the Czech Republic and Russia.

_________________________

Toyota recalls 2.17 million vehicles

WASHINGTON (AP): Toyota Motor Corp recalled 2.17 million vehicles in the United States (US) on Thursday to address accelerator pedals that could become entrapped in floor mats or jammed in driver's side carpeting, prompting federal regulators to close its investigation into the embattled Japanese automaker.

The Transportation Department said it had reviewed more than 400,000 pages of Toyota documents to determine whether the scope of the company's recalls for pedal entrapment was sufficient.

"As a result of the agency's review, [the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)] asked Toyota to recall these additional vehicles, and now that the company has done so, our investigation is closed," said NHTSA administrator David Strickland.

Toyota has now recalled more than 14 million vehicles globally to fix gas pedals and other safety problems since 2009. US regulators said earlier this month that electronic flaws were not to blame for reports of sudden, unintended acceleration. The company paid the US government a record US$48.8 million in fines for its handling of three recalls.

____________________________

GM posts profits

DETROIT (AP): In a remarkable financial U-turn, once-bankrupt General Motors recorded its first profitable year since 2004 and is tantalisingly close to reclaiming its title as the world's No. 1 automaker.

The company faces a bumpy road ahead: Gas prices are rising, GM has only a few new models and its European operations are still losing money.

Still, the automaker's US$4.7 billion profit for 2010 was impressive, especially considering where it has been. The company lost more than US$80 billion in the five years before its bankruptcy and needed a government bailout to survive. It emerged in the summer of 2009 cleansed of huge debt and costly labour contracts, returned to the stock market in November, and managed to make money even with auto sales near historic lows.
_______________________

Russian plant to make VW

PRAGUE (AP): German car manufacturer Volkswagen AG has signed a deal with Russian automaker GAZ to make its Volkswagen and Skoda brands in Russia.

Skoda Auto AS, said that according to a "memorandum of understanding" signed by Volkswagen Group Rus, the cars will be made in a GAZ plant in Nizhny Novgorod in central Russia.

Skoda Auto declined to say Thursday when the production in Russia could start or how many cars Volkswagen intends to make at the plant.

Skoda Auto Chief Executive Winfried Vahland said in a statement the Russian market is likely to be among the fastest growing in years to come.

_________________________


Federal-Mogul profit rises

SOUTHFIELD, Mich (AP): Vehicle parts maker Federal-Mogul Corp reported a 4.7 per cent increase in its fourth-quarter profit last Wednesday as its revenue rose 12.8 per cent, helped by growing global auto sales. Its shares rose five per cent in morning trading.

Jose Maria Alapont, CEO of the Southfield, Michigan, supplier of powertrain and safety components, said in an interview that the company is optimistic about growth for the next five years with global light and commercial vehicle sales expected to rise by almost 30 million to 104 million in 2015.

profitable forecast

"We see ahead a very strong five years, one of the strongest maybe that the industry has ever seen," Alapont said.

But the company's profit and revenue growth is starting to slow a bit from levels reported earlier in the year. Alapont said future quarters will be compared against stronger numbers from 2010 as the company grew with the economic recovery.