In conjunction with the announcement of an $8.7 billion loss for the second quarter, Ford confirmed what had been suspected for some time with a major shift in production capacity from trucks to cars. Starting in December of this year, three truck plants will be retooled so that they can build cars instead. In addition six new models will be coming over from the European lineup and Mercury will live on. Like other automakers Ford will be consolidating production of large trucks into fewer plants. The full-size Expedition and Navigator SUVs will shift from the Michigan Truck Plant in Wayne MI to the Louisville, Ky plant that builds the Super-Duty pickups. The Michigan plant will retool to build to build a vehicle based on the European Focus platform. As previously announced the Cuautitlan Assembly Plant in Mexico will shift from building F-series pickups to the new Fiesta at the end of next year. A second plant in Louisville that currently builds Explorers will switch over to building Focus based vehicles as well.

In other product news, we already knew about the Fiesta and the Euro Focus coming in 2010 as well as the Transit Connect van in 2009. Ford has confirmed that Mercury will get a new small car in 2010. What platform this will be built on is unknown. Ford will also introduce what they are calling a "whitespace" vehicle based on the Focus architecture. This will be in a segment that Ford doesn't currently occupy, and the best bet would be the C-Max MPV. This vehicle is a small van similar to the Mazda 5. The full Ford press release is after the jump.


[Source: Ford]

We've been waiting, along with pretty much everyone else in the country, for Ford to go ahead and bring over some of the desirable small cars it sells in Europe to the United States. It's been discussed over and over, and rumors now predict that Ford will make some official product announcements on Thursday. According to a report on the New York Times, some of these Euro-designed Ford's will wear the Mercury badge as the automaker moves to improve the health of that ailing marque by building those Euro cars in America in ex-truck, SUV and van plants. For our part, we'd be more than happy to see a premium set of small, fuel efficient cars sprout in Mercury dealerships to go along with the higher-end Lincoln models that they share floor space with. If Ford is able to offer bread-and-butter models wearing the Blue Oval badge along with premium and fuel efficient small cars like the Euro Focus and Mondeo under the Mercury brand, they could have a winning set of vehicles on their hands.

[Source: The New York Times]

Over at the Tesla Motors blog, future Roadster owner Ken Jacobs has written a guest post about his recent visit to England. While he and his wife were in the UK, they hopped over to Hethel, the home of Lotus and primary assembly site of the Roadster. They were given a tour of the factory and the assembly line where Lotus employees take the thousands of bits and pieces that comprise a Roadster and bolt them together. The regular Elise assembly line has been modified to simultaneously accommodate both the Roadster and the Elise. At the moment, Roadsters are still only being started at the rate of around 4 cars per week, although that should increase rapidly later in August as Tesla prepares to switch over to the updated drivetrain. Lotus assembles "gliders" whose motor and battery get installed once the rolling chassis arrives in California. Tesla is ships the cars by boat from England, a trip that takes several weeks.

[Source: Tesla]

We're not sure that a bigger MINI Cooper is exactly what the buying public at large has been waiting for, but it is exactly what they might get. We would certainly hope that the small-size MINI would remain in the line, though that would certainly negate whatever savings BMW is hoping for by collaborating with Fiat on the project in the first place. Fiat will be using the platform for the next Grande Punto, due in 2011. MINI would not use the platform until 2012 at the earliest, followed up by Alfa Romeo's planned MiTo successor a year later. Also on the docket is a new Fiat-sourced 1.6L four-banger, which would be the third 1.6L engine used by BMW for the MINI in as many platforms.

It sounds as if BMW would like to save a few million euros in the development cost of the next MINI so it can continue building its larger rear-wheel drive passenger cars and *ugh* sports activity vehicles. What's more, the expected costs to hit future targeted fuel economy standards are rather staggering. This being the case, despite the huge sales potential of the MINI brand, it could well be playing second fiddle to the larger machines from its parent company in this case.

[Source: Automotive News – sub. req'd.]

Last week, Volkswagen of America announced it would build it's first US factory since it's Pennsylvania factory closed in 1984 in Chattanooga Tennessee. The new plant will build a new mid-sized replacement for the Passat. What CEO Stefan Jacoby didn't announce was where powertrains will come from. The new car will be available with gasoline, diesel and hybrid power-plants. The power-train is one of the most expensive components in the vehicle so getting the most out of building cars in the dollar zone means building them here as well. The gasoline engines will likely be sourced from the Puebla Mexico factory that also supplies the assembly plant there. The Mexican factory doesn't currently produce transmissions. VW is apparently waiting on Audi's decision on a US factory before finalizing plans for new engine and transmission plants. Audi and VW share powertrains, so the two brands will likely want to build in a location convenient to both assembly plants. If VW does decide to build hybrid transmissions in North America they may even end up exporting some of those back to Europe as well.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

While General Motors recently announced plans to shutter four factories that had been building pickup trucks and SUVs, Ford may announce as soon as this week plans to shift some of its own truck plants to building smaller cars. Ford already decided that a Mexican plant that currently builds F-series pickups will be the source of the new Fiesta mini-car in early 2010. The second quarter results call on Thursday may bring more information on other truck plants that will build the next generation Focus and Mondeo. Now that the US dollar is so weak against other currencies, it no longer makes much sense to import small cars from other countries. The combination of more refined cars and the increase in fuel prices has also driven up demand for smaller cars to the point where they can actually be sold profitably in this country.

[Source: Wall Street Journal]

The Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., better known to us in the west under the Panasonic brand, has "informally decided" to spend about $951 million (100 billion yen) constructing what would be one of the world's biggest li-ion battery factories. This would triple the company's current capacity with its three existing plants, place it ahead of Sony and very close to the worlds number one, Sanyo. The three companies together currently control about 70 percent of the consumer electronics li-ion market.

The additional 50 million units a month capacity would help the company meet surging demand and be used in laptops, cell phones, and, of course, automobiles. They have been studying what it would take to make li-ion for automotive applications via their joint venture with Toyota that goes by the catchy moniker of Panasonic EV Energy. They expect the new plant to be able to ship product as soon as two years from now.

[Source: Yomiuri Online / Reuters]

There's more than one way to paint a car. We've featured models with cans and brushes, the option of going sans paint entirely and we've even seen electricity generated from leftover paint fumes. Of course, automakers strive for the highest paint quality possible. The processes they come up with are often very time-consuming and cover many different steps, so it's not all that surprising that Toyota would find a way to both streamline and green up the process a bit. At its Tsutsumi plant in Japan, which is already equipped with solar panels and a rooftop garden, the automaker is currently testing its new "3-Wet" system, which cuts down one entire drying oven. According to Toyota, a 15-percent reduction in energy can be realized using this new process, which is substantial, considering that it estimates as much as 24 percent of the total energy necessary to create one of its cars comes from the painting process.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Lithium Technologies (LTC) and EnerSys have announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in which the two companies announce they're joining forces to distribute large lithium-ion batteries. EnerSys will become the distributor of battery packs using LTC's lithium ion cells for diverse applications, thus complementing EnerSys's current lineup of lead acid battery products (for instance, this Quebec plug-in hybrid test). Enersys will focus on military and defense applications as well as stationary installations. The collaboration will help expand volumes and hopefully drive economies of scale for LTC's cells. The MOU defines a 3-year long agreement which can be extended afterwards. More information will be released by the end of the summer, when the complete agreement is signed. Full press release after the jump.

[Source: Lithium Technology Corporation and EnerSys]

German automotive supplier Bosch has announced that it has provided nearly half a million start/stop systems for BMW and Mini since launching the system. Bosch also announced that three additional manufacturers will introduce its technology withing the next few months. If you didn't know, Start/Stop technology allows the engine to shut down when the car is not moving, for instance, during traffic jams or at red traffic lights. When the gear is engaged or the accelerator pedal is pressed, the engine automatically starts again. According to Bosch, their system cuts fuel consumption by up to five percent in the European Driving Cycle, which translates into CO₂ emissions being reduced by 8 percent. Bosch also claims that the system is more quiet and more reliable than conventional starters, and can also be used for cold starts in diesel engines.

[Source: Bosch]

The automotive world will be getting a new Chevy Equinox bestowed upon it for the 2009 model year, and news from General Motors now places a 2.3L direct-injected four-cylinder engine underhood. Currently, the Equinox comes equipped with a boat-anchor of a base engine in the form of a 185-horsepower 3.4L V6 engine. Of course, there is nothing wrong with a pushrod engine, as long as its been suitably updated along the way -- which this one hasn't. The only way to get a more modern powerplant is to step up to the Sport version with its 3.6L V6 with 263 HP, mated to a nice six-speed automatic tranny. A nice combo to be sure, but a little heavy on the 'go' side for fans of fuel savings.

The Equinox will be joined in 2009 by the GMC Terrain, which replaces the Pontiac Torrent as the non-bowtie branded small CUV from GM. It likely goes without saying that the Terrain will also get the new four-cylinder engine. So far, we don't have specific details on the new engine from the General, but considering how good its 2.0 turbocharged DI engine is, we have high hopes that the 2.3 will be a worthy powerplant as well.

[Source: GM]

California-based Fisker Automotive has signed a letter of intent with Valmet Automotive to assemble its Karma plug-in hybrid sports sedan in Finland beginning in late 2009. Valmet assembles cars under contract for other brands. Since the launch of the Porsche Boxster in 1997 Valmet has assembled the cars as a second source to Porsche's own factory in Zuffenhausen, Germany. Porsche recently announced plans to move Boxster production to Magna Steyr in Graz Austria in 2012. Fisker Karma production will begin at Valmet in the second half of 2009, with North American deliveries expected to begin in late 2009. European deliveries of the new car should start sometime in 2010. The companies are currently projecting volumes of 15,000 cars per year. In addition to manufacturing, Valmet will also supply engineering services for Fisker. Unlike the Tesla Roadster, which is shipped to California from the Lotus factory in England as a glider, Valmet will complete production of the Karma. The Karma is planned to have a 50-mile electric range with a gasoline range extender bringing the total to 350 miles. Thanks to Joni for the tip!

[Source: Valmet Automotive]

Click above for more images of the 2007 Chevy Silverado

We have been covering the amazing decline of the pickup truck in America over the past few months, but General Motor's recent announcement that it will be cutting truck production by some three-hundred-thousand units by next year puts quite a cap on it. The General makes a hefty profit on each full-size truck it sells, and this production cut will have a huge impact on the bottom line of America's largest automaker. Of course, GM is probably quite pleased that it's not releasing a brand new model of its full-sizer this year like some other less fortunate competitors.

In addition to the production cuts, GM CEO Rick Wagoner has also announced that the company will delay the pending redesign of its largest trucks and SUVs. The automaker intends to save a whopping $7 billion by putting off its next truck and will also cut the development of V8 engines. A few years back, nothing seemed more American than V8 engines and great pickup trucks. While nobody expects these two icons to go the way of the Dodo, it's clear that development money is now much better spent elsewhere.

[Source: GM]

Chevrolet has seen a double-digit sales increase of its Cobalt compact car this year since gas prices began their unstoppable upward trajectory. Fortunately for us in the states, the newfound importance of small cars means that we will likely see the new 1.4 liter turbocharged global-mill in the U.S. version of the Chevy Cruze when it goes on sale here in 2009. See, everything has an upside if you look hard enough. Fuel economy in the forties on the highway will be welcome, as will the adequate 120-140 horsepower. When the new Cruze goes on sale in its home market, it will be built in the Lordstown, Ohio plant where the Cobalt is currently assembled. Expect both cars to remain in Chevy's line until the Cruze and its next-gen Delta platform sees its full ramp-up. A sedan body-style will appear first, though we'd expect a coupe shortly thereafter to properly compete with such vehicles as the Honda Civic and Ford Focus.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Opel Flextreme

The internal debate over whether the upcoming Volt will be badged as a Chevrolet or an Opel across the pond has been decided. The first Euro-bound EV's from the General will be Opels, though we are not sure how much in common the vehicle will share with the Flextreme concept. Carl-Peter Forster, president of GM Europe, indicates that a Vauxhall version is also in the works (this would be nothing more than a right hand drive variant for the British market) and that all three of the vehicles will be quite similar in design. A gasoline range-extending powerplant will see shared duty in the trio as well, though we would expect a diesel option in Europe at least at some point.

For the forseeable future, all three E-Flex variants will be built at the same factory in Detroit, and Europeans should expect to see the Opel in 2012. Of course, the extended-range electric car will carry a price premium, with a €10,000 bump over a comparable gas engined vehicle currently being thrown around. We hope that the Volt and its clones will prove popular enough to see that cost premium dwindle somewhat as the cost of batteries drops and allow the General to make a few bucks in the process.


[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]