All Feature articles – Page 44
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Costly USMCA rules ‘may prove unworkable’ for supply chains
Complying with the proposed US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that replaces Nafta will be expensive for those in the automotive supply chain and could prove unworkable for some, according to John Bozzella (pictured), president and CEO of the Association of Global Automakers in the US. Details in the draft accord include a ...
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Russia increases component exports
Several automotive manufacturers in Russia are increasing component exports in line with plans announced at the beginning of this year.Joint venture Ford Sollers has doubled the number of different part lines it exports to the EU to 100 this year (compared to 50 in late 2017) and said it plans ...
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Brazil introduces new auto incentive programme
Brazil’s government has recently voted to implement Rota (Route) 2030, a new tax incentive programme for the Brazilian automotive sector that replaces the Inovar-Auto programme, which expired in 2017.Rota 2030 offers a tax break of three percentage points on industrial products used in vehicles that have hybrid or electric engines, ...
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Mitsubishi aims to expand production in Vietnam
Japanese carmaker Mitsubishi Motors is looking to start building vehicles from the ground up in Vietnam, rather than just assembling knockdown kits there, its CEO, Osamu Masuko, has announced.The company wants to establish a parts industry and supply chain within the country to support the new approach. According to a ...
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Economic nationalism to force a lane-change
Typically, the world experiences waves of economic nationalism every three decades but these are often limited to one region each time. Today we’re experiencing a global wave of economic disruption across multiple regions simultaneously. In reaction, automotive manufacturers are having to increase the flexibility and agility of their supply chains ...
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Mosolf to open second base in France
German finished vehicle transporter Mosolf is setting up a technical and logistics centre near Paris-Vatry airport as part of a plan to expand in France.The new base at the ZAC business park, Bussy-Lettrée en Champagne, will officially be opened on December 12.Mosolf, based in Kirchheim, described the new location as ...
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SCH to discharge Fords shipped into Liverpool
Port and logistics services company SCH has signed a contract with Ford to discharge vehicles arriving at the port of Liverpool from the US and Europe.Full details of the contract remain confidential but SCH will unload and park vehicles delivered on shipments to the port twice a week. SCH said ...
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Freight expectations
Ask a range of logistics managers what their main pain points are, and you will soon hear a common theme – wasting time waiting for freight agents to get back to them. Delays occur, paperwork piles up and costs are often not clear. Moving cargo intermodally is a complex, billion-pound ...
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Kerry launches new route from Lanzhou to Islamabad
Kerry Logistics has launched a multimodal freight service combining road and rail between Lanzhou, China, and Islamabad, Pakistan. The initial service took goods including automotive parts, commodities and mechanical equipment on a 4,500km route that began with a block train before switching to truck. It took 13 days, saving 15 ...
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Zotye seeks to break into US market
Chinese carmaker Zotye Automobile has agreed to set up a US sales and distribution base in Lake Forest, California, in partnership with Haah Automotive Holdings. Haah, through its Zotye USA subsidiary, will have US distribution rights to sell Zotye Automobile’s full range of SUVs.The goal is to start selling in ...
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Cooper Tire opens new site in Mississippi
Cooper Tire and Rubber has opened a 93,000 sq.m distribution centre in Byhalia, Mississippi. Built by Panattoni Development Company, it is the tyremaker’s largest such centre. According to the Mississippi Development Authority, Cooper is investing $10m in it, in an overall project worth $50.5m.The facility, which is situated in the ...
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Mapping for Mercedes
In June this year, Mercedes-Benz US International (MBUSI) announced the outcome of its inaugural Innovation Challenge, a competition for start-ups which promised $50,000 in prize money as well as the alluring prospect of a contract with Mercedes-Benz in the US, and perhaps also its global parent, Daimler AG. Not ...
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Chugging or changing?
Demand for rail transport is growing faster than service providers can keep up with, according to Siegfried Jung, head of planning and steering vehicle dispatch and transport at BMW Group.[related_topics align="right" border="yes"]Jung says that increased demand for rail transport, from both public and industrial sectors, currently exceeds capacity. Rail infrastructure ...
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CEE auto markets gear up for sustained growth
Sustained growth, a shift from low-cost to high-tech manufacturing, plus an ambition to lead automotive market trends such as electromobility and autonomous driving are now characterising the key economies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), delegates heard at the Automotive Logistics Central & Eastern Europe summit in Budapest today (Wednesday ...
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WLTP hits tier suppliers’ bottom lines
Two more tier suppliers have attributed declining financial performance to a drop-off in vehicle sales caused by the introduction of the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) for emissions standards in Europe.Michigan, US-based aluminium wheel manufacturer Superior Industries International has put a third-quarter loss down to the effects of ...
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GM poised to sell St Petersburg plant
US carmaker GM is close to selling its plant in St Petersburg to another automotive manufacturer, with the final agreement due to be signed at the end of this year. According to Sergey Movchan, deputy governor of St Petersburg, the new owner plans to revive finished vehicle assembly at the ...
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PSA and Nissan boost vehicle production in Africa
Production of Opel’s Grandland X and the Peugeot 3008 from semi-knockdown (SKD) kits will begin at the PSA group’s new assembly plant in Walvis Bay, Namibia, before the end of this year. Meanwhile, Nissan has revealed it aims to be the first carmaker to assemble vehicles in Ghana.PSA’s Walvis Bay ...
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BMW produces its millionth 3D-printed part
BMW has produced its millionth 3D-printed part since starting to use the manufacturing technology, also known as additive manufacturing, a decade ago. It is one of 200,000 parts the OEM will 3D-print this year – a 42% increase on the number produced last year. While the number is low compared ...
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Schaeffler and Michelin announce UK plant closures
Automotive parts suppliers Schaeffler and Michelin have both announced they are scaling back their UK manufacturing operations – the former citing Brexit uncertainty as one of the reasons and the latter blaming the move on changing markets and cheap competition.German firm Schaeffler is closing its 220-employee factory at Llanelli, in ...
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Technology to prove key to evolution of supply chains
The automotive industry is being reshaped by the rise of electric and autonomous vehicles but will only stay ahead of the curve in an age of greater supply chain complexity by adopting wider digitalisation as part of its routine operations, delegates at the JDA conference in Barcelona were told last ...