Isuzu Motors , a truckmaker which is 10% owned by GM, has admitted illegally testing its vehicles on public roads in Japan for many years, and that those vehicles were involved in accidents that caused one death and 27 injuries. President Yoshinori Ida and 14 other top execs have accepted responsibility for the emerging scandal by taking pay cuts of up to 30% for 2 months. Meanwhile, police the have launched an investigation into Isuzu for possible breaches of Japanese laws requiring automakers to get permission from the government to test their trucks on public roads. Violators face fines of up to $2,800.

Johnson Controls Inc. will acquire Delphi’s global automotive battery business. The $212 million acquisition includes Delphi’s battery operations in more than 10 countries, including joint ventures in China and South Korea but not the US. The sell-off is part of Delphi’s plan to dispose of non-core assets so that it can maintain spending for R&D.

MAN ERF has won a contract from the UK's Armed Forces to deliver one of the most advanced support vehicle fleets in the world. The £1bn contract has been announced by UK Defense Procurement Minister Lord Bach. The contract calls for delivery from 2007 of over 5,000 modern, versatile and robust support vehicles, with an option to buy thousands more under consideration.

Mercedes-Benz plans to build at least 75,000 units a year of a small SUV that will be pitted against the BMW X3. The vehicle, code-named, SUT204, is being developed on the platform for the next C-Class and is expected to go on sale in Europe in 2007. The vehicle is to be assembled in Bremen, Germany or possibly Brazil.

MG Rover , the last major British-owned carmaker, has collapsed and called in administrators.  The 100-year-old carmaker, which once produced the iconic Mini and the Land Rover, had hoped to stay alive with an investment by China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. but the two companies failed to reach a deal.  The company's demise means 5,000 jobs will go at its vast Longbridge plant near Britain's second city Birmingham and another 15,000 jobs could be affected at suppliers.

Navistar International has announced that its operating company International Truck and Engine Corporation in partnership with SanYang Industry Company Ltd of Taiwan won a five-year contract worth approximately $400 million U.S. for the delivery of up to 5,000 trucks to the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense. The contract was awarded April 13 and is set to be signed within the next few weeks. Delivery of completed vehicles will begin in May 2006.

Renault is starting production of its Logan vehicle in Russia at a $300 million plant in Moscow.  Renault's Russian subsidiary Avtoframos will produce the car at the new plant with an initial capacity for 60,000 vehicles per year. Renault has set a total sales target of 100,000 vehicles in Russia by 2008. The feasibility of doubling the plant's capacity to 120,000 vehicles per year in the medium term is currently under study.

Rolls-Royce , the favorite car-maker of the maharajas, has returned to India after almost 50 years away. For much of the last century, Rolls-Royce produced bespoke automobiles for some of India's richest princes but prohibitive import restrictions imposed during the days of the Cold War effectively ended the Indian love affair with the marque.  But the company recently announced it had sold a Rolls-Royce Phantom to a 33-year-old stud farm owner.

Skoda says it will start assembling cars in China during 2007. The Czech unit plans to assemble its mid-sized Octavia models at the Shanghai Volkswagen plant. "We expect about 40,000 units be made in 2007" said Skoda spokesman Jaroslav Cerny, adding the total should rise to 50,000 to 80,000 in the following years, depending on market developments. Skoda said it wanted to gradually raise the proportion of domestically-supplied parts to cut costs.

Tofas, the Turkish vehicle maker , has signed an agreement with France's PSA Peugeot Citroen and Italy's Fiat for the joint development and production of light commercial vehicles. The new vehicle, named Minicargo, is scheduled for rollout in 2008.  Tofas, a joint venture between Fiat and Turkey's Koc Holding, said the vehicles would be produced at its plant in Bursa, in northwestern Turkey.

Tower Automotive , which filed for bankruptcy protection in February, says it will cut 800 workers, or 6.7 % of its work force, by closing 3 U.S. plants and cutting back at a fourth to trim excess capacity and costs. Tower, which produces auto body structures and frames, expects to close plants in Belcamp, Md., Bowling Green, Ky., and Corydon, Ind., by June 30. It will also cut workers at a facility in Granite City, Ill.

Toyota is eyeing a parcel of land in western Ontario to build a new assembly plant to meet growing sales for the Japanese automaker, a Canadian national newspaper reported on Tuesday. The Globe and Mail, citing industry sources, said Toyota has zeroed in on a 1,000-acre site in Woodstock, Ontario for a C$600 million ($492 million) car assembly plant that would create about 1,500 jobs.

TRW Automotive is setting up a research and development center in Poland that will employ 250 engineers. By the end of the year about 100 engineers will be employed, and the full staff of 250 engineers will be employed by the end of 2008. In recent years, Poland has won about a dozen big auto-parts investments, including a $50 million diesel engine filter plant announced this month by Japan's NGK, but lost out in competitions for car plants to neighboring countries.

On the lighter side .... some strange but true stories.

A nationwide survey in Italy has revealed that Italians spend one mile in five lost or going the wrong way.

A monk in Bangkok who was arrested for having 60 stolen cars at his temple, told the police that he was planning to use them to open a museum.

In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, drivers are allowed to run red lights if they can prove armed robbers were in pursuit.

Florida nurse Janet Kemble crushed her car after learning that the last owner had died in it. She said that a ‘presence’ nudged her when she drove.

Worried about the poor performance of his new 1996 Toyota Camry, the owner took it to a garage in Slidell, Louisiana, USA.  There mechanics found 2 bricks of cocaine strapped around the fuel line.

Motorist John Kemble of Australia got 3 parking tickets when a pay-and-display machine broke down. Three times he walked to the Sydney council offices to complain and each time he returned to a fine.

A Minnesota motorist with the number plate ‘TIPSY’ was charged with drink-driving.  In court the man claimed that the plate referred to his car’s handling, not his tendency to drink.

Police in Naples, Italy arrested 29 couples in a car park for lewd behaviour.  The lovers were charged with obscenity violations, and 3 couples have since got engaged.