Plants/Manufacturing


They still make that? VW Golf Mk1 ends production after 25 years

The original Volkswagen Golf Mk1 arrived as a replacement to the Volkswagen Beetle way back in 1974. Sold in the States as the Volkswagen Rabbit, the early front-wheel-drive hatchback had a transverse-mounted (water-cooled) 1.5-liter four-cylinder rated at just 70 horsepower. It was good for a 93 mph top speed and nearly 38 miles per gallon. While the standard Rabbit was rather ho-hum, the late-to-arrive Mk1 "GTI" ushered in the hot-hatch movement with its 90-horsepower 1.8-liter four-cylinder, slick manual transmission, and upgraded ... Read more →

Autoblog Podcast #151: With Eddie Alterman of Car and Driver Dan Roth

Abuelsamid, Lieberman, Roth and Shunk. Sounds like a law firm, but it's this week's podcast crew. Car and Driver editor-in-chief Eddie Alterman bravely wades into the pool and joins us for ...

REPORT: Ford Kuga could come in Lincoln, Mercury flavors, replace Escape, be built in USA Jonny Lieberman

How's this for an odd twist – Ford essentially kicked off the SUV craze with its Explorer, an embiggened four-door Ranger. And man, did we go crazy. Before the cheap-gas bubble burst, ...

Toyota plans to trim trucks, focus on hybrids, improve quality Jeremy Korzeniewski

Stick with what you know. That seems to be Toyota's new mantra going forward, as the Japanese automaker has reportedly diverted its attention away from large trucks like the largely unsuccessful ...

Ford and Canadian Auto Workers reportedly reach a deal Dan Roth

Ford Motor Company and the leadership of the Canadian Auto Workers union have reached a tentative agreement after a marathon four-day wrap-up to negotiations. Union membership needs to approve the ...

REPORT: Toyota develops its own flower for cleaner air at Prius plant 5 days ago on Autoblog

Automakers make cars and trucks, no surprises there. Some even make other interesting things, like Honda, which also builds motorcycles, lawn mowers, jets, robots and solar cells. But until now, we haven't heard of any car company that develops its own species of flowers. Thankfully, Toyota has ...

REPORT: GM delays Chevy Cruze launch by three months 6 days ago on Autoblog

Like other automakers, General Motors would prefer to avoid the recall stigma that plagued first-year examples of rival Ford's Focus a decade ago. North American versions of that car were recalled five times in the first year to fix early production glitches. The new Chevrolet Cruze had been ...

Has VP Joe Biden leaked Fisker's product plan? 7 days ago on Autoblog

Regardless of what side of the political fence you find yourself on, it's hard to dispute that vice president Joe Biden has a reputation for saying more than he should. That's not always a good thing when you're privy to some of the most important secrets of what is arguably the most powerful nation ...

REPORT: Fiat may use next Chrysler 300 platform for Lancia, Maserati 7 days ago on Autoblog

The last time Chrysler and Maserati got together, America was blessed with what appeared to the entire world to be little more than a gussied-up two-seat Chrysler LeBaron convertible with a removable hardtop and opera-style windows. Apparently, since that last marriage between Detroit and Modena ...

Officially Official: Fisker buys GM's Wilmington Delaware plant 8 days ago on Autoblog

In Wilmington, Delaware this morning, Governor Jack Markell was joined by Vice President Joe Biden and Henrik Fisker (seen at right) for the official announcement about the purchase of General Motors' closed plant there. Fisker will re-tool the plant to build a new, more affordable plug-in hybrid ...

REPORT: Three Ford plants vote down new contract with UAW 8 days ago on Autoblog

Pattern bargaining is how things tend to be done in Detroit, a strategy which ensures that one automaker doesn't tend to get a plum deal at the expense of the other car builders in town. General Motors and Chrysler negotiated pretty hard with the United Auto Workers as part of the bailouts, and ...

REPORT: Mini 'Countryman' crossover skipping Detroit for Geneva? 9 days ago on Autoblog

Everyone is getting ready for the Mini Countryman -- including, perhaps, the WRC -- but everyone is going to have to wait, according to a report by those Mini-mad folks at Motoring File. The holdup is the upcoming BMW X3, which is BMW's foremost concern right now as the little crossover is ...

REPORT: Labor unrest in India to cause Ford to idle key NA crossover plant 10 days ago on Autoblog

Rico Auto Industries in India makes transmission parts for Ford's Flex and Edge, along with its upscale Lincoln MKT and MKX twins. Unfortunately for the Blue Oval, Automotive News is reporting that Rico's operations are in flux because of persistent troubles between labor and management. A few ...

Shreveport, LA mayor lobbies D.C. to close the HUMMER deal, already 11 days ago on Autoblog

Cedric Glover, the mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, went to Washington, D.C. to plead his case for the sale of Hummer to Tengzhong. The only thing is, we're not sure why he went. To be more precise, we do know that he wants to protect jobs at GM's Shreveport plant that builds Hummers. The plant ...

U-S-A! Ford reportedly moving production of Kuga to America 12 days ago on Autoblog

The Ford Kuga is currently made in Europe and isn't available for sale here in the States, but if a report from Bloomberg is to be believed, the next Kuga could be produced in Louisville, Kentucky for sale both here and abroad. Bloomberg's sources claim that Ford plans to build as many as 80,000 ...

REPORT: Indian firm Reva to build electric cars in upstate NY 13 days ago on Autoblog

Sure, Syracuse, New York has the Carrier Dome, but if a pending deal between Indian electric car maker Reva and Long Island-based Bannon Automotive is finalized, the city may soon be known more for EV production. Bannon Automotive has been negotiating with India's Reva for months now, and the ...

REPORT: Honda likely to build Fit in the U.S. 16 days ago on Autoblog

What goes up, must come down. And in this situation, Japan's yen has gone up when compared to our dollar -- about eight percent since August. And with the yen's rise in value, the profitability of low margin cars like the Honda Fit goes down. Built in Japan, with the yen up, the strong-selling ...

REPORT: Toyota adding 850 jobs in San Antonio truck factory 16 days ago on Autoblog

Toyota's arrangements for its San Antonio plant are coming together after the closure of NUMMI and the announced relocation of Tacoma pickup production. The company will be adding 850 permanent and temporary workers to its labor force in Texas, taking the number of associates from 1,850 to about ...

Fitting Irony: Detroit Mayor Bing's own auto supply company hurting and on the block? 17 days ago on Autoblog

No one is allowed to escape the grinding maw of Detroit's woes -- not even Detroit Piston extraordinaire and hometown mayor Dave Bing. The mayor owns an automotive supplier called The Bing Group that provides stamped parts for carmakers. The recession has put the company on such slippery footing ...

Border Drive? Umm... No. Mexico car production reportedly down nearly 40% 20 days ago on Autoblog

Mexico hasn't accounted for nearly as much ink as the U.S. and Canada in recent discussions of the auto industry. But in case anyone was wondering, they're in a big hurt south of the border as well. While the American market's decline in auto sales factors in at about 25% overall, the Latin ...

REPORT: Daimler and BMW decline U.S. transmission joint-venture 21 days ago on Autoblog

Daimler AG is one of a shrinking number of automakers that continues to build its own transmissions, but the parent of Mercedes-Benz is now looking to change that. The automaker has been holding talks with rival BMW about possible powertrain collaborations including transmissions. Mercedes already ...

Ford Fiesta U.S.-spec gets caught in Mexican factory 23 days ago on Autoblog

What is reported to be the coming U.S.-spec Ford Fiesta has been photographed during assembly in Mexico, and the minor changes we can glean so far center around the grille. Compared to its European counterpart, the American version gets a much chunkier front end which has pushed the leading edge ...

REPORT: Analysts chide GM for boosting production [*UPDATED] 23 days ago on Autoblog

General Motors has announced its planned production for next year: 2.8 million vehicles. That's a 45% increase over its production this year – 1.9 million cars and trucks – and according to some analysts, it's completely unwarranted. GM says it arrived at that number based on "real ...

What Conflict? Mercedes awards SLS AMG body panel construction to Magna 24 days ago on Autoblog

Magna International pulled a bold move when it declared its intention to buy Opel from General Motors, bridging the gap between component supplier and contract manufacturer on the one hand, to independent automaker on the other. In the process, Magna jeopardized its relationships with Germany's ...

Toyota Highlander production commences in Indiana 25 days ago on Autoblog

The 2010 Highlander is now officially Toyota's 12th North American-built vehicle, with the midsized crossover rolling down the line at the Japanese automaker's Princeton, Indiana plant. Toyota has also streamlined its worldwide production in the process, as building the Highlander here in the ...

Lamborghini teams with University of Washington to create better composites 26 days ago on Autoblog

The presidents of Lamborghini and the University of Washington were both on hand recently as UW opened its Automobili Lamborghini Advanced Composite Structures Laboratory. As you might guess from that title, the Italian supercar maker is officially teaming up with the Washington school to work ...

VIDEO: Nat Geo airing Ultimate Factories on Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce, Camaro and Porsche 28 days ago on Autoblog

There's a reason cable is kicking so much network butt these days. No, not Deadliest Catch. Well, okay, Deadliest Catch and shows like the National Geographic Channel's Ultimate Factories. What is Ultimate Factories you ask? It's a show where a camera crew runs around the world checking out some ...

Along Came a Spyder: McLaren MP4-12C production plans include retractable hardtop? 28 days ago on Autoblog

Reports emerging from the UK are giving us a hint at what to expect in the near future from McLaren Automotive in its bid to make an assault on the exotic supercar market. The reports stem from plans filed by the F1 team's nascent road car division and its new manufacturing facility next to the ...

REPORT: Production lines halted at MG's Longbridge plant. This is not a repeat from 2005. 29 days ago on Autoblog

It is a travesty that the initials "MG" are coming to be a convenient epithet for the term "woe." The British sportscar maker has had an exceedingly trying history recently, and things haven't got any better with word that its owner, MG Motor UK Ltd. (which is really Nanjing Automobile ...

REPORT: Honda closing European design office in Germany 1 month ago on Autoblog

The car design community has been sent reeling by word that Honda plans to close down its European design studio. The office forms part of Honda R&D Europe in Offenbach on the outskirts of Frankfurt, Germany, and while the rest of the research and development facility will continue operating ...

REPORT: Outgoing Saab 9-5 to live on... as Chinese BAIC 1 month ago on Autoblog

If Billy Joel is right that only the good die young, the outgoing Saab 9-5 has been very, very bad. In automotive terms, the 9-5 is positively ancient, having first seen the light of day in 1997 and getting very little in the way of meaningful changes since that time. If, though, you happen ...

REPORT: GM halting Duramax production for 10 weeks 1 month ago on Autoblog

The revamped 6.6-liter Duramax V8 engine will go into production in April 2010 and the current Duramax, which doesn't meet emissions requirements that go into effect January 1, 2010, will cease production the day before the new year begins. In the interim, GM will be retooling the factory and ...

REPORT: Fiat to close Bertone purchase this week 1 month ago on Autoblog

On Thursday, Fiat is expected to put its John Hancock on a preliminary agreement to close its purchase of Carrozzeria Bertone, the coachbuilding arm of the Bertone company. In August Fiat won the right to acquire the builder, and it will throw €150 million at its operations over the next ...

REPORT: Subaru's Lafayette Indiana plant produces three millionth car 1 month ago on Autoblog

There's cause for celebration in Lafayette, Indiana, and it's not because the Colts are 3-0. The Indianapolis Star reports that Subaru has built its three millionth American made vehicle at its Lafayette facility; a silver Outback 2.5i. Over 9,000 workers were involved in reaching the ...

British 'Cash For Clunkers' to get extension 1 month ago on Autoblog

We've seen this before, haven't we? Government institutes program to spur auto sales by offering car buyers a federal incentive to turn in an old car for a shiny, efficient new one, leading to sales growth, which later leads to no money in the program and the request for an extension. Our British ...

Porsche to pull Boxster production from Magna over Opel stake? 1 month ago on Autoblog

After a great deal of international haggling, Magna ended up winning the competition for Opel. One of the many questions to be answered now is: How will the deal affect Magna's engineering and assembly business? Even as companies like VW and BMW have said they would be looking closely at ...

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Autoblog Podcast #151: With Car & Driver's Eddie Alterman

Eddie Alterman wades in with Sam, Chris, Dan, and Jonny to talk about SEMA and other recent events.

 
 

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