While most car companies are just trying hard to produce low-emissions vehicles, Volkswagen is looking to make even their factories green. Or is that blue!

VW calls all their efficient models BlueMotion, and is taking the same approach to their factories. Their “Think Blue Factory” is an initiative they have launched to make all their factories more environmentally friendly by 2018. By way of using less energy and creating fewer wastes, VW hopes to clean their factories by reducing the environmental impact by 25%.

Hubert Waltl, a member of the board of management at VW said; “Through the growing efficiency and productivity of our plants, the Volkswagen brand is already making a key contribution to the achievements of Group strategic targets for 2018. However, we are going a step further: by 2018, we intend to make production at all our plants 25 percent more environmentally compatible.”

VW’s plant in Chattanooga, TN. was the worlds first plant to receive the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification which means this factory meets the strictest of environmental standards. So say what you will about the new Passat, at least it is built in a modern, clean factory.

BMW is pushing forward in the face of what many economists are fervently discussing in the business world: the possible collapse of the euro.

Such a catastrophic event is unlikely, BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer told Automotive News. He reaffirmed that strong belief in another interview saying ”I don’t even want to imagine that at all, and I don’t believe it will happen.” In fact, BMW is planning significant expansion.

The company is intends to increase sales by 25 percent despite the fact that research group IHS Automotive forecasts as much as a 41 percent overcapacity for vehicles in Europe. Regardless of softening sales in the European market, BMW remained the top luxury car manufacturer this year and is planning to expand on their 1.6 million unit sales for 2011 to a whopping 2 million by 2020.

They plan to achieve that goal by further expanding into the international market. Part of that plan involves setting up a factory in Brazil, but more significantly, BMW is eyeing the growing Chinese market.

Proportionally, Chinese consumers drive about the same number of economy cars as Europeans, but the difference is that Reithofer says 75 percent of Chinese economy car owners want to upgrade for their next purchase.

“In 2012, the BMW brand will have the youngest model range of all of our core competitors by far,” Chief Executive Norbert Reithofer told reporters on Thursday evening at an event in Munich. It’s something he hopes will entice the young and increasingly wealthy Chinese market segment.

If it turns out that BMW is being too aggressive in their expansion, they can scale back produciton by 20 to 30 percent according to Frank-Peter Arndt, BMW’s production chief.

[Source: Automotive News]

Ford announced that they are investing $446 million into their Sao Bernardo do Campo plant near Sao Paulo, Brazil towards the production of a new global vehicle.

Unfortunately Ford didn’t announce any more details in regards to the new model, but it will likely be something geared toward’s Brazil’s emerging middle class.

The Sao Benardo do Campo plant currently produces the Ka, Courier and F-250 models and has an annual capacity of of 160,000 cars and light vehicles in addition to 40,000 trucks.

Brazil has become an emerging market for many vehicle manufacturers. Nissan also announced previously that they’ll be building a $1.5 billion factory in Brazil to supply some of the brand new models

[Source: Automotive News]

Jeep has scrapped plans to build a replacement for their Patriot and Compass SUVs in Italy, and will instead build a subcompact Jeep product in Italy that will also be badged as a Fiat in world markets.

The car will replace the Fiat Sedici, which is itself based on the Suzuki SX4. Jeep will then build a replacement for their two small SUVs, as well as an Alfa Romeo-badged variant in Illinois.

The Compass/Patriot will eventually be replaced by a single model that will likely ride on the same architecture as the Alfa Giulietta, that will also underpin a replacement for the Dodge Caliber.

[Source: Automotive News]

Toyota and Honda plan to hire as many as 5,000 temporary workers in Japan for the first time in more than a year as the automotive industry recovers from the March 11 earthquake.

Toyota will be hiring between 3,000 and 4,000 temporary workers from mid-July as the company plans to increase production in October.

This is great news considering Japanese carmakers’ domestic production dropeed 60 percent in April as Toyota’s output in the country plunged 78 percent.

Honda will be hiring 1,000 temporary workers as the company plans to resume normal production numbers as well.

Toyota’s plants suffered a 50-percent production decline in April and May but are running at 90 percent capacity this month. The plan is to reach 100 percent of planned production levels by July.

“Hiring temporary workers shows that the problem with parts supply is being resolved and that the industry is on a solid recovery path,” explained Takeshi Miyao an analyst at the consulting company Carnorama in Tokyo. “There are a lot of back orders and without these additional workers, they won’t be able to catch up fast enough.”

Nissan has also begun hiring around 200 temporary workers to help restore normal production levels.

[Source: Automotive News]

BMW will expand its Chinese joint venture with local automaker Brilliance, in an effort to build 300,000 cars per year in China. BMW’s joint venture near Beijing currently builds the 3-Series and 5-Series, and will add the X1 crossover in 2012.

Plans call for new factories dedicated to vehicle assembly, stamping and a paint shop. These plants will be good for an additional 200,000 units according to BMW.

With China now serving as BMW’s third largest market, expanding domestic production makes sense for the brand, with BMW Chaiman Norbert Reithofer noting that “BMW vehicles are very popular in China. We anticipate that this growth will continue in the future.”

[Source: Inside Line]

Chrysler announced an $843 million investment in its Indiana transmission plant as it prepares to build a 9-speed automatic transmission front front-drive vehicles.

The announcement comes on the heels of General Motors announcement of a $2 billion infusion into a number of plants, including $200 million for upgrades to its Toledo, Ohio plant to build 8-speed transmissions. Chrysler will begin selling 8-speed equipped Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 sedans during the summer.

Chrysler expects the 9-speed transmissions, developed in partnership with ZF, to be on sale in 2013.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Volkswagen‘s new Chattanooga, Tennessee plant built its first car destined for a customer Wednesday, a dark Blue Passat 2.5L equipped with an automatic transmission.

The plant should reach full capacity in 2012, at which point it will produce 150,000 Passats annually. Volkswagen says that the plant will generate $12 billion in economic growth for the region, and 9,500 jobs related to the plant. Speaking to an assembled crowd, Volkswagen Chattanooga CEO Frank Fischer said “It has been an exciting challenge for all of us to build a new vehicle and a new plant at the same time, all while establishing new suppliers; but our team members have overcome those hurdles with a passion for details that has produced automotive excellence.”

Contrary to earlier reports, Mazda will not be ending production of its Mazda6 midsize sedan. Earlier reports suggested that the slow-selling model would be axed after reports emerged that production of the vehicle at Mazda’s Flat Rock, Michigan plant may cease.

While Mazda confirmed that the Mazda6 would remain in the lineup for some time (and will get Mazda’s new SKYACTIV powertrains), it’s possible that production at the Michigan factory may move elsewhere, and this event was misconstrued as the end of the Mazda6′s life. Mazda may move production to Mexico to take advantage of less expensive, non-union labor, as the Flat Rock plant is shared with Ford, which pays its workers $8 per hour more than its non-union counterparts.

[Source: Car and Driver]