1989 Mazda B2200 Base Extended Cab Pickup 2-door 2.2l on 2040-cars

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Toyota/Mazda factory will reportedly be in Alabama or North Carolina

The Toyota/Mazda factory sweepstakes appear to be nearing a conclusion as Bloomberg and Automotive News are reporting the location has been narrowed down to either North Carolina or Alabama. The joint venture plant worth $1.6 billion would add 4,000 jobs to whichever state lands it. To even be considered, Toyota and Mazda have reportedly sought a $1 billion incentive package from interested states in the form of tax breaks and other support. At least 15 states had apparently been jockeying for the factory, including Mississippi, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Texas and South Carolina. Toyota presently has an engine factory near Huntsville, Ala. The state is also currently home to Honda, Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz assembly plants. North Carolina currently does not have a car manufacturing plant. This would also represent Mazda's return to American manufacturing, as its present lineup of cars and crossovers is produced in Japan. The company had previously built cars in the United States along with its former partner Ford. Related Video:

Automotive Grade Linux will be the backbone of your connected car

Creating a backend for a secure, reliable, and expandable infotainment system is costly and time consuming. The Linux Foundation, a non-profit organization, has set out to promote and advance the Linux operating system in commercial products. Automotive Grade Linux, or AGL, is a group within the Foundation that seeks to apply a Linux backend to a number of automotive applications in a variety of vehicles from various suppliers and manufacturers. AGL's goal is to create a common, unifying framework that allows developers and manufacturers to easily implement applications across platforms. Currently, the focus is on infotainment systems, but AGL has plans for instrument clusters, heads-up displays, and eventually active safety software. At CES, a display from Panasonic showed a completely digital and customizable dashboard that allows information and apps to be moved from the gauge cluster to the infotainment screen and back, all through the use of gesture and touch controls. Although the organization has been around for five years, it's really only been in the past three that the group has been working hand in hand with automakers and suppliers. The first two OEMs to participate, Toyota and Jaguar Land Rover, have since been joined by Mazda, Suzuki, Ford, and, as of this week, Daimler. The latter is important as until now most of AGL's partner's have been based in Japan or the US. Other partners include suppliers Denso, Renesas, Continental, Qualcomm, and Intel. AGL want's to supply roughly 80 percent of the backend, allowing partners to then finish and refine the Linux system for each individual application. Think of how the Android operating system is refined and customized for individual smartphones from Samsung, LG, and Motorola. While the final product looks different, developers can have an application that will work across all AGL systems. Because it is open source, anyone can use and develop for AGL. You can even go onto the group's website and download a copy right now. There is also a software development kit available that helps facilitate app creation on the platform. Vehicle development cycles take roughly five years, so there currently are no cars that run an AGL backbone available for consumers. AGL Executive Director Dan Cauchy says products should be hitting the market later this year, with even more coming in 2018. Right now, the industry is relatively fragmented when it comes to infotainment and related systems.

Mazda development chief discusses future rotary platform

The switch can again be flicked from "The Rotary Engine is Doomed" to "The Rotary Engine Lives!" Mazda is re-tooling the once nearly forgotten rotary to work as a range extender for hybrid vehicles, with a chance for it to do even more than that. The latest information sounds rather promising for those still holding out a candle for the rotary. Mazda's powertrain development chief, Ichiro Hirose discussed future rotary plans with the Australian Drive at the CX-30 crossover's launch. Hirose told Australia's Drive that Mazda is currently working with a very flexible and efficient rotary hybrid platform that doesn't necessarily come with the heavy emissions and fuel consumption baggage the rotary engine has earlier been saddled with. Hirose calls the rotary-based solution "XEV," referring to its adaptability. "It has the generator function and also it can be used to provide the drive force to give you traction. [...] Because the rotary engine is compact in terms of its packaging size [and] if we should choose to do so we can have the generator, rotary engine and electric motor all in one [driveline] because of the small packaging." The result is an electrified platform that could be made to work as a mild hybrid, series hybrid or a battery electric vehicle with a rotary range extender (if given a plug), depending of the required implementation. It's as if Mazda had a slider to adjust the balance of using a rotary engine and using electric power, to make the platform more of a jack-of-all-trades. Hirose explained: "If you reduce the other way around it could be a pure battery-electric, using really the rotary engine as a range extender and, according to the balance, you can even provide something akin to the series hybrid that is providing the drive force. [...] So, we are looking at a wider coverage and scope. Based on this architecture it allows us to do that, to explore the huge range of applications we can have with the rotary." The platform would also be flexible when it comes to meeting various stringent emissions standards. To be able to sell XEV-based vehicles globally would mean introducing a certain setup for one region and one for another, keeping in mind when the rotary power would kick in and how. While Hirose keeps the question open whether these vehicles would make it for sale in the United States, he says Mazda would be able to make them pass U.S regulations. "I'm just saying that — theoretically — if we were to introduce it in the U.S.