Mexico's Vuhl Details New Ford-Powered 05 Sports Car [24 Photos]

As it turns out, we don't have to wait for next week and the Goodwood Festival of Speed to learn the preliminary details of the first production car from Mexican startup Vuhl, the open-air 05, as the company just came out with a fresh set of pictures and specifications. Read more »

Ferrari U.S. Boss Says Mexico Is the New China

Mexico is the next big thing for luxury automakers, Ferrari North America CEO Marco Mattiacci believes. “Mexico is the next China,” the executive said during a discussion about the future of the luxury industry.

According to Mattiacci, the massive growth anticipated in revenue and manufacturing is not necessarily due to Ferrari, but more to the expansion of the auto industry in the last 13 years because of dramatic wealth creation, increased appetite for industry and important investments from abroad.

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Seat Launches New Leon in Mexico, Its Sixth Biggest Market Worldwide

Seat has released the new Leon in Mexico, a market where the Spanish marque is hoping to consolidate its position among the 10 best-selling brands. Over the past two years, Seat has grown 60 percent in Mexico, largely due to the success of its Ibiza subcompact.

In the first four months of this year, Seat has delivered 7,360 vehicles, accounting for a growth of 8.5 percent and ranking as the ninth best-selling brand in the country.

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New VW Golf Mk7 for North and South America to be Produced in Mexico from Early 2014

CEO Martin Winterkorn wants VW to become the world’s number one automotive group by 2018. While the company is currently is Europe’s number one and it has increased its sales in China, Russia and Brazil, in the U.S., despite posting a 31 percent increase in 2012, it trails both General Motors and Toyota.

With its European sales having plunged by 15 percent due to the debt crisis and the market set for another decline in 2013, the sixth in a row, the German group is focusing its push in the Americas.

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VW Group Opens its 100th Plant Worldwide in Mexico, will Build New TSI Engines

On Tuesday, January 15, the Volkswagen Group cut the ribbon on a new engine plant in Silao in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato. The opening of the factory marks a new milestone for the German automaker as the Silao facility is the group's 100th worldwide plant.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by the President of Mexico, Enrique Peña, the Governor of the state of Guanajuato, Miguel Marquez, and VW Group chief executive Martin Winterkorn.

Engine production in Silao will supply the North American vehicle plants in Puebla, Mexico, and Chattanooga, USA, with the latest generation of TSI turbocharged gasoline engines, including the EA 888 family, a version of which (1.8-liter with 247hp) is featured in the VW Passat Performance Concept that is being displayed at the Detroit motor show.

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Mazda to Boost Capacity at Mexican Plant to 230,000 Units in 2016

Mazda's upcoming plant in Salamanca, Mexico, is still under construction with a launch date set for March of 2014, yet the Japanese carmaker has already made plans to increase its initial annual capacity from 140,000 units to 230,000 units by March of 2016.

According to the company, the reason why it decided to boost capacity is to accommodate the additional annual production of approximately 50,000 Toyota-branded vehicles built under contract, beginning in the summer of 2015, as well as to cater to the worldwide demand of its new SKYACTIV vehicles.

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Honda to Build Fit Hatch, Sedan and Crossover Models at New Mexican Plant

It’s no secret that Honda plans to introduce the new generation of the Fit (sold as the Jazz in Europe) sub-compact next year and by 2015, two more variants based on the same underpinnings, including a small sedan and a crossover model, which we believe to be based on the Urban SUV Concept that was announced earlier today in advance of its Detroit Motor Show debut. Read more »

Mexican Presidential Guard Motorcyclist Overlooks Speed Bump and Goes Flying Into the Air

Seems we spoke a few days too soon when we said that Laurent Cochet, a.k.a. Lolo, a French journalist with the Moto Journal magazine, made the biggest motorcycle fail of the year when he hit a metal post with his Yamaha FJR 1300 and fell face first into a boat.

We now have a new and much stronger candidate for that award, and he comes to us from Mexico. An unnamed police motorcyclist was travelling in front a presidential motorcade in Mexico City when he overlooked the speed bump on the road. Huge mistake…

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Mazda to Build a Toyota-Branded Sub-Compact Based on the Mazda2 in Mexico for North America

Toyota is preparing a new sub-compact model for the U.S., Canada and Mexico that will be based on the Mazda2, with manufacturing to take place at Mazda’s plant in Mexico. The factory is currently under construction and is scheduled to become operational within the fiscal year ending March 2014.

The two companies made the announcement today stating that the as-of-yet, unnamed model will begin production around the summer of 2015 at a pace of 50,000 units per year and will be sold through Toyota dealerships in North America.

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VW Favoring Mexico Plant for North American Golf Mk7, Expected to go on Sale at the End of 2014

One of the reasons why Volkswagen hasn't officially mentioned anything about the North American availability of the new, seventh generation Golf that was presented at the Paris Motor Show last week, is because it hasn't reached a final decision on where it will produce the compact hatchback for the local market.

Nevertheless, that may change soon as VW CEO Martin Winterkorn told German magazine Automobilwoche, a sister publication of Autonews, that the company is leaning towards its factory in Puebla, Mexico, for the North American production of the new Golf. The same plant also builds the Jetta saloon.

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Mercedes and Renault-Nissan to Develop New 4-Cylinder Turbo Engine, Share Auto Transmission

On the sidelines of the ongoing 2012 Paris Auto Show, partners Daimler, owner of the Mercedes-Benz and Smart brands, and the Renault-Nissan Alliance, confirmed plans to collaborate on two more powertrain projects, including a petrol engine and an automatic transmission.

The first project is a jointly developed 4-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine family. The direct-injection petrol unit is said to deliver significant improvement in fuel economy as well as low emissions.

The two automakers will jointly manufacture the new engines that will debut in Daimler, Renault and Nissan vehicles in 2016.

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Renault Releases Updated 2013 Fluence in Mexico, European Model to Follow

The Renault brand has lifted the covers off the facelifted version of the Fluence compact sedan in Mexico, a move that suggests the French carmaker may introduce the European model as early as this week's Paris Motor Show. Read more »

Audi Selects Location for New Mexican Plant, will Build Next Q5 SUV from 2016

Following a decision to erect its first North American, automotive assembly plant in Mexico earlier this year, and after looking at and evaluating a dozen or so locations in the country, Audi announced today that it has chosen San José Chiapa, in the State of Puebla in Central Mexico as the site for its factory. Read more »