Note: I am in China for the week. Due to China’s blocking of Google, this week’s collecting of news can be seriously impeded. News can be missing altogether. We ask your indulgence.
Top News:
- Hyundai wins race to offer Android Auto – Automotive News: Hyundai has become the first car company to offer Google’s new Android Auto interface by launching it in the 2015 Sonata.
- Audi expects in-car electronics to become as valuable as horsepower – Automotive News: Audi expects that electronics and digital features will become just as important as sheer horsepower for global automakers as they brace for a fundamental industry shift and new competitors and potential allies emerge.
- Renault Small Car Kwid: More Details Emerge – Ibtimes: French auto maker Renault may have revealed its new entry level car Kwid only recently, but rumour mills have already started spinning stories about…
- GERMANY: Bosch predicts ICEs will beat EU CO2 targets – Just-auto: Bosch is estimating gasoline engines for sub-compact cars will beat strict European Union CO2 emission limits of 95g by some margin, with their diesel counterparts going even further.
- Ford CEO wants to make a self-driving car for the masses – Fortune: Ford CEO Mark Fields introduces the new Lincoln Continental Concept car during the first press preview day at the 2015 New York Auto Show April 1,…
- New Renault Kwid hatchback revealed – with video – Autocar: A-segment hatchback will be offered in India in the second half of this year, and could find its way to other emerging markets Renault has revealed a new A-segment hatchback dubbed Kwid, which will be launched in India in the second half of this year.Based on the KWID concept of 2014, the new hatchback is described as “eminently modern” and comes with “unprecedented features for its segment”. The Kwid is based on the new CMF-A platform – part of the Common Module Family architecture produced by
- JAPAN: Mazda CX-5 output reaches 1m from five assembly plants – Just-auto: Mazda Motor Corporation said cumulative production of the CX-5 crossover passed 1m at the end of April 2015. This was three years and five months after production commenced in November 2011.
- CHINA: Volvo plant starts exporting to the US – Just-auto: Volvo’s Chinese plant in the south western city of Chengdu has completed its first luxury sedan made for the US market.
- US: GM upgrades Corvette plant paint shop – Just-auto: A new paint shop is included in General Motors’ US$439m spend on its Chevrolet Corvette plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
- Buffett-backed Chinese automaker BYD plans up to $1.9 billion placement: IFR – Reuters: Shares of BYD, which makes hybrid and electric vehicles, were halted in Shenzhen on Monday at the company’s request after it unveiled plans for a…