- Billionaire Vinod Khosla’s big dreams for biofuels fail to catch fire – Washington Post: Just over a year ago, billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla was bubbling with optimism about one of his latest investments: KiOR, a biofuel outfit he said would turn wood chips into hydrocarbons that could be poured straight into a refinery, pipeline or vehicle. Read full article >>
- Nightmare day for oil stocks – CNN: Shares of Exxon, Halliburton, Transocean and many others plunged after OPEC decided to not cut production.
- Honda, Takata Recalls Began as Early as 2002 – WSJ: Honda recalled a batch of Accord passenger cars in 2002 for Takata Corp. air bags at risk of rupturing, well before the company has said it first learned of injuries.
- Inside OPEC room, Naimi declares price war on U.S. shale oil – Reuters: Saudi Arabia’s oil minister told fellow OPEC members they must combat the U.S. shale oil boom, arguing against cutting crude output in order to depress prices and undermine the profitability of North American producers.
- BMW’s ‘Tesla-killer’ – first ride in the new Power eDrive plug-in hybrid – Autocar: A passenger ride in a BMW 5-series GT xDrive equipped with the new Power eDrive system hints at a bright future for Munich’s new plug-in hybrid system The idea behind the new plug-in petrol-electric hybrid Power eDrive system is to provide a scaleable basis for BMW‘s future performance and upper luxury car needs.The German car maker isn’t pretending the complex arrangement is going to replace the potent 552bhp twin-turbocharged 4.4-litre V8 direct injection petrol engine in the BMW M5 any time soon.However, it does concede electrification is set to play an important role.
- JAPAN: Takata warns that it could run short of airbags – Just-auto: Troubled airbag maker Takata has warned that it might not have enough replacement bags for an expanded national recall the US government has ordered.
- BMW not interested in buying stake in Tesla: Wirtschaftswoche – Reuters: Germany’s BMW is not interested in buying a stake in U.S. electric carmaker Tesla Motors , German weekly WirtschaftsWoche reported on Friday, citing a BMW statement.
- BELGIUM: FTA’s critical to eliminate barriers: Delphi – Just-auto: Delphi says the twin poles of Free Trade Agreements and sustainable mobility will be essential components for industry to tackle rising global vehicle volumes and infrastructure challenges.
- BELGIUM: Members “smashed” says union as Genk closure looms – Just-auto: A Ford union at its Genk plant says members will be “smashed” as the automaker prepares imminently to shut the Belgium site with 4,500 direct job losses and possibly thousands more in the supply chain.
- BELGIUM: EC warns against “more and more” legislation – Just-auto: High-ranking European Commission (EC) officials insist simply throwing more and more legislation onto current transport systems will alienate countries even further from Brussels.
- Toyota recalls more cars for dangerous Takata air bags – Reuters: Toyota Motor Corp said on Thursday it would recall 57,000 vehicles globally to replace potentially deadly air bags made by Takata Corp, as a safety crisis around the Japanese auto parts maker looks far from being contained.
- BELGIUM: Infrastructure key for autonomous cars: Delphi – Just-auto: Delphi says harnessing ways of coping with infrastructure management will be key as a greater push to autonomous driving sees a radical shift in the way transportation is perceived.
- Driving in Delhi? God save our souls! – Via Google News: The famed British automobile show, ‘Top Gear’ had come to India for one of its specials and even their … First, there are just too many cars in Delhi.
- GERMANY: Mercedes-AMG expects to sell over 40,000 this year – Just-auto: Mercedes-AMG says it will achieve a new sales record of well over 40,000 units in 2014.
- Japan may expand air bag recalls; worried about impact on industry – Reuters: Honda Motor and Mazda Motor may have to recall another 200,000 cars in Japan to replace Takata Corp air bags if Takata complies with a U.S. order to recall cars across the United States rather than just in humid regions.
- INTERVIEW: Paul Williams, CEO, SsangYong UK – Just-auto: The head of the UK distribution arm of SsangYong tells Dave Leggett that he expects the Korean brand to double its sales in 2015, boosted by the impact of the upcoming small SUV, Tivoli.
- Japan’s auto exports down 1.6% on year in Oct – Via Google News: Japan’s exports of cars, trucks and buses declined 1.6% on year in October for the third consecutive month, the Japan Automobile …
- Japan may expand air bag recalls; worried about impact on industry – Via Google News: At least five deaths have been linked to such incidents – all in Honda cars. … “This is an extremely important issue for automobile safety,” Ohta told …
- In Mexico, a booming auto industry but stalled living standards for workers – Via Google News: Mexico’s booming automobile industry is generating more export dollars than oil, building more cars than Brazil and giving a job to …
- BMW, Audi lead shift from mass-market to luxury car output in Mexico – Automotive News: Mexico’s relationship with German car production began nearly 50 years ago with output of VW’s mass-market Beetle. Now it’s becoming a place where luxury BMW, Audi and Mercedes cars roll out of billion-dollar factories.
- Hyundai needs a design hierarchy, Schreyer says – Automotive News: Hyundai Motor Group President Peter Schreyer gave Kia a fresh, familywide look after being hired from Volkswagen Group in 2006. Now he’s doing the same for Hyundai, for which he took design responsibility in 2012.
- Takata recalls could shake trust in Japan auto industry, minister warns – Automotive News: Takata’s safety crisis linked to five fatal auto accidents threatens to shake confidence in Japanese manufacturing and the country’s auto industry, the nation’s transport minister said Friday.
- Skoda to show new models the Essen Motor Show – Via Google News: Czech automobile manufacturer Skoda will show the concept version of the new rally car, the Skoda Fabia R 5 …
- Saudis block OPEC output cut, sending oil price plunging – Reuters: Saudi Arabia blocked calls on Thursday from poorer members of the OPEC oil exporter group for production cuts to arrest a slide in global prices, sending benchmark crude plunging to a fresh four-year low.
- CHINA: Land Rover & Jeep rival Haval launches H9 – Just-auto: Great Wall Motors’ Haval division has begun selling the H9, the brand’s largest model yet. Haval, once known as Hover, also makes China’s best selling SUV, the H6.