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Mazda opens new plant in Salamanca, Mexico

Mazda Motor Corp. chairman Takashi Yamanouchi opened the company's new small-car assembly plant in Mexico today, calling it the company's "most important global strategic base." The factory, which will produce up to 230,000 vehicles each year, is a cornerstone of the structural reform plan "upon which the very future of company hinges," Yamanouchi said in remarks prepared for the opening ceremony. "Mazda's Structural Reform Plan, upon which the very future of the company hinges, positions this plant as our most important global strategic base," Yamanouchi said of the factory, which is about three hours northwest of Mexico City in Guanajuato State.

U.S. seeks 5 percent annual fuel-economy gains through 2016

The Obama administration today proposed gasoline mileage and greenhouse-gas pollution standards for new vehicles for model years 2012 to 2015, filling in the blanks for manufacturers en route to a 35.5 mpg national target in 2016. The Transportation Department and EPA proposal calls for fuel economy to increase by about 5 percent each year, starting from an average of 27.3 mpg for the 2011 model year, the agencies said in a statement. The average car buyer would save more than $3,000 in fuel costs over the life of a vehicle, the statement said.

Hyundai ix20 (2010) first official teaser sketch

Hyundai is the latest car manufacturer to join the mini-MPV party, with the upcoming ix20, and ahead of its preview at the Paris motor show at the end of this month, the Korean company has released this teaser sketch. Designed and developed at Hyundai’s European research and development centre in Rüsselsheim, Germany, the ix20 is essentially Hyundai’s version of sister firm Kia’s Venga.  Hyundai would have you believe it’s a little bit of both – the ‘ix’ moniker has been chosen to suggest its cross-over like capability. The Korean manufacturer says the ix20 is ‘a vehicle with the ability to simultaneously serve as a functional people-carrier while providing a dynamic, fun-to-drive experience’; the Venga has shown that it’s a capable and competent, if unexciting, small MPV.