Volkswagen broke ground on a new engine plant in Puebla, Mexico, which is expected to come online in 2013. The $550 million plant is expected to supply engines to vehicles built at Volkswagen facilities in Mexico and Chattanooga, Tennesse.

An estimated 700 jobs will be created at the plant, along with auxiliary jobs for parts suppliers. With 435,000 vehicles made in Mexico in 2010, the country will be integral to Volkswagen’s goal of selling 1 million cars in the United States by 2018.

[Source: Left Lane News]

If you work for the Daimler corporation, you’re about to get a nice bonus from the company for doing absolutely nothing. As part of their 125th anniversary celebrations, all 260,000 employees of Mercedes-Benz‘s parent company will be getting a bonus to celebrate the milestone, with the total amount estimated at 100 million euros.

The average bonus is expected to be about 1000 euros per worker, or $1370 US, depending on seniority and other factors. Workers in Germany will also get a 3150 euro bonus, or $4315 , to celebrate Daimler’s successful financial year in 2010.

[Source: Detroit News]

While the Chevrolet Caprice is reserved for police vehicle fleets only, there have been some rumors about a civilian version making its way to showrooms for public consumption, and the latest videos showing footage of a police evaluation event only seem to further that.

Previous shots of the Caprice have either shown it in full police livery, or an “unmarked” version which ditched the lightbar and graphics but still retained the steel wheels and blacked out grilles. But the Caprices used in the latest video look like they could be sold to customers, if not for the small flashing lights hidden in the front fascia. Otherwise, the alloy wheels and interior devoid of any police equipment look pretty production ready. If it’s any consolation, we pressed one GM engineer at the Camaro Convertible launch about such a vehicle, and he answered with a wry smile, stating “these things have a way of happening”.

[Source: Youtube]

Video after the jump

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BMW has always been known for their trademark inline-6 engines, but the recent industry-wide trend of downsizing has led to BMW adopting turbocharged four-cylinder engines as an alternative to smaller, naturally aspirated I6 engines in the name of efficiency.

First to get the turbo-4 treatment is the X1 small crossover, although Jim O’Donnell, head of BMW USA, said that more are on their way. Likely candidates for this engine are the 3-Series and Z4, whose rivals, like the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, SLK and Audi A4 and A5 already offer a turbo 4-cylinder as the base engine. The X3 could also be a candidate, as Audi’s Q5 shares the same 2.0T engine and doesn’t seem to fare any worse than its 6-cylinder siblings.

Expect an announcement at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. With the X1 hitting 60 mph in about 6 seconds while returning a smidge under 30 mpg on the European highway cycle, we’re pretty optimistic that these new BMW four-bangers will be just fine.

[Source: MotorAuthority]

Of all the highly touted films screening at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, the one we want to see most is Senna, a documentary on the life of three time Formula 1 world Champion Ayrton Senna.

Assembled entirely from previously unseen archival footage from Senna’s career (spanning from his youth karting days until his death in 1994), Senna captured the imagination of millions of Formula 1 fans around the world, leading to a global launch for the film – excluding North America.

Hopefully, the documentary will help Senna find a distributor for this market, as well the strong review in the L.A. Times. Even though Formula 1 is less than popular in the United States, the universal themes of passion, brotherhood and adventure will surely resonate with audiences who couldn’t tell you the difference between Ferrari and McLaren.

[Source: L.A. Times]

Trailer after the jump

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With a huge gulf existing between the road-going version of the MINI Countryman and the WRC-ready version, a halo version that could bridge the gap between urban crossover and full-blown race car could be an asset for MINI, and help them leverage some of the image boost that their rally program will provide, especially in parts of the world where WRC is a popular motorsport.

At this point, the idea of a hardcore Countryman is just a rumor, but the it’s not hard to imagine a pumped up Countryman, perhaps with some tweaks courtesy of a JCW upgrade package, more macho bodywork and big wheels. So far, a concept is supposedly planned for.

[Source: Ausmotive]

It’s a five-star day for the 2011 Honda Odyssey, as the vehicle just earned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA’s) best-possible Overall Vehicle Score. And under NHTSA’s new system of safety ratings, the Odyssey is one of the first vehicles ever to earn five stars in each seating position for all three crash tests, each crash test category and the overall rating.

This is more great news for the Odyssey – it recently took home a top score of “Good” from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. But since it has yet to be tested for hood strength, it hasn’t earned a Top Safety Pick title.

Along with the 2011 Accord Sedan, the Odyssey is one of few vehicles to date that has earned the NHTSA’s best-possible five-star Overall Vehicle Score. It earned five-star ratings for the frontal crash safety test and both side crash safety tests in all evaluated front and rear seating positions and scenarios. Not one to rest on it laurels, the Odyssey went the extra mile to be awarded four stars for the rollover rating (this is the highest rating possible in the light-truck vehicle class using the NHTSA’s rating system).

The Overall Vehicle Score is a new addition to NHTSA’s New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) that is first being applied for the first time to 2011 models. The Overall Vehicle Score is the combined results of the overall ratings from the frontal crash tests, the side crash tests and the rollover-resistance into a single score between one and five stars.

Read AutoGuide’s 2011 Honda Odyssey Review Here

Volkswagen‘s 261-mpg XL1 concept car is headed to production, easily besting fuel economy claims by cars like the Chevrolet Volt. Unveiled this week at the Qatar Motor Show, the vehicle is actually billed as a prototype and not a concept, with Volkswagen commenting in an official press release that this latest rendition of its 1 Liter car (a vehicle that can travel 100km on one liter of diesel), puts the project one step closer to production.

In an interview with Automobilwoche, VW execs confirmed plans to build a small production volume of the car (about 100 models), with initial sales in Germany, then in the U.S. and China.

Previous to this news, Volkswagen claimed that at the introduction of the L1 Concept (the XL1′s predecessor) at the Frankfurt Show in 2009 that a vehicle based on that concept would see production in 2013.

The XL1 uses plug-in diesel hybrid powertrain, with a 2-cylinder TDI motor with 48-hp, mated to a 27-hp electric motor and using a 7-speed dual clutch gearbox. Volkswagen says that due to the plug-in hybrid setup, the power contained in the lithium-ion battery pack can propel the car 35 km (roughly 22 miles) emissions free.

GALLERY: Volkswagen LX1 Prototype

[Source: TTAC]

You know the saying, “as American as apple pie”? Well, in Qatar they say, “as Qatar-ian(?) as a modified SUV.” OK, maybe not, but wealthy Middle-Easterners really know how to blow their oil-soaked money: like on the Invader L60.

Japanese tuning house Invader recently unveiled its new L60 truck at the Qatar Motor Show, based on the massive Lexus LX570. Along with an excessive widebody kit and some massive front-end opening, the truck also gets some obligatory gold wheels (optional) and an aggressive rear diffuser with four exhaust pipes.

A completely custom interior is also a part of the package, and who can forget the supercharged mated to the big V8 engine to help pump out 600-hp.

Invader is planning to bring the L60 to the Geneva Auto Show in March, so we’ll be sure to snap plenty of live pics then.

GALLERY: Lexus LX-based Invader L60

[Source: Automobile]

BMW may go ahead with plans to deliver a wagon version of the M3. According to some speculation by the folks at Bimmerfile, an M3 wagon prototype was build early on in the production cycle, but it never received the green light.

Rather than being a standard production model, the M3 Touring is reportedly being considered as a limited edition car, with a price to match. Likely to get some unique trim items and even a custom paint job, along the lines of the M3 Frozen Gray Coupe, pricing would match its exclusivity and could be as high as $65,000.

While just a rumor, it’s not a bad plan, as those looking to buy a high-performance wagon likely wouldn’t mind paying extra for a performance ‘lifestyle’ vehicle.

[Source: Bimmerfile]