Report: Daimler planning to open new plant in North America

Filed under: China , Plants/Manufacturing , Mercedes-Benz , Nissan Size still matters, but the quest to be number one is also getting more headlines. Mercedes-Benz is the latest to stake its future on taking the top slot, with CEO Dieter Zetsche aiming to be the world’s largest premium maker by 2020. The specific number is 2.7 million vehicles sold that year, which represents an astronomical jump from 2011 sales of 1.26 million vehicles. To home in on that target, Mercedes intends to build factories in China and in North America – either Mexico or the U.S.

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Report: Daimler planning to open new plant in North America

Official: Kimi Raikkonen marks official return to F1 with Lotus test run [w/video]

Filed under: Motorsports , Lotus Few drivers have caused the kind of speculation that Kimi Raikkonen has in the past few years alone. Will he take a Ferrari payoff and make way for Fernando Alonso ? Will he find another ride in Formula One ? Will he make it in the World Rally Championship ?

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Official: Kimi Raikkonen marks official return to F1 with Lotus test run [w/video]

Report: Volkswagen approves Up! GT for production

Filed under: Performance , Europe , Hatchback , Volkswagen The Volkswagen Golf GTI stands as an enduring icon in the hot hatch genre. But as the Golf gets bigger, so does the GTI, and when it comes to hot hatches, bigger is not always better. That’s where the Polo GTI comes in, but if even that’s too big for minimalists, Volkswagen is reportedly set on putting the Up! GT into production.

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Report: Volkswagen approves Up! GT for production

Report: GM’s business in Iraq is booming

Filed under: Car Buying , Sedan , SUV , Truck , Cadillac , Chevrolet , Middle East Long before the first U.S. soldier laid a boot on Iraq soil in the first Gulf War, General Motors planned to build a manufacturing facility in the country. According to The Detroit News , the years since haven’t been entirely kind to the automaker’s sales efforts in Iraq. That’s no shock given America’s reputation in the Middle East nation, but its prospects are beginning to look up.

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Report: GM’s business in Iraq is booming

Report: Turkish private equity firm jumps into Saab buying fray

Filed under: China , Saab , Middle East The next chapter in the Saab opera has a new protagonist called Brightwell Holdings, a Turkish private equity firm. Brightwell is is perhaps the unknown Turkish entity mentioned last year as having an interest in bankrupt Saab, along with India’s Mahindra & Mahindra . A board member at Brightwell said the company will spend two weeks evaluating Saab’s assets and then will make a bid, “there’s no question.” Turkey doesn’t have a national car company, but it does have plenty of automotive manufacturing expertise since Ford , Fiat and Renault have factories there. Brightwell has said it would keep Saab production in Trollh

Report: VW takes issue with claim that GM is world’s largest automaker

Filed under: Car Buying , Marketing/Advertising , Earnings/Financials We hope General Motors hasn’t started planning that ticker-tape parade down Jefferson Avenue yet, as Volkswagen has apparently taken issue with the notion that GM might again be the world’s largest automaker . According to The Wall Street Journal , VW has said it will be adding some 200,000 units to its previously released sales total, contributions from some commercial truck manufacturers that are subsidiaries. Moreover, the WSJ has called into question GM’s practice of counting the vehicles sold by two Chinese partners in which GM does not have a controlling interest. Liuzhou Wuling Motors sold 1.2 million vehicles in China last year, according to the report, which the Journal says some analysts don’t count in tabulating their numbers

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Report: VW takes issue with claim that GM is world’s largest automaker