Volkswagen Group will keep pouring money into new vehicles, technology and factories as it chases Toyota for the lead as world’s largest automaker.
VW plans to invest €85.6 billion ($106 billion) over the next five years, the company said Friday. The plan calls for an increase in average annual spending on auto operations to about €17.1 billion a year, compared with €16.8 billion under its previous rolling five-year budget.
The United States will be the biggest market for the new Mercedes-AMG GT and is expected to account for 25 percent of the car’s worldwide volume.
Mitsubishi gave the Mitsubishi Concept XR-PHEV plug-in hybrid its North American debut at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show. Mitsubishi said that the Concept XR-PHEV crossover hints at its future design direction for production vehicles in North America and further reaffirms the automaker’s commitment to the US market.
By Martin Dokoupil
Ford’s drive to make its sport utility vehicles (SUV) and other models lighter to save fuel and boost performance will not be delayed by a recent drop in oil prices, Executive Chairman Bill Ford said on Wednesday.
Lexus has revealed a 2+2 Roadster model called the LF-C2 at the LA Auto Show. Lexus is calling the car a concept, but it shares a lot of design cues with the current IS and upcoming RC models, so it is a likely candidate for production. Expect it in the UK from 2016.
