Archives for 2014

• BRAZIL: Fleet may top 106m vehicles in 20 years – Just-auto: A study by auto industry lobby group Anfavea on the evolution of the Brazilian market for the next 20 years, presented at a recent Harvard Business School (HBS) seminar in São Paulo, attracted considerable interest from companies eyeing the local market.
• US: Federal-Mogul develops battery shield – Just-auto: Federal-Mogul Powertrain says it has developed a new product, Protexx-Shield 3007, which protects batteries from high engine compartment temperatures that would otherwise shorten battery life.
• Nissan CEO says suspending some Russia car orders in ‘bloodbath’ for automakers – Reuters:  Japan’s Nissan Motor Co and French partner Renault SA have stopped taking orders for some cars in Russia and could raise prices on others if the ruble’s plunge continues, alliance Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said on Friday.
• Porsche 718 ‘baby Boxster’ project cancelled – Autocar: Porsche’s R&D boss Wolfgang Hatz confirms development has stopped of a £35,000 entry-level roadster The Porsche 718 ‘baby Boxster’ project will not happen, according to the firm’s head of research and development Wolfgang Hatz.. . Expected to cost around £35,000 and to be powered by a new family of four-cylinder engines, the baby Boxster has long been tipped as a way to increase Porsche’s sales volumes. The Porsche 718 name was rumoured as an acknowledgement to the firm’s racing history.. .
• SWEDEN: Volvo to show connected car-cyclist technology at CES – Just-auto: In what the partners say is “a ground-breaking collaboration”, Volvo Cars, protective gravity sports gear manufacturer POC and Ericsson will present an innovative safety technology connecting drivers and cyclists for the first time ever at the International CES in Las Vegas (6-9 January 2015).
• Video: Porsche Cayenne S Diesel driven – Autocar: Steve Sutcliffe drives the new £61,474, 380bhp Cayenne S Diesel Has Porsche’s performance SUV finally come of age? Steve Sutcliffe asks whether the £61,474, 380bhp Cayenne S Diesel should have rivals like Land Rover worried.Read the full first drive review here.

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• Tesla sales forecast cut by 40% due to low oil prices – Yahoo:
• GM Sales in Europe Continue Free Fall – Yahoo:
• BELGIUM: “Loudest shift” as Genk mayor brands Ford exit disaster – Just-auto: Genk is to organise a “loudest shift” for tomorrow (18 December) with the city’s mayor branding Ford’s decision to end production after five decades “a disaster” for the region.
• SOUTH KOREA: Hyundai redesigns Sonata hybrid – Just-auto: Hyundai has launched its redesigned Sonata Hybrid with “unique hybrid design” styling changes, new safety and convenience features and an upgraded powertrain that delivers claimed class-leading fuel economy of 18.2km/litre.
• UK: Global light vehicle market slipped back in November – Just-auto: Data from LMC Automotive suggests that the global light vehicle market slipped back in November on weak sales in Eastern Europe, Japan and South America.
• Ruble collapse buffets Asian carmakers’ big Russia bets – Via Google News: Late on Tuesday, China’s Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd, whose parent … broke ground on a 3.2 billion yuan ($517 million) car factory in Russia,…
• Nokia HERE prepares maps for autonomous cars – Via Google News: Autonomous cars, he said, will require maps that differ in several important ways from the maps that automobile drivers depend on today for directions.

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• JAPAN: Clarion to supply Porsche Panamera with overhead camera – Just-auto: Clarion says it will supply Porsche with an all-surround view overhead camera system for its Panamera four-door sports sedan model range.
• UK: Jeep gives FCA Europe sales a kick – Just-auto: New product – primarily from Jeep – is paying off for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles which posted European November sales up 3.6% year on year compared with 1.2% for the industry.
• Honda recalls 553,000 vehicles in China over Takata airbags – Automotive News: Honda called back vehicles in China to investigate potential defects with airbags made by Takata, underscoring the global reach of the safety crisis after similar campaigns in the US, Canada and Japan.
• SWEDEN: Volvo rethinks its way to market – Just-auto: Volvo is cutting back on major motor show attendance around the world and winding down many of its sponsorship activities as part of a new global marketing strategy which the company said would allow it to market and sell cars in ways never before seen.
• Eurozone malaise dents car industry – FT: New vehicle purchases hit lowest levels in a year
• Lotus chassis guru joins Aston Martin – Autocar: Development of a new era of Aston Martins to be overseen by Matt Becker, who leaves Lotus after a quarter of a century. Lotus chassis guru Matt Becker has left the Norfolk sports car firm to take up a similar role at Aston Martin. Becker will take the role of chief engineer VAE (vehicle attribute engineering) at Aston from 5 January. His role at Lotus as chief engineer, vehicle test and development, will be filled by Dave Marler, a 17-year veteran of Lotus Engineering. New Aston chief Andy Palmer has given Becker responsibilities including vehicle dynamics, NVH (noise, vibration, harshness), aero
• US: Mazda to recall 330,000 more vehicles with Takata airbags – Just-auto: Having said earlier the move was under consideration, Mazda plans to recall 330,000 vehicles in the US equipped with driver side Takata airbag inflators.
• Europe Car Sales Rise at Slowest Rate in Year on Economy – Via Google News: … Automobile Manufacturersâ?? Association, or ACEA, said today in a statement. Eleven-month sales advanced 5.5 percent to 12 million cars.
• Volkswagen Returns To Nigeria, Set To Establish Assembly Plant – Via Google News: More than two decades after its forced departure global automobile … Prior to the birth of indigenous car companies in Nigeria, Volkswagen was one…

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