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Daimler and Nissan venture to build cars in Mexico

Nissan and Daimler have been partnering ever closer for years, and now an unnamed source has told Reuters that the automakers have agreed to a 50-50 joint venture in Mexico that would build Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz models. Given that the rumors about just such a deal go back nearly six months and similar rumblings are years old, this arrangement has been a long time coming.
The insider tells Reuters that a memorandum of understanding was signed between them last month to build the Mercedes GLA-Class and new Infinitis at Nissan's Aguascalientes factory. The rumor didn't say when production would begin. It wouldn't be the first time the two automakers have decided to share this platform - Infiniti will build its Q30 compact on it in the UK next year.
The partnership between the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler goes back to 2010 when the companies signed an agreement to share engines, factories and platforms. Since then, products of the partnership have included the underpinnings for the next-generation Smart and Renault Twingo and shared engines among some other models.

Honda may recall up to 1M vehicles for airbag issue, following Toyota's lead

It seems Toyota won't be the only one recalling the faulty Takata airbag inflators for long. Honda insiders in Japan claim that the company is getting close to announcing its own worldwide campaign that would begin before the end of June.
Unnamed sources close to Honda in Japan tell Automotive News that the company is pursuing an internal investigation into possibly affected models and is working with Takata to gather more information. They claim that it could involve even more than the 1.14 million cars worldwide that the automaker covered under the first recall for the problem in April 2013, including 561,000 vehicles in the US.
Toyota jumpstarted this process last week when it recalled over 2 million cars worldwide, including 844,277 in the US. Soon after, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began a preliminary evaluation into the issue following six reported incidents, and started assembling data about potentially affected models from Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Chrysler. NHTSA also began investigating Takata itself.

2014 Nissan GT-R squeaks in under $100k*, Murano CrossCabriolet priced, too

Another year, another price hike for the ridiculously awesome Nissan GT-R. When the GT-R was introduced for the 2008 model year, it had a starting price of $69,850, increasing steadily each year up to $96,820 for 2013, and now Nissan has announced that the 2014 GT-R will have a base sticker price of $99,590 (*not including the destination charge, which has not been announced yet).
More than just a simple price hike, the 2014 GT-R gets some upgrades, continuing the model's other longstanding tradition - continuous improvement. While there has been no increase in power, Nissan says the 545-horsepower, twin-turbo V6 now has better response in its mid- and upper-rpm ranges. Nissan has also improved the car's handling, giving it different shock absorbers, springs and a reworked front anti-roll bar, along with "increased body rigidity," though it doesn't specify how the latter is accomplished. The changes are said to lower the coupe's center of gravity and further improve its (already spectacular) handling. A few styling tweaks include the addition of a Premium Interior Package offering hand-stitched red leather seats, a color pattern for the steering wheel on the $109,300 GT-R Black Edition and an engraved aluminum plate showing the owner who built their car's engine.
Along with the announcement of the 2014 GT-R, Nissan also released details for the 2014 Murano CrossCabriolet. The big - but not surprising - news is that Nissan has lowered the price of its slow-selling crossover convertible to $41,995, representing a price drop of just over $2,500. Aside from price, model year changes include two new exterior colors and redesigned 20-inch wheels.