#assembly

Ford’s RS forthcoming hot hatch will finally be sold in North America.

Ford engineers are cooking up a new ultra-high-performance Focus RS. The car is baking in the product-development oven right now and it should be set to go on sale as soon as the timer goes off in 2016.

An announcement  about Chrysler’s next generation of minivans is expected very soon although it in’t clear when that will happen.

In an effort to meet rising demand for its vehicles, Ford will increase production capacity and produce more units this year. 

With sales of the Chevrolet Cruze slowing down, General Motors will idle their Lordstown, Ohio plant to help bring supply levels of the Cruze down.

Volkswagen wants to produce the Tiguan SUV model in North America in an effort to slash production costs on the compact crossover. VW is already producing the Jetta and Passat in North America and is considering moving production of the Tiguan, according to a report by WirtschaftsWocke magazine.

Saab and German parts manufacturer ZF will establish a new facility in Saab’s hometown of Trolhattan, Sweden, that will build suspension components for their upcoming Phoenix platform cars, one of which will be the next 9-3 sedan.

The plant, which will employ 50 people, will produce front subframes and rear axles for the new cars. The Phoenix platform will likely underpin Saab’s entire new car range, and takes its roots from the competent GM Epsilon platform, which underpins most of their mid-size front-drive vehicles sold today.

[Source: Saab]

Press release below the jump

BMW is considering an assembly plant in Latin America, specifically Brazil, but its exact plans remain up in the air. BMW currently builds motorcycles at a plant in Manaus, and is debating whether to expand its facility to include auto production, or starting an all new plant exclusively for cars.

General Motors has announced that it’s hiring 1,000 people over the next couple years to help improve electric vehicle related infastructure, as well as charging, motor and battery technology.