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Land Rover Defender to be built in Sri Lanka

The Land Rover Defender is to be built outside the UK in a new plant in Sri Lanka to produce Defenders for the region. Land Rover are assisting and training staff at a new assembly plant in Hambantota, Sri Lanka, run by Sathosa Motors PLC in a 50-50 deal with Land Rover distributors SML Frontier Automotive, with $1 million being invested to get the project up and running this year. It seems clear from the level of investment that this is simply an assembly operation using CKD kits from the UK for the Defender, but Sri Lank’s Daily News is reporting that there are plans to invest $500 million in the project.

Opel/Vauxhall Cascada [w/gallery]

The Opel/Vauxhall Cascada effectively replaces the Astra Twin Top, but attempts to move the model upmarket as a separate product line. It has moved up a size to reflect its prestige aspirations: at 4,697 mm long and 1,840 mm wide, it's longer than an Audi A5. Like many of the latest generation of convertibles, the Cascada ditches a folding solid hardtop in favor of a lighter, more space-efficient and cheaper soft fabric set-up.

BMW recalls 1.3 million 5 & 6 Series cars

BMW recall 1.3 million 5 & 6 Series BMW is to recall 1.3 million 5 Series and 6 Series cars built between 2003 and 2010 to fix a battery cable cover. It’s been an expensive year for BMW on the recall front. January saw MINI recall 235,000 Cooper and JCW models to fix a faulty auxiliary water pump on the turbo, and now a massive 1.3 million BMW 5 Series and 6 Series cars are being recalled. The cars affected are the BMW 5 and 6 Series built between 2003 and 2010 where BMW has discovered a battery cable cover in the boot may have been mounted incorrectly.