Mastretta MXT aiming for European launch in 2015

Though a number of foreign automakers have located their North American assembly plants in Mexico, our neighbors to the south are hardly known for producing their own cars under their own names. But performance-oriented startups are trying their best to upset that notion. VUHL is one such notable exception. The recently surfaced RON Automóviles is another. But those who keep up with their Top Gear may be more familiar with the name Mastretta.

Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May might have had their fun at Mastretta's expense – and indeed that of Mexico as a whole – but the Hispanic sportscar manufacturer is bouncing back. Having missed its target last year, Mastretta is aiming to start exporting its MXT next year to Europe. The region isn't lacking for its own domestically produced sports cars, so Mastretta is upping its game.

Instead of the 2.0-liter Ford Duratec engine that has powered previous versions of the MXT, Autocar reports that Mastretta is installing the newer EcoBoost unit from the Ford Focus ST (like its countryman, the VUHL 05) and coupling it with refused front-end styling and a lighter curb weight. Whether the updates will be enough to make the revised Mastretta MXT stand out in an already crowded market remains to be seen, but we'll be interested to see our Mexican compatriots give it a try.