Mazda aims to build a vehicle assembly plant in Russia as the automaker recently announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Russian firm Sollers for a new joint venture.

Sollers, Russia’s industry giant, worked with many automakers, both domestic and foreign, to set up production and distribution channels throughout the country. Mazda’s future plant will be placed in Vladivostok, located in Russia’s Far Eastern Federal District.

Sales in the country had risen 77 percent in the first nine months of 2011 for Mazda and there are no signs of slowing down. Given that Russia is currently Mazda’s second-largest European market, this new joint venture manufacturing plant to anticipate future demand should prove prudent.

[Source: Left Lane News]

An article in Automotive News suggests that the Cadillac ELR, which will share major driveline components with the Chevrolet Volt, will actually be rear-wheel drive.

The report states that the ELR has been dubbed a 2+2, meaning two small seats in the rear, similar to a Porsche 911. The Volt uses a t-shaped battery pack that is adapted for a front-drive layout, but a 2+2 configuration would allow for the battery pack to be mounted in such a way as to clear a driveshaft sending power to the rear wheels.

Rick Kranz, the author of the piece, suggests that rear seat room would be compromised, but the 2+2 layout of the coupe – plus the use of the rear-drive platform shared with the Cadillac ATS – would allow for Cadillac to justify a price premium over the Chevrolet Volt, something that new sheetmetal and an advanced infotainment system would not be able to achieve. If this report turns out to be accurate, then the ELR could be a game changer, as the first front-engine rear-drive electric car on the market.

[Source: Automotive News]

Toyota has announced that starting in 2013, it will sell Lexus vehicles in India. No specific products were announced for sale, but likely contenders include the LS and GS sedans, as well as the RX crossover. Given India’s less than perfect roads, the LX and GX SUVs (based on the popular Toyota Land Cruiser SUVs) may also make it over.

While Lexus has been around for over 20 years, the brand didn’t expand beyond North American and Europe until 2o05. Asia, Russia the Middle East and now India are its latest conquests, and Toyota is hoping to repeat its success in markets like The United States. Unlike some luxury manufacturers, like Mercedes-Benz, Toyota will import Lexus vehicles from Japan and elsewhere. Mercedes chooses to assemble vehicles locally to avoid expensive import duties.

[Source: Left Lane News]

Despite the NHTSA stating that Chevy Volt owners do not have a reason for concern, just yet, General Motors is providing loaner cars to any worried drivers during the investigation. GM will begin to contact every Volt owner in order to clarify their concerns and each owner should receive a letter within the next few days.

There’s a bit of irony in GM’s strong stance that the Volt is safe to drive, yet they’re willing to offer loaners to customers that are overly concerned. But clearly GM is in full damage control mode right now, having delivered 5,329 Volts – every one of them that has the potential to catch on fire after a major accident. We are curious as to what vehicle GM is lending to Volt owners for a comparable savings in fuel efficiency.

[Source: Left Lane News]

Volvo‘s racing outfit, Polestar, has expanded its line of performance upgrades to Volvo’s turbo 3.0-liter six-cylinder trimmed vehicles including the S60 sedan and XC60 and XC70 crossovers.

The package reflashes the T6′s ECU, increasing power from 300-hp to 325-hp and from 325 lb.-ft. of torque to 355 without any sacrifice to fuel efficiency, effectively bumping the three regular T6 models to Volvos S60 R-Design levels of performance. Surprisingly, this package has yet to become available for the flagship S80 T6.

Chris Dauerer, customer service Vice President of Volvo North America, says, “Just a few weeks after announcing the performance package for select T5 models, we have already received tremendous feedback from our customers. With Polestar, we are able to deliver our performance-minded customers the enhanced driving package they have been looking for now across a variety of our carlines.”

Want a better Volvo than the one driven by a teenage vampire? Expect the warranty-backed Polestar performance package to go on sale December 5 for $1,495.

[Source: Left Lane News]

The automotive market in China right now is an interesting one, with obviously a huge consumer base to pick and choose from. It’s common knowledge that Chinese manufacturers still aren’t up to par with American, Japanese or European counterparts, and some of the major players continue to look at forming partnerships with established brands.

Chinese automaker Chery, has one of the best-selling economy cars in China, the Chery QQ, has been trying to form a joint venture with Subaru for quite some time now. But China’s National Development and Reform Commission opposed the joint venture due to the fact that Subaru is owned by Toyota and Toyota already has two joint ventures in China (the maximum allowed). It’s worth arguing though that Toyota only holds 16.5-percent of Subaru’s parent group, Fuji Heavy Industries, shares.

So in order for the joint venture to go through, Subaru would have to let Chery take the reins in China, meaning that every Subaru would be sold with a Chery badge and through a Chery-run dealer. Whether or not Subaru will agree to this has remains to be seen.

This isn’t the first time Chery has tried to team up with a foreign automaker, having inked failed deals in the past with Chrysler and Fiat.

There was a time in North America that the letters “TDI” and the word “diesel” was unknown. In fact, most American consumers wouldn’t even understand the idea of a diesel-powered passenger car, save for the dreadful Oldsmobile diesels of the 1970′s. But times have changed, or rather gasoline prices have skyrocketed, and more and more Americans are embracing the idea of a diesel-powered passenger car.

The ability for a diesel-powered passenger car to offer plenty of fuel efficiency alongside some good ‘ol fashioned low-end torque has clearly captured the attention of American consumers. Even though diesels currently only represent about 3-percent of the total American market, auto supplier Robert Bosch LLC claims that figure could increase to 10-percent over the next decade.

Volkswagen currently offers the most diesel-powered vehicles in America and has reported a 37-percent increase in diesel sales this year. And while most of the diesel vehicles in the United States comes from European manufacturers, Chevrolet and Mazda will also be turning to diesel in 2013.

[Source: Left Lane News]

Toyota and Yamaha announced today that they have formed a collaboration to bring communications linked, next-generation vehicles to the market with concepts debuting at the upcoming 2011 Tokyo Motor Show. With the aim of building a new society for the future, the two next-generation vehicles on display will be a communications-linked electric commuter concept and an electrically power-assisted bicycle concept.

But Toyota and Yamaha has three objectives to make this collaboration a success. First is to build a comprehensive information infrastructure so that vehicles built by both Toyota and Yamaha can share the same charging infrastructure and integration with Toyota Smart Center. Secondly, both companies wish to establish new transportation systems, including those to a aid vehicle sharing system. Lastly, they wish to reduce development costs for IT services.

Toyota will make vehicle navigation and telematics services utilizing smartphones and WiFi available to certain Yamaha vehicles, providing them with charging-station locations, availability and charging-completion notifications. Jointly, both companies will also work towards expanding charging infrastructure so that they can be shared by both two-wheeled vehicles and automobiles.

GALLERY: Toyota/Yamaha Communications Linked Next-Generation Vehicles

After announcing that the new Dodge compact won’t be called a Hornet, speculation began on what it will be named when it’s released. Even though it’s set to unveil at the upcoming Detroit Auto Show in January, Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne still isn’t hinting at what the new Dodge compact will be called, nor has he said what the 2013 replacement for the outgoing Jeep Liberty will be.

Both nameless models are the first two Chrysler Group vehicles based on a Fiat platform. It is known that the Chrysler Group trademarked Hornet, Dart, Duster and Camber on October 21st, and Camber is the only name that was never used in a previous vehicle.

The other vehicle, based on Fiat’s CUSW platform, is the 2013 replacement for the outgoing Jeep Liberty. Last week in Toledo, Marchionne noted that a decision hasn’t been made on whether to retain the Liberty name or to go back to Cherokee.

[Source: Automotive News]

Set to compete in the 2012 Grand-Am Racing Series and making its debut at the upcoming Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona Race, Chevrolet’s Corvette Daytona Prototype was caught testing at Daytona and there’s plenty of videos showing what it can do.

The footage includes some fan-shot videos that really show off what the car is all about and loud its V8 rumble. Four different teams will be campaigning the new Corvette Daytona, and Chevrolet hopes that one of them will claim the 24 Hours of Daytona Race, where the last time a Corvette has won was back in 2001 with a C5-R.

Check out the videos after the break.

GALLERY: Corvette Daytona Prototype

[Source: Inside Line]

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