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General Motors to invest more than $850 million to build new V8s

General Motors Co. said Tuesday it will invest more than $850 million to upgrade five North American factories to make its next-generation V8 engines more fuel efficient. The new V8s will differ from the current versions by using direct injection and a new combustion system, spokeswoman Sharon Basel said.

Hyundai increasing European production to 500,000 a year

Hyundai are upping production in Europe to 500,000 per annum There’s an awful lot of sense in car makers designing and building cars for the markets they serve locally, and it’s a route Hyundai has followed in Europe, where the majority of their sales are of European built models, not imports. With Hyundai sales still growing despite the European car market meltdown, Hyundai are increasing capacity in Europe to keep up with demand with further investment in their plant in Ízmit, Turkey. Originally, the Ízmit plant produced just 60,000 cars a year, but in 2007 that was increased to 125,000 and now it is being increased to 200,000 so the new i10 can be built there as well as the latest i20.

Chevrolet Mi-ray concept gets a new ‘mid-electric' hybrid powertrain

General Motors Co. has unveiled a sporty South Korean-developed concept car that showcases a "mid-electric" hybrid powertrain that can run on electric-only front-wheel drive or tap a gasoline engine to turn the rear wheels for extra power. Dubbed the Chevrolet Mi-ray, Korean for "future," the compact, open roadster gets a carbon fiber body mounted on an aluminum chassis for lightweight performance.