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.

Infiniti G Convertible

The second-generation Infiniti G37 coupe - badged Nissan Skyline in Japan - was previewed by the Coupe Concept at the 2006 NAIAS show and debuted in production form at the 2007 New York Auto Show. Now, at the 2008 LA Auto Show, the convertible version has appeared with a three-part folding hardtop, following BMW's lead with the conceptually similar 3-Series cabriolet. Powered exclusively by a 3.7-liter V6, the G37 convertible comes with a specification that includes leather seats, a 'power walk-in' device that electrically moves the front seats out of the way to help ingress and egress to the rear, and air-conditioning that automatically detects whether the roof is up or down.

Bentley Crossover and Sport Hatch/Estate planned

Bentley are planning an 'Allroad' Estate type car and a two-door Shooting Brake hatch These rumours crop up from time to time – new entry-level models from prestige car makers – but perhaps we need to take some of them a bit more seriously now the world seems to be on a down-sizing path. So we thought it worth at least giving a nod to the rumour that Bentley are planning a pair of entry-level models to slot in below the Continental – in the £70k bracket. Especially as they come from the pen of Georg Kacher, a well-connected and well-respected car journo.