- Cobalt Firm Says Chinese Car Companies Keen to Secure Supplies – Bloomberg: China is pushing the development of low- or zero-emission cars, with a target to sell 7 million new-energy vehicles a year by 2025. Sales of battery-powered, plug-in hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles in China — which surpassed the U.S. in 2015 to become…
- VW trucks division open to taking over Navistar -CFO – Reuters: Volkswagen’s heavy-truck division sees taking over U.S. commercial truck partner Navistar International Corp would to eventually make sense.
- Jaguar Land Rover confirms 1000 jobs to go as diesel sales slump – Automotive News: Jaguar Land Rover said it will cut 1,000 jobs and reduce production at two of its UK factories as demand for diesel cars slumps because of higher taxes and a regulatory crackdown. The automaker will lay off agency workers at its factory in Solihull,…
- Renault-Nissan’s Ghosn mulls review of capital ties: Nikkei – Reuters: But with the alliance’s main architect Ghosn beginning his final term as Renault CEO, the government has been pressing for a tie-up to secure the future of Renault-Nissan, the world’s largest carmaking group by sales last year. Renault holds 43.4…
- With Smartphone Battle Lost, Japan Now Trails on Connected Cars – Bloomberg: In China, Lynk & Co. is among local brands touting their latest connected features at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition that kicks off April 25. Li Shufu, the billionaire owner of Volvo Cars, unveiled the Lynk & Co. marque last year to…
- BRIEF-Volkswagen Says March Group Deliveries Up 5.3 Pct – Reuters: MARCH GROUP DELIVERIES UP 1.2 PERCENT IN EUROPE, UP 13.0 PERCENT IN U.S., UP 10.6 PERCENT IN CHINA. * MARCH VW BRAND DELIVERIES UP 4.9 PERCENT, AUDI UP 6.0 PERCENT, PORSCHE DOWN 0.8 PERCENT Source text – bit.ly/2JNXwRr Further company coverage: (Gdynia …
- Elon Musk drafts in humans after robots slow down Tesla Model 3 production – Guardian: Elon Musk drafts in humans after robots slow down Tesla Model 3 production. ‘Humans are underrated,’ says CEO … Photograph: Joe Skipper/Reuters. Elon Musk has admitted that automation has been holding back Tesla’s Model 3 production and that humans,…
- Mercedes-Maybach GLS concept due at Beijing motor show – Autocar: Mercedes-Maybach version of the GLS will get a different grille design and a higher spec Luxurious SUV will go on sale in 2019 priced above £120k as a rival to the Bentley Bentayga
- GM Rolls Out $10000 Discount on Escalade to Fend Off Navigator – Bloomberg: General Motors Co. is stepping up its defense of the Escalade SUV, a cash cow for Cadillac and the company, by offering $10,000 discounts to some current customers to keep them … The promotion runs through May 31, according to a memo GM sent dealers…
- BRIEF-Yves Caracatzanis To Be Appointed New Avtovaz President – Reuters: ALLIANCE ROSTEC AUTO: * YVES CARACATZANIS TO BE APPOINTED NEW AVTOVAZ PRESIDENT AS OF JUNE 1. * NICOLAS MAURE, CURRENT PRESIDENT, TO REMAIN ON AVTOVAZ BOARD AS DEPUTY CHAIRMAN Further company coverage: (Gdynia Newsroom).
- Ghosn: All options ‘open’ on Nissan-Renault capital structure – Nikkei:
- Honda’s Never-Used, Three Year-Old Factory Is Finally Starting Up – Bloomberg: Honda’s transfer of production of vehicles from its Sumare unit to the new one should be concluded in 2021. As an example of productivity gains, Takeuchi cited new paint technology that requires one less layer, which means less money and time spent. It…
- Indian ride-hailing firm Ola to add 10000 electric three-wheelers to fleet – Reuters: Ola plans to have 1 million electric vehicles on offer by 2021, it said in a statement, adding that it will work with various state governments, vehicle manufacturers and battery companies to meet its target. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government…
- Jaguar Land Rover to cut UK staff, output as diesel sales slump – Reuters: Britain’s biggest carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (TAMO.NS) said it will cut 1,000 jobs and reduce production at two of its English factories as demand for diesel cars slumps in the face of higher taxes and a regulatory crackdown.
- Battle for India’s EV charging standard swings in Europe’s favor – Nikkei: With the Indian market for electric vehicles poised to take off, a battle is raging behind the scenes among companies vying to establish a nationwide standard charging system. The Indian government released a draft report in March singling out Combo,…
- BRIEF-DiDi Announces Consolidation Of Existing Automotive, Gas, Auto-Service, Car-Rental … – Reuters: April 16 (Reuters) -. * DIDI CHUXING ANNOUNCES CONSOLIDATION OF ITS EXISTING AUTOMOTIVE, GAS, AUTO-SERVICE AND CAR-RENTAL BUSINESSES INTO ONE AUTO SERVICE PLATFORM. * DIDI CHUXING EXPECTS AUTO SERVICE PLATFORM TO ACHIEVE AN ANNUALIZED GMV …
- Brexit Bulletin: Thwarting the Divorce – Bloomberg: Jaguar Job Cuts | Jaguar Land Rover will announce a cull of around 1,000 posts on Monday, citing “headwinds” affecting the car industry. The job cuts will focus on the Solihull plant near Birmingham. The company already said in January that it would…
- Indian shares slip after longest winning streak so far this year – Reuters: The automaker’s unit Jaguar Land Rover will cut about 1,000 jobs and production at two of its English factories due to a fall in sales caused by uncertainty around Brexit and confusion over diesel policy, a source told Reuters. State-run UCO Bank…
- BUZZ-India’s Tata Motors falls; JLR to cut jobs amid lower sales – Reuters: Britain’s biggest carmaker Jaguar Land Rover will cut around 1,000 jobs and production at two of its English factories due to fall in sales caused by uncertainty around Brexit and confusion over diesel policy, a source told Reuters. ** Stock may react…
- GM Confirms Layoffs at Lordstown Plant – Detroit Bureau: GM is predicting that 2018 U.S. sales for Cruze will be about the same without the temporary plant closures that marked Lordstown’s production schedule in 2017. Both of GM’s competitors with roots in Detroit, Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler…
- Elevate the education of service techs to an undergraduate degree – Automotive News: During my visit with Nissan service executives here last month, I watched some of the automaker’s in-house master techs, who work with technicians at Nissan and Infiniti dealerships, use many of the skills that a STEM-based education would provide….
- Porsche plans network of more than 500 fast chargers for North America – Automotive News: Porsche Cars North America plans to have at least 500 fast chargers available at U.S. dealership and highway locations by the end of 2019. Another 20 will be installed at Canadian dealerships, but a timeline hasn’t been established. The production car…
- MB subscription test will hinge on dealers – Automotive News: The Mercedes-Benz vehicle subscription pilot, which starts in June, will be a long-term test that prominently involves the brand’s dealerships in two markets: Nashville and Philadelphia. Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Dietmar Exler told Automotive News that the…
- Nissan’s repair ninjas help dealership techs solve tough problems – Automotive News: The owner of a 2014 Nissan Pathfinder hybrid in Puerto Rico will likely never know of the high-level attention that fixed a vexing problem with his crossover. The gasoline-electric Pathfinder’s engine would start, but stall after about 10 seconds. A…
- Mercedes-AMG preparing Cayman competitor? – Autocar:
- Ford store hit with big verdict for not properly recommending repairs – Automotive News: … Folsom Lake Ford, after the verdict. The store had acquired the truck at auction, sold it to a customer who returned it after multiple steering problems, and then resold it. When the new owner brought the truck in with a steering complaint, a…
- Two encouraging approaches for dealing with a shortage of mechanics – Automotive News: Industry leaders warn that the complexity of cars and trucks, electrical and digital as well as mechanical and design, is growing faster than techs’ capability to address it. To repair autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles and other connected cars,…
- BMW opens center on Marine base to train leathernecks as service techs – Automotive News: “We have high demand for technicians,” Bernhard Kuhnt, CEO of BMW of North America, told Fixed Ops Journal. Veterans, he says, make “ideal” tech candidates. BMW calls the initiative at Camp Pendleton, near San Diego, its Military Service Technician…
- BMW spends big on tech training – Automotive News: BMW of North America is investing big to expand its training of dealership service technicians in the United States. The goal is to boost by 60 percent the number of technicians the automaker trains by 2020, says Denise Melville, department head at BMW…
- GM’s action is just a poor excuse – Automotive News: Regarding “GM to stop reporting U.S. sales monthly, switches to quarterly release” (autonews.com, April 3), many thousands of people in the auto industry look … General Motors’ action is just a poor excuse for some unknown reason. … Switching to…
- NJ dealer sees new revenue stream in detailing for service customers – Automotive News: Lanzavecchia’s dealerships handle detailing work in four bays at the Hyundai store’s service department. But he has acquired a nearby former Jeep dealership. Once he remodels the facility’s 36 service bays, he plans to consolidate scattered operations…
- Do the right thing: Say no to GAC – Automotive News: I was astonished and disappointed that “Courtship begins for Chinese brands” (April 2) included this response from a general sales manager: GAC “might be the next Hyundai.” GAC or any other Chinese automaker will never be the next Hyundai or Toyota or…
- Car wash and detailing facilities are dealers’ latest battleground – Automotive News: Karl Zimmermann cites 1.5 million potential reasons to justify his $7 million investment in a car wash and detail center at his dealership in the Detroit suburb of Redford. That’s how many cars and trucks cross a busy intersection next to his store,…
- Shops have potential for better word of mouth advertising – Automotive News: At the other end was Mazda. It tied with Subaru and Volks- wagen for the smallest share of “yes” responses: 69 percent. But it also has the most potential. An industry-topping 26 percent of Mazda respondents said no because they hadn’t used the…
- Hitachi, Clarion have pipeline of parking advances – Automotive News: The suppliers behind the new automated self-parking system in the redesigned 2018 Nissan Leaf already have some big improvements in the pipeline, including being able to park a car by remote control from outside the vehicle using a smartphone app. The…
- Peugeot to speak at Europe congress – Automotive News: Xavier Peugeot, director of product planning at Citroen, will be among the speakers June 6 at the Automotive News Europe Congress in Turin. Peugeot was appointed to his position in November 2014, and he has helped oversee Citroen’s push to redesign its…
- Morning News Call – India, April 16 – Reuters: Jaguar Land Rover to cut output and jobs due to Brexit, diesel slump -source Jaguar Land Rover will cut around 1,000 jobs and production at two of its English factories due to a fall in sales caused by uncertainty around Brexit and confusion over…
- Breakingviews – Singapore ruling gives Uber deal yellow light – Reuters: Singapore is tapping the brakes on Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing mega-merger. Antitrust regulators won’t halt U.S. giant Uber’s deal with $6 billion local rival Grab, but have limited data-sharing and driver exclusivity contracts, at least while they…
- Model 3 is faster than Tesla admits – Autocar: Tesla claims the Model 3 Long Range has a 5.1 second 0-60mph (97km/h) time, which isn’t exactly slow, but real-world tests are showing something else. The Long Range version isn’t a dual motor performance variant like the ‘P’-prefixed Model S cars,…
- Mazda to Bring Mild Hybrid to Japanese Market – Japanautomotivedaily: Mazda Motor Corp. (TYO:7261) will launch a mild hybrid vehicle in the Japanese market in 2019 as part of the []
- Tesla under-counted worker injuries to make its safety record appear better, report alleges – CNBC: Electric vehicle maker Tesla has mislabeled and under-counted workers’ injuries to make its safety record look better that it was, according to a report by RevealNews.org. “Company officials labeled toxic exposures, muscle strains and repetitive stress…
- South Korea minister says GM Korea needs to be able to survive on own in long-term – Reuters: South Korea’s finance minister said on Monday that public funds could only be used to support the South Korean auto unit of General Motors Co if it was clear that the business could survive on its own long-term.
- Aston Martin’s 210mph Rapide AMR due on roads this year – Autocar: Previewed in a concept last year, the 592bhp V12 model has been spotted testing at the ‘Ring
- Faraday Future in China land deal despite owner’s debts – FT: An electric vehicle maker run by embattled Chinese businessman Jia Yueting has purchased a large plot of land in China, despite the billions of … of the southern city of Guangzhou was bought for Rmb360m ($57m) by Ruichi Smart Car Ltd, an affiliate of…
- UK Lawmakers Warn Against Tech Giants Dominating AI Industry – Bloomberg: … use of what are called “lethal autonomous weapons systems.” A number of prominent figures in the development of artificial intelligence, including billionaire Elon Musk and Mustafa Suleyman, a co-founder of DeepMind, the artificial intelligence…
- Aston Martin Rapide AMR spotted testing – Autocar:
- In daytime discos, South Korea’s elderly find escape from anxiety – Reuters: His destination is the daytime disco for the elderly in New Hyundai Core. Kim, who has been jobless since retiring as a hospital administer 20 years ago, is among about 1,000 customers each weekday at the disco, called a colatec. It is one of nearly…
- Report finds Tesla cutting corners on safety at Fremont factory – CNBC: RevealNews.org reports that Tesla mislabeled and under-counted worker injuries, to make its safety record look good.
- Renault-Nissan’s Ghosnian Knot – Bloomberg: Even after adjustments to remove double-counting due to the web of cross-shareholdings that tie Renault to Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., net income from the three companies comes to some 9.4 billion euros ($11.6 billion), enough to make…