Shanghai, September 5 (Gasgoo.com) BMW Brilliance Auto, German luxury carmaker BMW’s joint venture with Brilliance China Auto, will build a second plant in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province, to meet growing demand in China, and the new facility is expected to make all-new BMW 5-Series models first, xinhuanet.com said yesterday.

At a ceremony marking the joint venture’s fifth anniversary and the rolling of its 100,000th vehicle on Thursday, Liu Guoqiang, vice-governor of Liaoning province, said that the new plant will double BMW Brilliance’s annual production capacity to 80,000 cars. Construction of the new factory is to kick off in October, and the facility will start operation by the end of 2009, with the new-generation BMW 5-Series (name-coded BMW F18) as the first models to be made there.

BMW Brilliance Auto chief executive officer Alfred Rupp confirmed that expansion work was planned, without commenting on the final capacity for the factory. A second plant was also under discussion, he said. The venture said in March that it was expanding its annual capacity to 41,000 vehicles this year from 30,000 through plant upgrades and other measures. BMW Brilliance, which yesterday had its 100,000th car rolling off line, makes 17 variants in total of BMW’s 3-Series and 5-Series models.

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Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced that it will display the concept model of its all-new Insight dedicated hybrid vehicle at the 2008 Paris Motor Show (October 2–19; Press Days: October 2–3). Honda is introducing the advanced Insight to meet the needs of customers in a new era of widespread demand for hybrid vehicles.

The name Insight was chosen to denote Honda’s “insight” into a new era in which hybrid vehicles come within reach of most car buyers.

A five-door, five-passenger compact hatchback, the new Insight will feature an innovative new platform in which the battery and control unit are located beneath the cargo space for exceptional utility and a light, pleasing driving feel. The new Insight features Honda’s innovative, highly efficient compact hybrid powerplant, in which a gasoline engine serves as the main power source and the electric motor assists when extra power is needed, such as during passing or start-up and acceleration.

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The Mazda MX-5 was refreshen by a change front bumper looks more cool looking than ever.

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Mazda Kiyora, a lightweight, next generation, urban compact concept car, will be revealed at the 2008 Paris International Motor Show to be held from Thursday, October 2 through Sunday, October 19, 2008.

Mazda Kiyora (meaning ‘clean and pure’ in Japanese) represents the harmony between driving pleasure and environmental and safety features aspired to in Mazda’s long-term technology development vision, “Sustainable Zoom-Zoom.”

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1.Honda Fit/Jazz  11,770

2.Toyota Corolla  (Axio,Fielder,Rumion) 7,595

3.Toyota Vitz/Yaris 6,943

4.Honda Freed 5,931

5.Toyota Prius 4,708

6.Mazda Demio/2 4,545

7.Toyota Passo 4,406

8.Suzuki Swift 4,333

9.Nissan Tiida 4,331

10.Toyota Vellfire 4,257

11.Toyota Crown  4,252

12.Nissan Serena  4,207

13.Toyota Voxy  4,090

14.Nissan Note  4,054

15.Toyota Estima  3,478

16.Toyota Noah  3,399

17.Nissan March  3,303

18.Toyota Alphard  3,089

19.Toyota Ractis  2,759

20.Nissan Cube  2,635

21.Toyota STEPWGN  2,489

22.Mazda Biente  2,459

23.Honda Stream  2,288

24.Toyota Wish  2,148

25.Toyota Sienta  2,040

26.Toyota Porte  1,944

27.Toyota Mark-X  1,884

28.Nissan Premio  1,595

29.Toyota Harrier  1,549

30.Toyota bB  1,541

Source : jada.or.jp

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U.S. and foreign automakers are slated to release their August sales results for the United States later today, and they are expected to be dismal, as droves of consumers continued holding off on purchases of big cars and trucks.

The consumer automotive Web site Edmunds.com previously predicted an industrywide sales decline of 14.4% for the month, compared to the same period a year ago.

“Don’t expect to see a major recovery for the remainder of the year,” Jesse Toprak, executive director of industry analysis for Edmunds.com, said in a report that predicted the biggest sales declines would be on the backs of Detroit automakers, who have been losing sales all year.

Edmunds.com estimated that August sales would fall by 34% at Chrysler LLC, which has stopped leasing, 27.5% at General Motors Corp. and 16.3% at Ford Motor Co.

The biggest Japanese automaker, Toyota Motor Corp., is expected to post a 7.2% decline. At half the overall market’s expected decline, that would continue Toyota’s U.S. trend this year: losing sales but gaining market share.

Meanwhile, Edmunds.com predicted that Honda Motor Co. would post a small 0.9% improvement, with Nissan Motor Corp. posting a larger 2.3% gain.

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