Dodge Ram production idled at Mexico plant

Another victim of the downturn in sales of full-size pickup trucks was revealed today as Dodge will be closing its Saltillo plant in northern Mexico for a period of two weeks. The plant produced nearly 170,000 Ram trucks last year. Yesterday, Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli indicated that Ram production would need to be adjusted to reflect weak customer demand, and this seems to be the adjustment. According to reports, the plant was idled on Monday and its two-thousand workers are set to return to work on June 23. Last month, sales of the Ram fell by an alarming twenty-five percent. We'd imagine that the last thing Chrysler wants is a large stock of unsold 2008 Ram trucks as it readies the 2009 model, which will thankfully get somewhat better fuel mileage.

Dodge is certainly not the only automaker finding it tough to move large pickups off dealer lots. Both Ford and GM have placed large incentives on their pickups and Toyota, Nissan and Honda have or will shift truck production to passenger cars at plants capable of making the switch.

No camera phones allowed! GM plant electrician fired for Camaro pics

Whenever you walk into an automaker's factory or engineering facility, there are signs prominently displayed letting everyone know that cameras and camera phones are prohibited. Unfortunately for an electrician at the General Motors Assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario where the Camaro is due to begin production late this year he ignored the warning. Worse yet, he took some shots inside the body shop where pilot production units were making their way down the line and then showed them to his kids. The youngsters evidently extracted said photos and shared them with the world.

The electrician with 28 years of seniority has apparently now learned that those signs were not an empty threat. Even though there is nothing particularly secret about how car bodies are welded together or about how the new Camaro looks, GM and other manufacturers are serious about those policies. This employee who apparently just wanted show off a bit for his kids is now unemployed. Was it worth it? If you're going to whip out the camera phone, you might want to be a little more discreet about how you share the pics.

BMW X1 to be built in Leipzig

BMW announced today that it would begin building its entry-level CUV at the automaker's Leipzig plant, alongside the 1- and 3-series. The news confirms rumors that the X1, which has yet to be revealed publicly, will indeed be built on the 3-series platform, lending some amount of sporting cred to the mini 'ute.

BMW hasn't announced what exact markets the X1 is destined for, but the decision to produce in Liepzig is part of BMW's efforts to shift production into the regions in which its vehicles are primarily sold. As such, the next X3 will join the X5 and X6 at BMW's Spartanburg plant, instead of the Magna center where it's currently produced.

Expect the BMW X1 to be revealed later this year or early in 2009.

Fiat buys Zastava to build new Topolino microcar

If you told us a year ago that Fiat was going to sign a deal with the government of Serbia, we'd have laughed. But that was before the country announced that it was accepting tenders for investment in the state-owned automaker Zastava, makers of the famous Yugo (aka Skala 55). The process started back in December when the Serbian government made the announcement, sparking interest from various automakers. But even as recent as last week, the Fiat stance was that it was still considering the proposition. Well, it appears the Italian auto giant has done thinking, and has signed a memorandum of understanding with Serbia to establish a joint venture that involves Fiat investing a staggering 700 million euros (!) into Zastava's manufacturing facilities in exchange for a majority stake in the company, known in full as Zavodi Crvena Zastava. The Serbian government, meanwhile, will contribute some 200 million euros through tax incentives and similar measures.

Fiat has revealed that it will use the Zastava plant to produce the upcoming Topolino microcar. The vehicle will be based on the same platform as the 500 and Panda, but even smaller and positioned below either model, and share the same name as the concept car that previewed the new 500 and originally used on the 1936 runabout pictured above. According to reports, the new Topolino will be a compact two-seater measuring just 3150mm (124 inches) in length, slightly longer than the Smart ForTwo at 2692mm (106 inches). A four-seater version is expected to follow, in addition to an upscale version for the Lancia division.