+++ FERRARI expects to boost profit this year and has no immediate plans for a share listing, its boss told. "We delivered 2011 net profit of more than 600 million euros and I assume that we will surpass this already excellent result this year", Chairman Luca di Montezemolo told in an interview. He said India above all and eastern Europe offered the greatest growth potential for the Fiat Group unit. Asked about speculation that Ferrari could list its shares in Asia, he said: "I can assure you that there are no plans at all at the moment for a share listing". +++ FORD will become the first automaker to offer seat-belt airbags on a mainstream car in Europe when the next-generation Mondeo goes on sale next year. The 2 rear seat belts inflate in an accident to help reduce head, neck and chest injuries. The extra width of the inflated belt disperses the crash forces over an area five times greater than a normal belt, according to Ford. After an impact, the belt inflates when compressed gas is forced out of a cylinder housed below the rear seat, through the buckle and into the belt. This takes less than 40 milliseconds, according to the company. +++ The MERCEDES-BENZ S-class line-up is set to expand to include 5 variants in the next 2 years. The standard saloon will be followed by a long-wheelbase variant, as well as two super-luxury Pullman versions, stretching to 6 metres or more in length, to fill the void left by the soon-to-be-axed Maybach range. There will be a new S-class coupé to replace the CL and an S-class cabriolet, which was first hinted at by the Ocean Drive concept at the Detroit motor show in 2006. Both are likely to appear in 2014. Unlike the four-door concept, though, the production S-class cabrio will feature a 2-door body, together with a large fabric hood. Others newcomers to Mercedes’ large car segment include facelifted versions of the SLS coupé and roadster in 2015. An electric-powered E-cell version of the SLS is also slated for a market launch next year. Among the so-called full-size models promised is a heavily upgraded version of today’s E-class. It’s in line to receive a major facelift, with all body panels save for its doors and roof set for a restyle next year. Also planned is a new range of engines, including a new base turbocharged 1.8-litre petrol. Alongside the E-class saloon, estate, coupé and cabriolet due for inclusion within Mercedes’ mid-range by 2015 will be a facelifted version of the CLS due out in 2014 and a new CLS Shooting Brake that is planned to get an airing later this year. +++ NISSAN , the biggest Japanese automaker in China, confirmed media reports that it will invest 5 billion yuan ($784 million) to build a new assembly plant in the northeastern city of Dalian. The factory in Liaoning province will produce up to 150,000 cars a year when it starts production in 2014, and output may be expanded to 300,000 units in the future, Nissan's China venture said in a statement today. The plant will be its sixth manufacturing site in the country. Initial reports about the plant began surfacing on June 14, but Nissan declined to confirm them until today. "Nissan's focus has been in the southern part of China and it needs to expand to the northeast to accommodate its growth", Nissan Executive Vice President Hiroto Saikawa told. "The new plant is very important to Nissan's development in China". Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn is increasing production capacity in China, the automaker's largest market, to meet an expected tripling in vehicle ownership in the world's most populous nation. The automaker plans to introduce about 30 models in China by 2015 and to double its sales to more than 2.3 million units. Nissan sold 425,000 vehicles in the country this year as of June 21, 20 percent more than a year earlier, according to the statement. The company's sales in China rose 22 percent last year to nearly 1.3 million cars. Nissan says its passenger-car production capacity in China will reach 1.5 million units by 2015; up from 1 million units this year. The carmaker has five assembly plants in the cities of Xiangyang, Huadu and Zhengzhou. Last month, Nissan set up the headquarters for its Infiniti luxury brand in Hong Kong to boost China sales. The automaker, which introduced the luxury brand to China in 2007, plans to increase sales in the country by 50 percent this year. +++ True, the second generation of the OPEL Meriva has only been in the market for 2 years, but given the recent design changes to the updated Astra family, we shouldn't be surprised that the German automaker has schedule a light facelift for the small MPV as well. The exterior styling tweaks will be restricted to the front end. The changes include a new upper front grille featuring a more prominent wing-like chrome bar with turned up tips, which we first saw on the Astra five-door hatchback, Sports Tourer and sedan models, plus a re-designed bumper with horizontal instead of slanted fog lamp housings. While ToraltonCars doesn't expect any interior improvements other than perhaps a new assortment of colors and/or trims, Opel may apply some minor enhancements to the engine range as it did with the Astra's 140 hp 1.4 liter Turbo petrol that gained an overboost function that temporarily lifts torque by 10 percent, from 200 to 220 Nm. +++ The holding company behind PORSCHE is pushing for rapid integration of the German sports car maker into Volkswagen Group to pave the way for cost savings and to erase debt. VW is keen to buy the remaining half of sports car maker Porsche that it does not already own, but it can only do so without incurring taxes of as much as 1.5 billion euros if its waits until August 2014. "It's not in the interest of any of the parties to wait that long, neither the companies nor the tax authorities", CEO Martin Winterkorn said. +++ TOYOTA plans to supply BMW with hybrid drivetrain systems and hydrogen fuel cell technology, as the 2 partners deepen a green car development tie up they forged last December, media reports say. Under the plan, Toyota would achieve greater economies of scale for its gasoline-electric hybrid systems and win a trophy customer in the form of a German luxury carmaker. Toyota President Akio Toyoda and BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer will make an announcement later this month. In December, the companies said BMW would supply Toyota with small-displacement clean-diesel engines to use in vehicles sold in Europe starting in 2014. In return, Toyota would work with BMW to produce next-generation lithium ion batteries for hybrid vehicles. They signed the joint battery-research agreement in March. At the time, both companies left open the door for further collaboration. "We've announced that we will have r&d cooperation with BMW on environmental technologies", Tachikawa said. "There are many possibilities with many technologies". Toyota is looking for ways to achieve higher volumes to bring down production costs of its hybrid system, made famous by its deployment in the Toyota Prius, the world's best selling gasoline-electric car. It has already signed similar hybrid development or supply deals with Mazda, Subaru and Ford. Under the upcoming deal, Toyota will also supply BMW with hydrogen fuel cell technologies. That would be the first time Toyota has supplied its fuel cell technology to a rival automaker. Toyota plans to start selling a new fuel cell vehicle in 2015. +++ VOLKSWAGEN and Porsche are forging ahead with tighter manufacturing links that could deliver hundreds of millions of euros in annual savings. Porsche will start building its revamped Boxster roadster at a VW factory in Osnabrück, Germany, in September and add a new version of the hardtop Cayman to the plant next year; the first Porsche models to be fully assembled at VW. Porsche started sending engineers to Osnabrück from its traditional Zuffenhausen base in Stuttgart last autumn to train staff at the mass-market manufacturer on how to assemble luxury vehicles. +++