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Audi used yesterday’s DTM finale in Shanghai to show off a new GT4-spec TT it plans to sell in Europe and—you guessed it—China. It’s based on the TT RS and as such the prototype shown uses that car’s turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-five tuned for 335 hp; we’re told the final version may use a different engine, possibly a high-powered four-cylinder, instead. The engine couples to Audi’s S tronic dual-clutch automated manual transmission and, as the name implies, the TT GT4 will comply with the FIA’s GT4-class rules.

On the outside, the TT GT4 wears a fixed rear wing, front fascia, and rear diffuser inspired by those of the roadgoing TT RS. To save weight, the hood, doors, and trunk lid are composed of carbon fiber, and the windows have been swapped for plastic pieces. The car rides on a firmer, adjustable suspension and lightweight 18-inch wheels shod in race tires. It’s fitted with a roll cage and racing fuel cell. Needless to say, it won’t be street-legal.

The TT GT4 should cost €120,000, about $157K, when it goes on sale to race teams in a year or so. It will definitely be available throughout Europe and Asia, while a U.S. offering is not currently planned.

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Porsche’s supervisory board has officially approved for production a compact SUV positioned below the Cayenne. The “efficient and sporty model” will be developed under the somewhat curious designation “Cajun”—the name evokes not only a people originating from Acadia (hey, that’s a GMC!) and the rustic cuisine they imported from Canada to Louisiana, but also serves as a contraction of  ”Cayenne Junior.” We first reported on the proposed name on October 1.

The choice of working title should not be confused, however, with the actual model designation—it may be called something completely different when it hits showrooms. There’s precedent: For instance, the Cayenne and its sister model, the VW Touareg, were developed under the internal “Colorado” moniker.

Porsche claims the new model will be “light and agile.” It will be the brand’s entry-level model. The Cajun’s technological base will be Audi’s modular-longitudinal architecture, its closest relative being the Audi Q5.

The new model is part of VW’s plan to expand Porsche’s portfolio into further segments. Another is a new mid-engine sports car positioned below the Boxster which will share its platform with Audi and VW variants.

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Volkswagen is taking full charge of Porsche engineering and development. Wolfgang Hatz, head of VW’s powertrain engineering, will become Porsche’s head of  R&D on February 1, 2011. Hatz is a close confidant of VW chief Martin Winterkorn and is fully tied into the VW Group’s future powertrain and platform strategy. He will replace Wolfgang Dürheimer, the last of Wendelin Wiedeking’s roster of top executives at Porsche. Dürheimer will take over as CEO of Bugatti and Bentley. He replaces Franz-Josef Paefgen, who continues as an advisor.

While Dürheimer earned Martin Winterkorn’s and supervisory board chief Ferdinand Piëch’s respect with the 918 supercar project, VW top management is less than pleased with Porsche’s current portfolio and the upcoming 991 911. That car is perceived as being too big and lacking in style; we hear that the few changes that Winterkorn and Piëch managed to push through failed to satisfy the top brass completely. VW also is unhappy with the quality of Porsche cars.

In his capacity as R&D chief, Hatz will streamline Porsche’s portfolio and align it with that of the rest of the VW group while pushing for higher quality standards. One of the projects on his plate is a sub-Boxster, mid-engine roadster which is currently being developed for the VW, Audi, and Porsche brands.

Hatz is no newcomer to Porsche. From 1983 to 1989, Hatz worked for BMW and BMW Motorsport. He then joined Porsche and worked on the Formula 1 engine, among other things. He left in 1993 to move to Knorr Brakes, in 1995 to head Opel Motorsport, and in 1997 to Fiat, where he became head of powertrain. In 2001, Hatz joined Audi, where he was partly responsible for the extremely high-revving 4.2-liter V-8 engine in the last RS4. In 2007, he took over the powertrain job at VW.

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Here’s another solitary shifter awaiting your guesses. Once you figure out which car it’s from, leave your answer in the Backfires comment section below. Hopefully this one will be a bit tougher than last week’s. We’ll reveal a larger interior photo and the answer on Wednesday. Happy shifting!

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Beijing-Hyundai laid the foundation stone for its third car factory in China in Beijing Shunyi district yesterday. Leaders from Beijing city government were in attendance, showing Hyundai’s importance in the local community, and also high level leaders from Hyundai were present.

The new factory will have a combined production capacity of 400,000 new cars and 400,000 new engines per year and will bring Hyundai’s production capacity to one million cars per year in China alone. Mr Xu Heyi, the board chairman of both Beijing Hyundai and Beijing Auto Group gave a rousing speech in which he claimed that Hyundai will rise to the top of Chinese built cars and quickly establish itself as a top tier manufacturer in China.

Beijing Hyundai’s rapid growth in the past few years as largely been thanks to its succesfull small car and SUV line up, the third factory will no doubt go further to satisfy the demand for Hyundai vehicles. The third factory will be the most advanced in Hyundai’s factory and the largest overseas factory outside of South Korea. The new plant will be fully online by 2012.

Englon was born from the ashes of the doomed Shanghai Maple brand, both of which are controlled by Geely. Shanghai Maple was Geely’s ultra cheap economy brand, and was reborn as the Englon brand in early 2010 as part of Geely’s restructuring. At the Beijing 2010 Auto Show Geely announced dozens of new cars in concept form, although Geely’s PR machine was eager to point out that were actually only one or two concepts on show and the rest were production cars that would see production ASAP.

In 2011 Englon will receive the following cars: SC5 (sedan version of SC5-RV), SC6 and SC6-RV (hatchback), Englon SC6, Englon SX5, and the Englon SX6 SUV.

The Englon brand will also be the host to the redesigned London taxi which will be based on a regular cars platform instead of its own custom made chassis in a bid to keep costs down and also make the cab more ‘China friendly’.

• Nearly knocked off my bike this morning. Perhaps time to rethink this no car policy as discussed here:
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• Wife tells me she has been seeing a Camero rolling around Qingdao in Bumblebee stripes. Sounds awesome! #

Earlier today the Mazda8 officially launched in China and is set to make a big splash in the MPV segment. The MPV market has increased by over 60% in 2010 alone, the Mazda8 will be competing against the Buick GL8 in the higher end MPV segment, until now the GL8 has had a free run of the business use MPV market, but the 8 will change this. The Mazda5 will also launch in China in early 2011 and will be produced by Chang’an Mazda.

The Mazda8 pricing has yet to be announced, the Mazda8 will be powered by a 2.3L and will be using a 4 speed gearbox to power the front wheels.

For those that are thinking “the new B-Class looks different”, well think again as this is the new MPV from BAIC, who also happen to be major partners to Mercedes.

From what we have learned so far, the first BAIC C30 MPV will be powered by 1.3L and 1.5L engines from Mitsubishi. The 1.3L engine will have 73Kw of power and 126Nm of torque, where as the 1.5L is slightly more powerful with 83Kw on tap and 141Nm of torque at 4000rpm.

An end of year launch is being touted by the automotive press, which means it is almost certain to be on show at the Guangzhou Auto Show. In addition to this model, BAIC are also planning for a compact saloon variant.

Beijing Hyundai, the tie up between Beijing Auto Industry Corporation and Hyundai, are about to see the launch of the third plant in China. Hyundai already has two factories in Beijing that can both produce a maximum 300,000 cars per year, but the third factory is set to be larger and will have a maximum capacity of 400,000 cars per year – bringing total production capacity of Hyundai China to 1 million vehicles per year.

Between 2011 and 2015 Hyundai are planning to launch 12 new models in the Chinese market,which will give their dealers a portfolio of 20 cars to sell.

Hyundai are planning to build the i30, ix35, Verna and Sonata YF at the new factory, whilst the first factory produces the Elantra, Tucson, Sonata MoInca and Accent, the second factory produces the newer Elantra Yuedong and the Sonata LingXiang varient.

Hyundai previously had joint venture with Hawtai and JAC, but these ventures appeared to have ended as of 2009 with the IPR going over to their respective partners who have developed them into their own self developed vehicles.