French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen recently signed an agreement with Russia‘s economy ministry for the import of car parts, according to media reports on the Internet.

The contract, called a decree 166 contract allowing preferential import duties, is a step towards a later decision on building cars in Russia.

There have been newspaper reports that PSA could link up with Mitsubishi for a car plant in Russia.

Toyota Motor Corp. clinched top slot from General Motors Corp. In 2006 in terms of global sales, according to a U.S. auto magazine.

Toyota and GM data show GM edged Toyota out by 290,000 vehicles in 2006, but the sale of 420,000 GM vans should have been deducted as they were produced by a joint-venture manufacturer in which GM holds a less than 50 percent stake, Automotive News said.

Japan’s new imported vehicle sales saw the first year-on-year rise in 11 months in May as sales of vehicles made by Japanese carmakers abroad almost tripled, an industry group said in Tokyo.

Sales increased 5.8 percent to 20,743 units including 3,246 Japanese vehicles, up 183 percent, and 17,497 foreign-brand vehicles, down 5.2 percent, the Japan Automobile Importers Association said.

Japanese automaker Suzuki and trading corporation Itochu recently signed an agreement initiating a $ 125 million project to build a car plant near Sr. Petersburg in Russia.

The plant aims to start assembling cars and four-wheel drive Grand Vitara, in 2009.

Two investors will control the plant on a parity basis, Japan‘s Nikkei newspaper reported on June 7 in Tokyo.

The companies also signed a memorandum of cooperation with the St. Petersburg government to acquire land for the auto plant.

In case, plunging sales of gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles and big pickups didn’t get the point across America, a new report provided further evidence that sky-high pump prices were influencing car buyers’ choices.

Small vehicles accounted for 31.8 percent of all new vehicle sales in the first quarter of the year, up from 26.3 percent in the first quarter of 2004, according to information compiled by data tracker J.D. power & Associates.

“We are seeing a broad, long-term-but gradual-movement to smaller vehicles,” said Tom Libby, an auto expert in Detroit.

Gasoline prices, which this week hit a U.S. record average of $3.103 a gallon, are the reason. Sales of small cars and fuel-efficient gas-electric hybrids rose along with motorists’ frustration at the pump, according to recent data.

Owner loyalty to large SUVs and pickups, meanwhile, fell.

The trend clearly is affecting power train choices as will.

Four-cylinder engines accounted for 35.7 percent of the new vehicles.