Suzuki and Toyota are radically increasing production in China, in an attempt to compensate for faltgering sales in more established markets. Thomson Financial News (via Forbes) reports that Suzuki plans to double production "as early as next year" at its Chonqing-based ChangAn factory. The plant currently churns out 100k Chinese-market Altos. But a recent $144m investment in a new 1.5-liter engine for the ubiquitous (in China) hatchback, and a forthcoming additional $100m + investment in assembly lines, will see production rise to 200k annual units. Toyota is likewise betting long on China; a new factory is under works now in Jilin. Set to open production "some time next decade," the factory will lift ToMoCo's China production to over 1m per year. This will make China the number two manufacturing location for Toyota after the United States, where it builds some 1.5m vehicles annually. This will knock Hyundai out its position of top car manufacturer in China, after the Koreans recently spent nearly $800m to increase output to 600k per year.

At $115.07 a barrel, oil prices appears to have hit an all-time high. But the Economist reports that a Deutsche Bank analyst says chill; that oil is still more affordable than it was in the 1980's. Michael Lewis adjusts oil prices for inflation, by which he proves that pegged to the producer-price index oil is at an all-time high. BUT when you adjust the price for gains in the consumer-price index, oil has to hit the $118/barrel mark to reach a new record. This revelation led Lewis to compare the price of oil to gains in Western consumer's incomes. He found that the annual income of a G7 citizen would have bought 318 barrels of oil in 1981. To match this price (relative to income), oil would have to increase to $134/barrel. What's more, in 1980 American consumers spent some eight percent of their disposable income on energy, compared to 6.6 percent today; a difference that would require oil to climb to $145 to match. By measuring global oil consumption, Lewis also finds that worldwide spending also peaked in 1980 at 5.9 percent, compared to 3.6 percent today. To reach that percentage of global expenditure, oil would have to jump to $150/barrel. In short, gas prices have risen, but global gains in prosperity mean that oil is actually cheaper today than it was at the end of the Carter Administration. Whew!

Yet another major manufacturer is jumping into the entry-level segment defined by Tata Motors' Nano subcompact. Reuters reports that Mitsubishi is developing a low-cost car for the Chinese and Thai markets, based on its Kei-class city car platform. Mitsu Prez Osamu Masuko announced the project at the Beijing Auto Show. "The mini vehicle business in a sense is a weakness because they are only sold in Japan," Masuko said. "But we can turn this into a strength by building a global car using the platform." The Japanese government-mandated 660cc engine will be replaced by a one-liter unit for export, with the resulting ride priced at just shy of $10k. With North American sales plummeting, Mitsubishi is joining the industry trend of looking to developing markets for sales, both from entry-level models and as a partner to suppliers of engines for Chinese manufacturers. Mitsubishi's Chinese engine factory partners will be increasing capacity to some 900k units per year, up from 470k, as Chinese demand booms.

London's controversial congestion charge suffered a setback last week, when Transport For London (TFL) admitted that the charges to enter central London have not improved traffic. Although TFL claimed that the £8 daily charge had produced a thirty percent improvement in congestion after its introduction in 2003, gains have been rolled back to the point where improvements have been reversed. The Automobile Association explains the conundrum to Courier Exchange, saying "The trouble is, by closing off side streets and short cuts and re-phasing traffic lights for pedestrians – all for laudable reasons – TfL has stifled traffic. Add to that pavement build-outs, re-engineered junctions, and you can see why congestion is rising." This likely comes as bad news to London Mayor Ken Livingstone who is currently running for re-election on a platform that includes raising the congestion charge to a whopping $50. 

Despite the fact that Japan has some of the lowest rates of auto theft in the entire developed world, Honda is introducing an on-board navigation feature which will alert drivers when they park near reported crime hotspots. The system will automatically route information about criminal activity from police computers to participating navigation systems, providing news of recent thefts, damaged vehicles and break-ins. The system will also rate districts by risk levels, telling drivers which vehicular crimes have afflicted the immediate area. Honda has not announced whether the system will be offered outside of Japan. For now US motorists will only be able to monitor the police wirelessly. Priorities.

TheMustangNews.com has been keeping their ears to the ground for some time now, listening for whispers of the rebirth of the 5.0 Mustang. Although they couldn't get Ford USA to spill the beans, they have found proof from Ford Australia that US development and production of a 5.0-liter V8 is indeed in the works. Ford Australia boss Bill Osborne let the 5.0 development hint slip when discussing the new Ford Falcon with stuff.co.nz. Osborne revealed that Ford Australia was debating whether to keep the current Aussie-produced 5.4-liter BOSS V8 for new, hot Falcons, or replace it with a "5.0-litre V8 to be developed and built in North America for the Ford Mustang." While the Aussies dream of turbo- or supercharging the 5.0, it's  likely to sell stateside only in it's naturally-aspirated 350 – 375 hp form. CAW President Buzz Hargrove had hinted earlier that a 5.0 V8 could be produced at Canada's Windsor Ontario plant. So it looks like high-school 5.0 dreams may come true for the few latter day pistonheads who can afford the gas.

Calling the future is a tough one. Forty years ago, the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey predicted that we would be making regularly scheduled Pan-Am flights to giant space stations and moon bases by now. Of course, in our brave future world of 2008, not only is Pan-Am dead and buried, but the only thing currently flying to the moon is a Chinese mapping probe. When deciding what car you will be driving in 15 years, there are numerous pitfalls to consider. Will you and I be able to afford gas in fifteen years? Will there be anything resembling an American auto manufacturing business? Will the Volt still be another year from production? Will the planet be ruled by damn dirty apes? For every possible future, there's a different car to drive. Take us there, oh Best and Brightest… 

A strike deadline passed today for GM's Warren transmission plant, with negotiators agreeing to work into the weekend to reach an agreement. This glimmer of hope comes as GM endures strikes at suppliers American Axle and Alliance Interiors as well as its Lansing Delta Township factory. Detroit News reports that the Warren negotiators are deadlocked over implementation of the new two-tier wage structure, a nationally negotiated deal which has run caused numerous issues (including the Delta Township strike) as individual plants struggle to determine which jobs are "core" to vehicle production and which aren't. The American Axle strike has stopped or slowed production at some two dozen GM plants, leaving GM's entire supply chain at risk as negotiators slowly fumble towards an agreement. If negotiations at the Warren plant break down over the weekend, the 1k workers there could join the thousands of striking UAW workers, leaving GM without production of four and six-speed transmissions.

An internet website called Autoblog is reporting (through the hilarious power of Google translate) that Chinese battery firm BYD will unveil a plug-in EV minivan next week. The e6 strikes the Autoblog crew as reminiscent of a J-Market Honda Odyssey. On the whole, you have to admit the comparison reflects pretty well on a company that was building cell phone batteries not so long ago. But enough of my gushing, on to the stats: 186 mile range on full charge (220V), 0-62 in 10 seconds, and a top speed of 99 mph. Details on the recharging process are "dodgy," as Autoblog calls the translated hilarity. "The battery slowly filling civilian 220 V power supply; fast charge for the three C rechargeable battery, about 15 minutes can be a battery 80%," is the official word. But don't worry, the safety is fine. "The car carrying iron batteries at high temperatures, high pressure, impact tests testing, safety performance is very good, will not be explosions." Autoblog gives BYD the benefit of the considerable doubt, by assuming these "iron batteries" which "will not be explosions" are, in fact, lithium ion batteries. Why don't we all just wait until it gets an official launch in Beijing next week? After all, "e6 will be one or two years before the formal launch…" 

Autocar reports that Acura is finalizing the redesign of their new, front-engined NSX. The latter-day version of the Ayrton Senna-fettled "everyday supercar" will lead the luxury brand's charge into the Eurozone come 2010. Pistonheads may recall that the new NSX was supposed to debut at last year's Tokyo Auto Show. Honda's bosses were unimpressed with the final design; they've pushed the release back a year. The nose of the 550hp V10-powered monster has received special attention. Sources inside Honda tell Autocar that "it now has Chevrolet Corvette overtones." The NSX will be followed by a range of rear wheel-drive (RWD) sedans. First out of the box: a 7-series-fighter set to debut in 2015. And then, perhaps, they'll release an S2000-based sportscar aimed at Mercede's SLK. Acura faces an uphill battle in establishing a foothold in Europe's brand-loyal luxury market. But a revamped lineup of capable, RWD performance machines can only help.

Wired Magazine's Autopia blog reports on Ford's use of nanotechnology to lighten cars and improve fuel efficiency. Ford announced its efforts to harness the manipulation of materials properties at the atomic level at the 2008 SAE Conference, estimating 70 percent of its automotive materials will be modified or redefined by nanotechnology by 2015. Fords says its nano-scientists (speciality, not size) are working to reduce vehicle weight by 250 to 750 pounds across the board. Ford will also be exploringnanotechnology to create brighter, non-chipping, heat-dissipating paint and improved alloys for engine castings. A German Ford lab has already developed a nano-coating spray which could replace cast-iron cylinder liners. Bringing the cost down on such bleeding-edge developments will be a major issue. But Ford's goal of significantly lightening its entire fleet is laudable. Lighter cars are more efficient, handle better and accelerate faster… Who doesn't want more of that?

S&P has upgraded Daimler's long term corporate credit rating, from a BBB+ to an A-. According to Thomson Financial News (via CNN Money), the S&P "expects Mercedes-Benz cars to be able to improve profitability further, based on the new models available and the better resilience to adverse economic trends generally attributed to premium cars, despite the weakening of the U.S. automotive market, where about one-fifth of Mercedes-Benz cars are sold." Got all that? With earnings on track to meet investor goals, Daimler is not resting on its laurels. The Car Connection reports that Daimler will be upping R&D spending, with plans to drop $21b between now and 2010. Claiming that Daimler has made significant breakthroughs in Lithium Ion battery cooling systems, CEO Dieter Zetsche laid out Daimler's development path. "(It is) clear that we won't be changing our strategy and building only small cars from now on now on," says Dr. Z. "Our route to sustainable mobility is based on technological innovations, not renunciation… we aim to offer at least one model in each of the Mercedes-Benz core model series that a leader in fuel consumption." But, in what appears to be a case of either ADD or indecision, Daimler will continue to push hydrogen vehicles. "To date, Daimler has made more progress with fuel cell technology than any another automaker and we plan to expand our lead in this area," say Zetsche.

Chrysler LLC announced today that it has opened a design office in China, a move the Detroit Free Press calls "part of a much larger expansion by the Auburn Hills automaker to beef up its product design efforts outside the United States." While Chrysler slashes as many as 25k North American jobs this year, it plans on recruiting 1k engineers outside from outside the United States. Chrysler's Chinese operations are expanding to include more local suppliers, in India the local engineering staff is set to double. Arguing that Chrysler is designing models specific to rapidly growing markets abroad, VP for product development Frank Klegon points to the success of its Mexico division (which is set to add 450 new staff). "They're already doing unique product for Mexico that's designed and developed in Santa Fe and for sale in Mexico by themselves," says Klegon. "It's a resource center that we're building upon. They started out as more of a vehicle development and test facility and moved them into design." But something doesn't add up here. If this is all about "unique products for unique markets," then why is Chrysler selling a rebadged (Chinese) Chery A1 in Mexico as a Dodge?

Find something bad to say about biofuels, and its defenders will likely simply point to second-generation biofuels as the way forward. The problem has been that nobody has actually been commercially producing a second-generation biofuel based on biomass instead of food-grade grains and oils. Until now, that is. Auto Motor und Sport reports that Choren, a joint venture of Shell, Daimler and Volkswagen, has opened the worlds first biomass-to-liquid (BTL) fuel plant in Freiberg, Germany. It will be a few months before the first drops of BTL diesel hit the market, but once production ramps up the plant will pump out 4.75m gallons of the fuel every year. Choren's BTL process involves relatively dry (10-15 percent moisture) biomass which is gasified under high heat and then liquified (biofuel wonks can check out more details at Green Car Congress), extracting a diesel fuel. The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in Heidelberg reckons that although the BTL fuel is net beneficial when compared to Soy or Rapeseed-based biodiesel, there are emerging technologies which could better utilize the biomass used in the BTL process. The German Minister of Industry likewise warns that while production costs are low when making small batches using straw and forest waste, further research is needed to better understand the impacts of broad proliferation of the biofuel. At least it won't raise the price of beer!

Auto Express has new details and a rendering "produced using exclusive insider information" of VW's new city car, the up! Shown in concept form at the 2007 Frankfurt IAS, the up! is a rear-engined city car, powered by a 600cc turbocharged two-pot engine in both diesel and gas form. Eco-friendly is the name of the game for the up!, which is targeting 100g of C02 per km driven and an eye-popping 94mpg. The rear-engine design is not in aid of tail-happy hoon potential, but rather improving crumple zones. A five-door MPV version is also planned, although it will likely have the same height and wheelbase as the tiny three-door. The up! will go on sale first in emerging markets like China and India, where stripped-out versions will retail for about $8k. More luxurious versions will head to Europe later, including rebadged SEAT and Skoda models that will run consumers nearly $15k. With the success of Fiat's 500, BMW's MINI, Daimler's SMART and (presumably) Toyota's iQ, the subcompact city car market is finally approaching maturity. [Ed: We resisted saying the only way is up! Because it isn't. Obviously.]