Mitsubishi and PSA Peugeot-Citroen Set Up Joint Venture in Russia

With Russia set to become Europe’s largest single car market in 2009 overtaking Germany, it comes to no surprise that automakers are getting into all sorts of agreements to build new assembly lines. Today, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) and PSA Peugeot Citroën announced that they signed a joint venture agreement to produce vehicles for all 3 brands (Peugeot, Citroën and Mitsubishi) in Russia. -Continued

The new assembly plant will be located on the site of Kaluga, 180 km South-West of Moscow and it will produce mid-range SUVs for Mitsubishi, Peugeot and Citroën brands as well as medium size Peugeot and Citroën vehicles. with an overall installed capacity of 160,000 vehicles. The foundation stone of the plant that will have an overall annual capacity of 160,000 vehicles will be laid on June 10th 2008 in Kaluga with production set to commence in 2011.

Only in Switzerland: Rolls Royce Station Wagon

Our friend Daniel C. spotted this custom made Rolls Royce Station Wagon (from what we can tell, it’s based on the Park Ward), somewhere in the Swiss city of Lausanne and he quickly took a picture of it with his cell-phone -hence the low quality picture. Now, why someone would actually go into all that trouble to transform a Rolls into something that looks as hideous as this, is beyond us. -Merci for the pic Daniel!

Honda Reveals Plans on New Hybrids: CR-Z, Jazz –Fit, Civic & Standalone Model

Honda made it official that it will launch four new hybrid models into a market that has been dominated for years now by Toyota. The announcement was made in a speech by Mr Fukui, President and CEO of Honda Motor Co. in Tokyo today (May 21). The Japanese carmaker’s plans include the introduction of a sporty hybrid based on the CR-Z Concept (pictured above), hybrid versions of the Civic and Fit / Jazz along with an all new standalone model.

According to Mr Fukui, Honda’s dedicated hybrid will be a convenient and compact 5-door/5-passenger size with an exterior design that employs the concept of the FCX Clarity. Honda expects to sell approximately 200,000 units globally of the new car annually, while combined sales of all four hybrids are estimated to reach 500,000 units.