Russia’s gross domestic product slipped 7.9% in 2009, according to government data. Although the dropoff marked the worst decline in 15 years, it still beat earlier government forecasts of an 8.5% slide, BBC News points out.

The auto industry was hit especially hard, with new car sales in Russia plummeting 49% to a four-year low of 1.5 million vehicles last year from a record high 2.9 million in 2008.

Domestic auto production fell to 597,000 units in 2009 from 1.45 million in 2008, according to the country’s Industry and Trade Ministry. Output of domestic and foreign brand models was down 64% to 316,900 and 53% to 281,100, respectively.

Ford Motor Co. is spending $500 million to more than quadruple its engine-making capacity in India to 250,000 gasoline and diesel powerplants this summer.

The expansion will enable Ford to produce a mix of 1.2-, 1.4- and 1.5-liter gasoline and diesel engines, adjusting the proportions on the fly as market demands change. About 37% of the assembly llne will be either fully or semi-automated, according to Ford.

Ford already makes its 1.4-liter Duratorq diesel engine at a plant in Chennai and has added a new 1.2-liter Duratec gasoline engine there. The facility’s current annual capacity is 41,000 engines.

Both engines, along with locally sourced five-speed manual transmissions, will be fitted in the new Figo small car that Ford begins making in Chennai later this quarter. As part of Ford’s Sigma family of four-cylinder engines, the new 1.2-liter unit has been specifically designed for the Indian market. It is compatible with Euro IV/Bharat IV emission standards.

Some 79% of the diesel engine parts and 60% of the gasoline engine components will be sourced locally, with many vendors setting up plants near Chennai.

Export of the engines to elsewhere in Asia and Africa is expected to start next year. To help reduce shipping weight, these powerplants will be exported without the transmission. Local assembly plants will complete the powertrain with the appropriate transmission for each market.

The Chennai engine plant begins by performing final machining on blocks, cylinder heads and crankshafts from domestic and international suppliers. Best practices, including automation in certain assembly operations, have been adopted from Ford’s global operations throughout the facility. Nearly 52% of the parts for the engines, including piston, rings and connecting rods, are kitted prior to installation to help facilitate ease of installation.

General Motors Co. and China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery now expect to complete the sale of GM’s Hummer brand by the end of February, a month later than previously announced.

The two companies reached a preliminary deal last summer and signed a definitive agreement in October. But Chinese regulators haven’t signed off on the deal yet, due in part to the country’s goal to move toward more environmentally friendly vehicles. The acquisition also flies counter to China’s consolidation efforts. Industry observers question whether Tengzhong, which has no experience making passenger vehicles, can run a global operation.

Under the proposed agreement, Tengzhong will take an 80% stake in Hummer, with Chinese industrialist Suolang Duoji holding the remaining 20%. Analysts value the deal at $150 million—less than one-third what GM hoped to get when it put Hummer on the block last June.

Privately owned Tengzhong was formed in 2005 through several mergers starting with 40-year-old machinery specialist Changdian Electric Co. The company makes dump trumps, fuel tankers and other special-use vehicles, construction machinery and structural components for highways and bridges.

There will be a familiar look to Nissan Motor Co. and alliance partner Renault SA’s plants as they expand into emerging markets.

Hidetoshi Imazu, Nissan’s executive vice president in charge of manufacturing, tells Wardsauto.com that the companies are deploying integrated manufacturing systems as they open new plants around the world. Nissan already uses the approach—which creates common welding, painting, injection molding, stamping and final assembly processes between plants and partner companies—at 17 plants representing 25 assembly lines in Japan, North America and the U.K.

The flexibility of the system will allow for different levels of automation based on labor costs and other factors. Imazu says the strategy can help cut lead time and investment for new model launches by 50%.

The first facility to adopt the system in a developing market will be the new joint venture plant Nissan and Renault are opening this spring in Chennai, India. The next target will be Renault’s upcoming plant in Tangier, Morocco. The Dongfeng-Renault joint venture plant in Huada, China, also is expected to use the flexible manufacturing system.

Nissan is encouraging suppliers to its assembly plants in emerging markets to co-locate their operations, similar to the practice the automaker promotes in Japan and the U.S. The new Chennai complex also will include an on-site supplier park, which Imazu notes can reduce in-process inventories.

Nissan also has begun buying some parts made in developing countries for use in vehicles built in Japan and elsewhere. The new NV200 passenger van, for example, uses some Chinese-sourced components, Imazu says.

BMW AG says sales of BMW and Mini brand vehicles in China more than doubled last month to some 11,900 units from 5,400 cars in January 2009. The company expects year-over-year deliveries in China to grow at a double-digit rate through the end of the year.

Last year BMW sold 90,500 Bimmers and Minis in China, up nearly 38% from 2008 levels. China is now the largest market for BMW’s flagship 7 Series sedan, which accounted for 1,700 units of last month’s total in the country.

BMW/Mini sales grew 10.5% throughout Asia and the Middle East last year to 183,100 cars and SUVs, accounting for 14% of the company’s global volume. Its sales in India soared 24% last year to 3,600 vehicles, surpassing all other luxury marques. In South Korea—BMW’s fourth-largest market after China, the U.S. and Germany—the company says it has been the leading premium brand for three straight years, with sales jumping 24% in 2009. The company also reports that sales last year doubled to 334 units in Vietnam, grew 25% to 900 in Indonesia and expanded 16% to 213 in Brunei.

BMW is expanding production in China and India to support demand. A new $700 million facility in China will open in 2012 with an annual capacity of 100,000 vehicles. The company’s existing Shenyang plant with joint venture partner Brilliance China Automotive Holding Ltd. also is expanding its capabilities from 41,000 to 100,000 vehicles.

In India, the company will begin assembling the X1 compact SUV at a CKD plant in Chennai late this year. The facility already builds 3 and 5 Series cars. Additional sales and service locations also are planned in India.

Toyota Motor Corp. says its recent global recalls didn’t apply to any vehicles sold in India, nor does it expect the problems to slow its growth plans for the market.

Hiroshi Nakagawa, who heads the automaker’s Toyota Kirloskar Motors venture, tells Reuters that the company expects to hike unit sales 15% to about 63,800 this year. He also says the company’s ambitious plans remain on track to double its sales in India within the next 5-7 years, increasing its market share to 10% from 3% today.

In two separate campaigns, Toyota is recalling some 8.1 million vehicles worldwide to address design issues in a variety of Toyota and Lexus models that could cause the throttle to remain open after the accelerator pedal is released. An additional 300,000 current model Prius hybrid cars worldwide are expected to be recalled this week under a third initiative that involves that vehicle’s antilock brake software.

Toyota Kirloskar assembles the domestic-market Corolla at a facility in Bangalore and imports the Camry from Japan. Vehicles built in Japan and India weren’t included in either of the first two recalls, and the Prius has not been introduced yet in India.

Vehicles built in Bangalore currently have a domestic content of about 40%-50%. Nakagawa says this will eventually grow to close to 100%. About 70%-80% of the new Etios small car is expected to be sourced locally when it bows late this year. The vehicle, which was unveiled last month at the New Delhi auto show, is designed specifically for India and other emerging markets. Most Etios models will be built at a second factory under construction that will more than double Toyota’s annual capacity in India to 150,000 units.

Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters last week that Ford Motor Co. has threatened to build a proposed $600 million plant elsewhere in Asia if the Thai government can’t resolve environmental challenges to new industrial construction in eastern Thailand.

Ford says only that unspecified ongoing assessments and a number of other factors need to come together before it can make a decision.

Neither the new Ford facility—nor any other auto-related factory—was among the 76 projects in the Rayong region suspended last fall under an injunction issued by a Thai administrative court. Those projects have been delayed pending an environmental impact assessment process. Fearing the delays could cause foreign manufacturers to shun Thailand, Bangkok is seeking to overturn the injunction. Rayong Governor Sayumporn Limthai says he is unaware of any opposition to the Ford plant.

The proposed Ford plant in Rayong is next to an existing plant run by its AutoAliance Thailand joint venture with Mazda Motor Corp., which builds cars and pickup trucks for local and export markets.

Pihsiang Machinery Mfg. Co. of Taiwan says it will supply lithium-ion batteries and other electric drivetrain modules to Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. for use in new electric vehicles, reports China’s Economic Daily News.

The partners plan to provide dozens of electric “patrol” vehicles for use in the upcoming Shanghai World Expo, which starts in May. Pihsiang currently makes electric scooters and electric wheelchairs.

Chrysler Group LLC says it sold 11,500 vehicles outside North America last month, up 9% from January 2009. The total reflects a 55% year-over-year hike in Asia, where Chrysler sold 3,000 units last month—including 1,900 in China, which enjoyed a 132% gain.

Chrysler’s combined sales in Africa, the Middle East, eastern Europe and Russia also zoomed 55% to some 2,600 sales last year.