VENTURE CAPITAL POST

German carmaker Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) will next week announce an investment worth around $1 billion in Mexico to expand its Puebla plant, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

German carmakers are shifting their focus toward high-end electric vehicles such as the Audi R8 e-tron and away from cheap city cars, in the latest effort to revive environmentally-friendly but unpopular zero-emission vehicles.

German car maker Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) will recall 80,000 cars from its luxury division Audi due to issues with the fuel injection system, Audi said on Saturday, adding that around 35,000 of the affected vehicles are from China.

Hyundai Motor Co said on Tuesday it would build two factories in China, its first new manufacturing plants since 2012 as the South Korean automaker bets on growth in the world's biggest car market even as the economy slows.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) (FCHA.MI) (FCAU.N) began meeting U.S. investors on Friday after launching a $2.5 billion convertible bond issue and a share sale to reduce its debt pile and fund an ambitious investment plan.

Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) is to invest 85.6 billion euros ($106 billion) in its automotive operations over the next five years to push foreign expansion, new models and technology to back its quest for global leadership.

U.S. carmaker Ford is hesitant about investing further in its South African operation because of repeated production stoppages caused by strikes, its regional chief said on Thursday.

When he attended design preview meetings for the Genesis luxury sedan, Hyundai Motor heir-apparent Chung Eui-sun suggested features he'd seen on high-end European rivals, such as a pop-up navigation screen and a gearshift that rises and retracts.

Succession is not an imminent topic at Daimler or Volkswagen, the chief executives of both carmakers said on Thursday, adding that any potential candidates would most likely come from within their respective companies.

Automakers in Brazil are facing the sharpest slowdown since 1999 and it could be a year or more before things turn the corner.

General Motors Co's (GM.N) global sales rose 2 percent in the third quarter, driven by strong demand in the two largest auto markets in the world, China and the United States.

German automaker Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) group sales rose 3 percent in September to 881,300 vehicles, contributing to a 5.3 percent rise in sales for the nine-month period ending in September, the company said on Friday.

Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) keeps lavishing money on supercar maker Bugatti, its most exclusive brand, even as the German group plans painful cuts in its core auto business.

German luxury automaker Daimler (DAIGn.DE) has cut its growth forecast for the global car market, blaming cooler demand in emerging markets and a plunge in Russian sales which has put a fledgling European industry recovery in jeopardy.

Carmakers are betting on style and recycling in the battle for Europe's burgeoning small car market, adding hi-tech safety and entertainment features while often using older vehicle underpinnings as a way to keep prices down.