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News watch May 2011: today's auto industry news

Come to CAR Magazine's news aggregator as we round up the daily stories in the auto industry. Top tip: news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hourTuesday 31 May 2011 • Canada will look to sell their 1.7% share in Chrysler to Fiat, but will be biding their time to see what the US goervment obtain for their own share first.  (autonews.com)• Nissan's St Petersburg, Russia assembly plant will shut down for five days due to lack of engines. The plant, which builds the X-Trail, Murano and Teana midsize saloon models, receives its engines from Japan.

Mercedes-Benz to attempt longest-ever powerslide

Mercedes-Benz aims to top the current world record for the longest-ever powerslide this weekend at the Brooklands circuit in Surrey in the United Kingdom. Mercedes driver Mauro Calo will spend about four minutes sliding either an E63 or a C63 AMG sedan in a 55-mph, third-gear drift. The goal is to rack up 10,000 feet (nearly two miles) sideways, obliterating the existing record of 8,000 feet.

Volvo’s ‘Drive Me’ is the world’s first large-scale autonomous driving pilot project

Yes, you’ll be able to chat on the phone when the Volvo does the driving for you Like it or not, we’re rapidly moving to the point where autonomous cars will be the norm, with the driver only being involved in the act of driving by choice. Volvo – unsurprisingly with their stated goal of making sure no one dies in a Volvo in future – is at the forefront of the move to autonomous driving, and have teamed up with the Swedish Transportation Administration, the Swedish Transport Agency, Lindholmen Science Park and the City of Gothenburg in a project called ‘Drive Me - Self-driving cars for sustainable mobility’. The project kicks off next year with customer research and the development of the necessary technology and Volvo aims to have 100 autonomous cars on the roads of Gothenburg by 2017, where they’ll be driving round approximately 50 kms of selected roads, including commuter roads, motorways and regular queues.