With demand for its i3 EV surpassing BMW’s expectations, the company’s chief financial officer, Friedrich Eichiner, told Bloomberg that the company is considering increasing production of the electric car. Though retail deliveries will not start until next month, over 8,000 orders have been booked so far. Originally, BMW hoped to sell about 10,000 i3s in 2014, but if demand stays high, the company “will adjust capacity according to demand,” Eichiner said at an Amsterdam press conference yesterday. “If demand holds, which is what it’s looking like, we will soon have to invest more.” Read More >

Reuters is reporting that the reason behind PSA/Peugeot Citroen’s financial tie-up with China’s Dongfeng Motors was the decision of General Motors, which owns 7% of the French automaker, to scale back cooperation with Peugeot. GM also apparently rejected a PSA/Opel merger backed by the French government.

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Though Nissan has been selling cars with the Infiniti brand in North America for over two decades, you haven’t been able to buy an Infiniti in Japan. That’a about to change as Nissan will start selling the Infiniti brand at Nissan dealerships in their home market, according to a Nikkei report.

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After 67 years in production, and more than two million produced, many of which are still in severe use, late in 2015 the last Land Rover Defender will roll off the assembly line at Jaguar Land Rover’s Solihull plant. JLR says that the Defender’s demise is because it won’t meet new fuel emissions rules in the EU and cannot be adapted to do so. A replacement model is planned, to be launched in 2016. Land Rover has previously teased the DC100 concept as a possible Defender replacement. John Edwards, who is in charge of product at JLR, said that the Defender’s replacement will be “instantly recognized” by fans of the current Defender, but that it “won’t necessarily be cheap”.

It hasn’t always been called the Defender.

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As Cadillac introduces the all-new 2015 Escalade body-on-frame SUV, the luxury marque is considering extending the Escalade brand to include a large crossover that would slot in between the full size ‘Slade and the midsize SRX CUV. “I think there’s a lot of equity in Escalade,” Bob Ferguson, senior vice president of global Cadillac, told Automotive News at the NYC reveal of the revamped SUV, “I’d like to explore the notion of other vehicles that would carry that brand name.” Read More >

Citing increased inventory due to slower than expected sales, Chrysler will cut production of the SRT Viper from 9 cars a day to just six and reassign some of the workers at the Conner Avenue assembly facility that assembles Chrysler’s V10 powered sports car.

Ralph Gilles, who runs the SRT brand in addition to being in charge of styling for the Chrysler group, said that quality control issues slowed the new Viper’s deliveries to the 443 Chrysler dealers that are certified by SRT to sell the Viper.

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PSA/Peugeot-Citroen is negotiating with China’s Dongfeng Motor to expand their partnership in the world’s largest car market. PSA CEO Philippe Varin told reporters attending the opening of a new factory in Shenzhen, China, on Saturday that the French company is seriously considering selling equity to Dongfeng to fund expansion outside of Europe. The sale could diminish the holdings of the Peugeot family, which holds slightly more than a quarter of PSA shares, below a controlling stake in the French automaker. Earlier this year, Reuters had reported that the Peugeots were willing to relinquish control so that GM could take a larger stake in PSA, though General Motors has since indicated that they don’t plan to increase their holdings in PSA. Read More >

The new 2014 Mazda3 is getting rave reviews for its improved looks to go along with Mazda’s typical best-of-class driving dynamics. Last month, Mazda had its best August sales ever in the United States, with slightly over 28,000 units sold.

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According to Road & Track’s twitter feed, the Alfa Romeo 4c, which the magazine is test driving, will arrive in the United States sometime in the second quarter of 2014 and will have a base price of $54,000. So far R&T reports that on the street the 4C has a very Ferrariesque character, while on the track not so much but that it’s still very fast. At that price it will compete with the Porsche Cayman, though with an annual production of less than 3,000 units planned, it’s safe to assume that some dealers may add on something to the price.

Fifty years ago, in a dispute over a German tariff on chicken imported from the United States, the U.S. government retaliated by slapping a 25% tax on imported trucks and vans, apparently to impact the then popular VW Bus. As sales of small trucks from Japan increased, the American automakers embraced the so-called Chicken Tax as a means of reducing competition. However, now that all three American based car companies sell vehicles that have been made outside the United States, the tariff has come back to haunt at least Ford. Automotive News reports that Ford is now appealing a ruling by U.S. Customs and Border Protection that the way the company imports the Transit Connect commercial vehicle makes it subject to the 25% tariff as opposed to the much smaller 2.5% duty charged on small passenger vans. Read More >

On Wednesday, Kia confirmed to it’s American dealers that they will be getting a version of the full sized rear wheel drive flagship sedan Kia sells as the K9 in Korea and as the Quoris in other markets. The sedan will be called the K900 in North America and it will be the first RWD sedan that Kia has sold in the U.S.

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Volkswagen intends to sell a subcompact SUV in the United States by 2016 and there is a strong possibility that the vehicle will be assembled at VW’s Chattanooga, Tennessee facility. Marc Trahan, executive vice president of VW of America, told reporters at an Automotive Press Association event in Detroit.

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Ford Oakville, Ontario, Canada  Assembly Plant

The Toronto Star is reporting that Ford Motor Co. will soon announce a ~$700US million investment in it’s Oakville, Ontario plant, where it assembles the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX midsize crossovers. According to Toronto’s Globe and Mail newspaper, $135 million of that will come from the Ontario and Canadian governments, which recently divested some of their bailout related shares in General Motors. The investment by Ford follows commitments made to the Canadian Auto Workers, now under the banner of Unifor, to add 600 jobs to the Oakville facility. Read More >

Citing what they say is a need “to accommodate final emissions testing and certification,” Mazda confirmed to Automotive News that the U.S. launch of the diesel powered Mazda6 will be delayed from the end of this year until late April 2014.

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Illustration by Garrett Bradford. All rights reserved, used with permission.

No sooner did Bentley confirm that they will indeed be producing a premium priced crossover, then Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes announced that they will join the other British ultra luxury marque in offering a utility vehicle, likely to cost even more than the Bentley, which is expected to start at about $250,000.

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