Worldwide vehicle sales at South Korea's five automakers surpassed the 5 million mark for the first time last year. Combined sales at Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp., GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co., Ssangyong Motor Co. and Renault Samsung Motors Corp. rose 15.6 percent to a record-high of 5.22 million vehicles, compared with 4.52 million in 2004. The total includes sales of vehicles manufactured at overseas plants.

Hyundai Motor Company plans to spend US$800m on a second production plant in China by 2008. According to the Maeil Economic Daily, the new plant will have an annual capacity of 300,000 units and Hyundai will be able to build 600,000 cars a year in China once the new plant is running. Hyundai, with affiliate Kia Motors, plans to become the world's sixth largest carmaker - measured on output - by 2010, the newspaper noted. The carmaker began US production of the Sonata sedan line in Alabama early last year and is planning to build another factory in the Czech Republic.

The auto industry finished 2005 in a familiar pattern, with U.S. market share continuing to slip from U.S. automakers to their Asian competitors. Japanese automakers reported the year's biggest sales gains. Combined U.S. market share for General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group fell to an unprecedented low of 56.9 percent, down from 61.7 percent three years ago, according to Autodata Corp. At the same time, Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. and other Asian brands saw their U.S. market share climb to 36.5 percent from 34.6 percent in 2002.

The three-wheeled GX3 that Volkswagen rolled out on Jan. 4, is more than a concept vehicle, vehicle VW brand chief Wolfgang Bernhard said. "If this gets positive feedback, we will see this on the streets of California soon," Bernhard said at the Los Angeles auto show. The two-seater, which VW calls a motorcycle, is powered by a 1.6-liter, four-cylinder engine, rated at 125 hp, mated to a five-speed manual transmission. But since the vehicle weighs just 1,257 pounds, the engine can push the GX3 from 0 to 60 mph in 5.7 seconds yet still return fuel economy of 46 mpg. Bernhard said VW is already talking with partners to develop a plan to put the GX3 into production.

French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen unveiled the smallest fuel cell currently available for cars and pledged further research to halve the price of these environmental friendly power sources by 2010. PSA Chairman Jean-Marie Folz told a news conference that the best way to save on fuel consumption of cars in the short term was by boosting the use of diesel and by adding bio-fuel to diesel. For the medium term, hybrid diesel engines would offer further reduction in consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, while fuel cells, which release energy from the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen with a catalyst, were for a later stage, he said.

Saab, General Motors’ historically loss-making Swedish cars subsidiary, expects to at least break even this year for the first time since 1993 and is planning to expand its range into smaller cars to compete with BMW’s 1 Series, Audi’s A3 and similar small premium sector vehicles. The new range, likely to be called the Saab 9-1, would take about three years to launch and be based on a new small car platform being developed within GM for global use, Jan-Ake Jonsson, Saab’s managing director, told the FT.

French car parts maker Faurecia said it planned to open six new sites in North America in 2006 to increase its product offering to carmakers in the area. Faurecia, majority-owned by PSA/Peugeot-Citroen, already has 17 plants in the United States. In a statement, the firm said it planned to invest $300 million in the region between now and 2009 to boost its U.S. sales to $2.5 billion by 2009 from some $1.5 billion now. Faurecia ranks No. 9 on the Automotive News list of the top 100 global suppliers with worldwide original-equipment automotive parts sales of $13.33 billion in 2004.

Toyota Motor Corp aims to sell more than 1 million vehicles in Europe in 2006, the company said after reporting its ninth consecutive year of record sales in the region. European group sales including its premium Lexus brand rose 5 percent in 2005 to 964,208 vehicles compared with a flat market, driven by demand for its Corolla and Corolla Verso. Market share grew to an all-time high of 5.1 percent from 4.9 percent in 2004. Lexus alone boosted its sales by 16 percent to 28,777 units thanks to a seven-fold rise in deliveries of its revamped GS full-size model.

Hyundai Motor Co said it was considering setting up a new engine plant in China as it aims to increase car production in the world's fastest-growing market. Hyundai said in a filing to the local exchange it was considering a factory in Shandong, China, to produce up to 400,000 passenger car engines per year. It anticipated the plant would start production from the end of 2008 to reach its full capacity later, the company said. "We are talking to China's government to get an approval for the plan and we will push ahead the plan once we get an OK," said a Hyundai spokesman by telephone. Hyundai said it would increase engine production capacity at its Chinese joint venture, Beijing Hyundai Automotive Corp., by two-thirds.

France's Peugeot launched its 207 compact car, a drop-shape car with stylish touches, in a bid to tighten its grip on a very competitive market segment and reverse a trend of declining sales in Europe. The 207 will go on sale in France in April and in other European countries before the summer and the car brand, part of PSA/Peugeot-Citroen, aims to sell more than 500,000 units next year. Frederic Saint-Geours, chief executive of Automobiles Peugeot, declined to unveil pricing details for the car but said it would be priced "competitively" in the market.

The Times of India reports that India's second largest truck maker Ashok Leyland has announced plans to invest Rs 550 crore (US$135 million) to expand production capacity and establish a bus manufacturing venture in Dubai. The firm is also planning to set up a new bus-making unit in North India. "The plan is to take our capacity to 100,000 units from the current 77,000 units. Plans are underway for setting up a manufacturing unit in Dubai, while the process for identification of a location in North India is underway," Ashok Leyland boss R Seshasayee told the newspaper at Auto Expo.

Mitsubishi Motors says it is in tie-up talks with French auto maker PSA Peugeot Citroen, but analysts say that won't be enough to boost the troubled Japanese car manufacturer's business. Mitsubishi Motors (MMC), reeling from financial problems and a scandal over its cover-ups of defects, said it was studying the possibility of partnerships with the French maker and others to revitalise its business as soon as possible.

GM Daewoo Automotive & Technology Co expects its sales to rise more than 30 percent in 2006 from a year before, helped by strong domestic demand, a senior executive at the South Korea-based carmaker said. Unlisted GM Daewoo is South Korea's third-largest auto maker. General Motors Corp, the world's largest auto maker, and partners took a majority stake in some of the assets of Daewoo Motor in 2002, creating GM Daewoo. "We expect the volume to be between 1.45 million and 1.5 million," GM Daewoo Vice President Rick Labelle told reporters, referring to expected 2006 sales

Goodyear Engineered Products is breaking the automotive heater hose mold. The company has introduced a universal heater hose system to help auto parts retailers and installers eliminate thousands of inventoried parts, while improving service, according to Todd Hechler, marketing manager for Goodyear automotive replacement products. Goodyear E-Z Coil eliminates the need for carrying more than 200 molded heater hose SKUs, yet ensures solutions to customer needs every time.

Porsche set a registration record in its German home market in 2005 with 16,565 vehicles, up 2.1% on the previous year. With help from new convertible and and four-wheel drive versions, 911 registrations increased 3.4% to 7,099 vehicles (previous year: 6,863). The Boxster series – including the new Cayman coupe derivative – posted an increase of 24.3% compared to the previous year with 4,016 registrations (3,231). However, Cayenne all-terrain vehicle sales dropped 10.5% to 5,384 (6,019). A further 48 units of the high-performance Carrera GT sports car were also registered (60).

U.S. number two automaker Ford Motor Co has rejected an approach from France's Renault to buy ailing luxury-car maker Jaguar, the Sunday Times newspaper said. The paper, citing senior motor industry sources, said Renault had expressed its interest in acquiring Jaguar to Ford last year, but Ford's chiefs, led by Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Ford Jr., were understood to have rejected the French firm's overtures.

DaimlerChrysler's market-leading commercial vehicles division boosted 2005 sales by around 16 percent to a record 824,900 trucks, buses and vans, the company said . "We will face the challenges of the years ahead with initiatives to optimise operations, to (fuel) growth in new and existing markets and with fascinating new products such as the new Mercedes-Benz Sprinter," division chief Andreas Renschler said in a statement.

ArvinMeritor has reported net income up 88% to US$34m, or $0.49 per share, compared to $18m, or $0.26 per share last year for its first fiscal quarter, ended 31 December, 2005. Income from continuing operations, before special items, was $11m, or $0.16 per share - the higher end of the company's previous guidance. Sales from continuing operations of $2.1 billion were up slightly from the same period last year. Net debt improved $120m since 30 September, 2005 to the lowest level since the merger of Arvin and Meritor.

More Rolls-Royce cars were sold in Tokyo showrooms last year than anywhere except star-studded Beverly Hills. It is now pinning future growth hopes on Asia, but while Japanese buyers have returned in a recovering domestic economy, the brand counts for little in China - a market in which it needs to do big business in coming years. Owner BMW, which generated 14% of Rolls-Royce sales made in the region last year by selling 796 Phantoms, says developing the brand in China is now a priority. Consultants Ernst & Young forecast that, within a decade, China may pip the US to become the world's second-largest luxury goods market behind Japan..

BMW beat expectations by boosting 2005 revenue 5.2 percent to a record $57.3 billion, or 46.7 billion euros at current exchange rates, and reaffirmed its forecast that sales volume would rise again in 2006. The world's biggest premium carmaker also confirmed that 2005 earnings would be about the same as the previous year. Increased sales volume and efficiency gains had largely offset unfavorable exchange rates, high raw material prices and intense competition last year, the company said.

Ford Motor Co was ordered to pay $29 million Friday in the case of a 22-year-old woman who was partially paralyzed after the Firestone tire on her Explorer failed and the vehicle rolled over. Firestone previously paid an undisclosed settlement in the case. Plaintiff attorneys touted the case as the first Ford-Firestone case to go all the way to a verdict since Firestone tire recalls started in 1999. "You have a situation where all the parties agreed there was a tire defect, but the question was who's ultimately responsible for the accident," Corpus Christi plaintiff attorney Roger S. Braugh Jr. said.

DaimlerChrysler said it had spent around 1.8 billion euros ($2.18 billion) to develop and produce a new version of its Sprinter transport van that goes on sale in late March 2006. "DaimlerChrysler has invested some 1.8 billion euros in the development of this new model," the world's largest commercial vehicles maker said in a statement.The Sprinter made its debut in 1995. The company made a record 167,000 Sprinter units in 2005 at plants in Germany and Argentina.

Fiat Auto reported a higher-than-expected trading profit in the fourth quarter of 2005 as sales kicked in for its new Punto car model and said it planned to return to the debt market with a bond sale. In a statement, Fiat said its key Fiat Auto unit had a quarterly trading profit of 21 million euros ($25.4 million) compared with a year-ago loss of 156 million adjusted to International Accounting Standards (IAS) and with an average analyst forecast of 8.5 million. Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne has been trimming costs and striking alliances with other carmakers such as Ford Motor Co to pull the Auto unit back to profit.

French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen unveiled two demonstration vehicles powered by diesel-hybrid engines and said it wanted to sell tens of thousands of them annually from 2010. PSA has long stayed out of the race to bring gasoline hybrids combining a combustion engine and an electrical motor to the market because it thinks clean diesel engines alone can provide performance on fuel consumption and emissions that is comparable to gasoline-hybrid engines. A diesel hybrid can offer further fuel savings of about 25 percent over a diesel engine. Rivals such as Ford, DaimlerChrysler and Toyota are also embracing diesel hybrids but for big cars, such as the Jaguar S-type, Mercedes E, or for trucks.