Ford Motor Co is expected to announce a major change in its $90-billion-a-year global purchasing process intended to save billions of dollars, according to a media report. The automaker plans, by 2008-09, to offer larger, long-term contracts to a smaller number of vendors, The Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition, citing company officials. Ultimately, Ford aims to shrink from about 2,500 suppliers world-wide to less than 1,000, The Journal reported.

Production of the Land Rover Defender at the Ford Motor Company of SA's plant in Silverton, Pretoria, will cease in November. Since 2000 it has been trying to convince its parent company it was the best choice for production of the Defender for export markets and previously submitted a "strong business plan". Ben Pillay, a spokesperson for the firm, confirmed on Friday the decision by Land Rover, but stressed it would not have any impact on jobs at the plant. Pillay said the company needed extra production capacity at its Silverton plant for the ramp-up of production of the new Ford Focus.
 

Tired of the three-point turn? Nissan Motor Co could have a solution. Japan's second-biggest auto maker took the wraps off a new concept car featuring an egg-shaped cabin atop a wheeled platform that can swivel around 360 degrees, doing away with the need to reverse when emerging from narrow spaces.The model, named Pivo after the word pivot, operates on an experimental system called drive-by-wire, which eliminates the mechanical linkages between cabin and chassis to enable steering, braking and shifting through electronic signals sent to a central computer.
 

Sweden's Autoliv will split contracts worth around $500 million with rival TRW, as auto giant Ford reduces the number of its suppliers, the company said on Friday. "There is an agreement in principal between us and Ford," Autoliv's head of investor relations Mats Odman told Reuters. "We and TRW have together around 75 percent of Ford's contracts for safety systems, and the redistribution relates to the remaining 25 percent. That corresponds to around $500 million."

Vibrating the hands, bottoms and feet of car drivers could cut accidents by 15%, according to research at the UK's Oxford University, bringing a whole new meaning to "driving by seat of your pants".Dr Charles Spence, who lead the research team, has predicted that vibrating warning devices, pioneered by Citroen in the C4 and C5 models, could be common within a few years, along with 'earcons', directed audible warnings that will call a driver's attention to the direction of an approaching hazard.

Nissan Motor Co said it would invest 5.1 billion yen ($45.4 million) to expand an engineering centre in Zama, outside Tokyo, to consolidate the Japanese auto maker's global production engineering function. Construction at the facility, which currently develops and makes production-related tools, will begin next month, with operations expected to start in March 2007, it said in a statement

General Motors sees its Chevrolet brand gaining the most market share of any of its brands in Europe in the next few years, while Opel and Vauxhall will struggle to increase sales, an industry paper said. GM Europe chief Carl-Peter Forster said of Chevrolet: "By 2010 I would like a rise from 180,000 to 350,000 units -- partly thanks to new products in the portfolio."

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co outlined plans to cut costs by up to $1 billion over the next three years, close plants and sell some assets to counter high commodity prices and pension costs. Goodyear, the largest U.S. tire maker, said it would cut costs by $750 million to $1 billion over the period, taking cash charges of $150 million to $350 million for the restructuring. The company's stock rose 3 percent. Goodyear expects to cut high-cost manufacturing capacity by 8 percent to 12 percent to generate savings of about $100 million to $150 million per year.

Sales of the Mini are on course to hit a new record of more than 200,000 this year, providing a further boost to BMW's Oxford plant which makes the iconic model. Production and employment are expected to rise further when BMW launches a new generation of the car in 2007 and also begins to make the Mini's engines in the UK. BMW estimates that the so-called "Mini triangle" - with the cars being assembled in Oxford, body pressings coming from its Swindon plant and engines being made at the Hams Hall plant near Birmingham - will create 6,000 jobs in the region.

U.S. auto giant General Motors hopes to raise passenger car production in Poland by almost 50 percent next year, thanks to new production lines in its southern Polish plant, the company said. General Motors Europe Chairman Fritz Henderson said newly completed investments should enable the factory in Gliwice to churn out 180,000 units next year, versus an estimated 129,000 in 2005. The new lines add GM's new Opel Zafira model to the existing Astra Classic II and Agila lines produced at the plant.

DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group said Friday it would recall more than 100,000 Jeep Grand Cherokee sport utility vehicles because water contamination of the transmission fluid could lead to fires under the hood. The recall involves 2005 model year vehicles with 3.7 liter engines and automatic transmissions, the automaker said, accounting for about 45 percent of all Jeep Grand Cherokees sold from that year.

Autoliv Inc, the worldwide leader in automotive safety, and Volvo Car Corporation have together developed a new airbag, specially designed for convertibles. The new airbag will be available in Volvo's new convertible, the C70, which will be shown this week for the first time at the Frankfurt Auto Show.The airbag is a new type of curtain airbag that can be installed also in open-roof vehicles such as convertibles. In side-impact collisions, standard curtain airbags are estimated to reduce the risk for fatalities by 50% by protecting the head.

Audi unveiled its first sport utility vehicle, the Q7, an entry it says will compete with other luxury SUVs like the Porsche Cayenne and the Volvo XC90. The vehicle, which starts at $61,000, has Audi's trademark curves as well as some new features, including a warning system that alerts the driver with tones and a noticeable jerk of the car if there is danger of a collision ahead.

James Bond fans in India may soon have a reason to lift their Martini glasses, with the launch of the Aston Martin Vanquish V-12 there next year. But they will have to pay for it. The car retails for more than $300,000 on the international market, but India's steep import duties could double the price."India is currently witnessing a year-on-year growth in the luxury automotive sector," said Thomas Kastgen, chief executive officer of Middle East Aston Martin. "It's important for us not to miss out."

Volkswagen will start making hybrid cars by 2008 with its main Chinese partner and may kick off large-scale production of the energy-efficient vehicles by 2010, the Chinese company said on Thursday. Europe's biggest carmaker is teaming up with Shanghai Automotive in a project that could spur China's hunt for alternative energy sources and curb pollution as demand for cars soars in the world's seventh largest economy. "We expect that large-scale production will start before the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai," Shanghai Auto said

GKN Driveline has developed new torque-sensing technology that eliminates traction problems experienced by some front-drive performance cars, while delivering excellent responsiveness and a sportier driving experience, it says. GKN's Super Limited Slip Differential (LSD) is being introduced on the Mini Cooper S, the first application of this torque-management technology. The option is available on models in the United States and in Europe.
 

AP reports that Toyota has developed a safety technology that it says will keep the driver's eyes on the road. An image-processing computer system developed by Toyota Motor Corp. and a Toyota affiliate uses a camera near the steering wheel to detect when the driver stops looking straight ahead, the report said.
 

Ford Motor Co and PSA Peugeot Citroen will develop two new families of diesel engines as part of their motor cooperation accord, PSA said on Tuesday. In an invitation to an Oct 5 news conference, PSA said the partners would present a new family of common rail diesel engines for light commercial vehicles and one of new 2.2-litre motors for passenger cars. Both will be used in the two companies' products. Ford and PSA have worked together on diesel engines since 1998.
 

Volvo Buses has received its first bus order for the new gas engine, the Volvo 7700. Bernmobil in Switzerland has placed an order for 32 articulated buses, with an option for 39 more. Bernmobil is the local public transport company in the city of Bern. The company has decided to gradually replace its diesel-operated buses with gas buses for environmental reasons. The gas buses will run on biogas which, as opposed to natural gas, doesn't contribute to higher carbon dioxide levels.

Ford Motor Co said on Thursday it expects U.S. sales in 2006 of 130,000 of its new mid-size sedan, dubbed the Fusion. The Fusion, which will be built in Mexico, will go on sale this fall. Ford is also introducing two other mid-size cars -- the Lincoln Zephyr and Mercury Milan -- this fall.