Mexico

Nissan is tapping the expertise of its major Mexican dealership groups to break into southern states with large Hispanic populations like Texas and California in a drive to increase its share of the US market.

An explosion in Mexico City has caused at least seven deaths and 54 injuries, four of which were children, after a truck carrying natural gas sprung a leak while refilling empty tanks at a maternity hospital. Many more a presumed trapped in the rubble.

Mexico has built over three million cars in a year for the first time, and is a big part of the surge in North American auto production.

This month, Audi said it will boost spending by two billion euros ($2.5B US) over the next five years, for a total outlay of 24 billion euros from 2014 to 2019. Something like 70 percent of those billions will be spent on new models, technology like "connectivity and lightweight construction," and factory expansion at its plants in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm.

There's just something incredible about watching a skilled trials motorcycle rider at work. The combination of amazing balance and understanding just the right amount of throttle and brake inputs seems daunting to even begin to learn.

It seems Takata has manufacturing issues beyond the technical details of its airbags. The Japanese company is not in the good graces of American authorities after declining a national recall in response to faulty airbag deployments, while authorities in Mexico are unhappy with health and safety issues at Takata's plant in Monclava, Mexico, where millions of inflators are being produced to service automaker recalls.

It seems like auto buyers throughout the whole world outside of the United States and Canada have a plethora of small pickups to choose from to fit their needs. In fact, there's one just south of the border that might be perfect for many American consumers – the 2015 Ram 700.

The Toyota Tacoma may be getting on in age, but that isn't stopping the Japanese manufacturer from ramping up production at the pickup's Baja California factory. The Mexican plant will soon be home to another 300 jobs as it increases total capacity by 41 percent. The increase is slated for April 2015.

Kia is the latest in a string of automakers to announce plans to build new or expanded factories in Mexico. The Korean company has signed a $1 billion deal to establish a plant in Monterrey in the state of Nuevo León, with construction starting in late September. If everything proceeds on schedule, the facility should be complete in the first half of 2016 and be able to produce 300,000 vehicles a year.

As range anxiety lessens, and more chargers are installed along major roadways, increasing numbers of people are taking road trips in their electric vehicles. The Tesla Model S in particular has become the go-to vehicle for electric touring. When equipped with the 85-kWh battery pack, the Model S offers up to 265 miles of range, which is a respectable distance to cover in one sitting. It's still notable, though, when a Model S driver makes a particularly long trek, especially when much of the ro

Ever since we saw that spy shots of the 2016 Chevy Volt, we've been hungering for more information on the next-gen version of GM's green halo car. It appears we might not have long to wait, at least for an official tease.

After a string of recent announcements from automakers, Kia may be the next business to break ground on a factory south of the border. The Korean company is reportedly nearly finished with negotiations to build a $1.5-billion plant near the city of Monterrey in the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon. The state's secretary of economic development confirmed the news to Reuters and anticipated talks to be completed in the first two weeks of August. Unnamed insiders also said that the location was aiming f

Formula One racing in North America has come a long way in the last few years. Having been absent from the calendar from 1992 through 1998 and again from 2008 through 2011 (when American racing fans could only catch the Canadian Grand Prix up in Montreal), the United States Grand Prix is now a regular fixture on the calendar at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX. There's even a second race in the works for the New York/New Jersey area, if that ever actually gets off the ground. And next y

After over a year of speculation, BMW is finally officially announcing that it's building a factory in Mexico. The new plant will cost the German automaker roughly $1 billion US and will have a capacity of about 150,000 vehicles a year when complete. However, production won't begin there until 2019.

Chrysler and Mitsubishi have had a close relationship since the early '70s. Back then, they partnered up to sell the Japanese brand's models under American names as captive imports in the US. Vehicles like the Dodge Colt, Eagle Summit, and eventually the 3000GT/Stealth twins and lots of other cars and trucks became the fruits of that alliance. In fact, the two companies still maintain a good rapport, as evidenced by reports of a new deal to sell the Mitsubishi Attrage, also known the Mirage G4,

It's official, folks: After initial reports last week indicated that Mercedes-Benz was preparing to begin assembly at the Nissan plant in Aguascalientes, Mexico, the two parent companies have announced just that. Only instead of using the existing Nissan plant at the site (in operation since 1992), Daimler and the Renault-Nissan Alliance have announced a joint venture to build a new one alongside it.

There has always been something singularly romantic about train travel, what with its steady speed and constant sound. Mexican artists Ivan Puig and Andrés Padilla Domene felt the pull of the rails, but since Mexico privatized its railways in 1995, passenger travel has essentially disappeared. They didn't let that discourage them, though. Instead, they pushed ahead to create their own way to explore the country's roughly 6,000 miles of abandoned tracks.

Volkswagen may have paved the way for American customers to get used to the idea of German cars produced in Mexico, but it won't be the only one for long. BMW is said to be considering production of the 1 Series, 3 Series and Mini south of the border, Audi is working on its own factory in San Jose Chiapa, and now Mercedes-Benz is reported to be following suit as well. Only instead of building its own plant, Daimler is tipped to use a Nissan factory in Aguascalientes.

Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn may not be intimately familiar with the Dean Martin 1962 classic South of the Border, but he may as well start crooning the standard now. The Japanese automaker said this week that the Nissan Leaf will officially be the first mass-produced battery-electric vehicle to be sold in Mexico. So break out the horn section.

Mexico has long been a hot spot for auto manufacturing, but the country's fortunes have been boosted lately, with Honda, Mazda and Nissan recently adding factories there, and BMW is said to be poised to join them soon. Now, new reports indicate that Kia might start building south of the border to keep up with demand.

Crossovers are one of the dominant global vehicle segments of the moment, and Volkswagen is realizing that to grow sales as quickly as it wants, the business needs more of them in the lineup. However, the US might miss out on some of this CUV bonanza because the company is still waffling over where to build the Crossblue.