All News articles – Page 346
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FeatureLSPs miss out on Chrysler pay plan
Chrysler’s plan to speed up payment for some of its suppliers by the end of January does not extend to logistics suppliers, according to the company. Chrysler told Automotive Logistics News that the payments are specifically directed at engineering, design and development of vehicle components and that it is not ...
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FeatureFrustrated carmakers to meet wary suppliers
Carmakers trying to raise the efficiency of their logistics networks are facing service providers that might not be able to rise to the challenge. And while OEMs make renewed calls for more open discussion with their providers, the reality is that they will need more than words when they meet ...
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No reason to cancel Nano orders
Cancellations by Tata Nano customers in India frustrated by the delay in delivery of the car are above 15% of total buyers, according to reports in the Indian press. But the frustration may be less the result of a logistics problem and more to do with customer perceptions given the ...
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FeatureGermany ranks no.1 for logistics
Germany topped the rankings of 155 countries rated in the World Bank’s ‘Logistics Performance Index’ (LPI), a report published this week based on more than 5,000 individual country assessments made by around 1,000 international freight forwarders. (Read the full report here info.worldbank.org/etools/tradesurvey/Mode1a.asp) The report highlights a range of categories of ...
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FeatureUK weather puts logistics on ice
As Antarctic temperatures hit the UK last week, with snow and ice bringing many parts of the country to a standstill, automotive logistics companies have been forced to implement a number of measures to protect vehicles, find alternative routes and ensure the safety of drivers and staff. It is the ...
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FeatureExecutives on the move
Following last week’s announcement that the ECG’s executive director Mark Morgan is leaving his position there at the end of March, this week it has been confirmed that he will join Pound Gates in the newly-created post of commercial director. Pound Gates, which is based in the UK with offices ...
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FeatureGM signs specialised and inbound contracts
General Motors has signed two new contracts with logistics service providers in North America for finished vehicle and inbound parts movements. The first, with specialist vehicle carrier Select 1 Transport, will see the LSP handle all specialised movements throughout GM’s North American testing facilities in Michigan, Arizona, and Colorado. The ...
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FeatureMercedes opens Brunswick VPC
Monday saw the arrival of 16,000 Mercedes-Benz vehicles at the US Port of Brunswick, marking the first delivery to the carmaker’s new $17.5m vehicle processing centre (VPC) at the Colonel’s Island terminal. The 6,500m2 facility is the second VPC to be established on the south side of terminal, the other ...
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FeatureStarco gets Agility for Asia parts imports to Europe
European tyre, wheel and axle supplier, Starco Group, has signed a new contract with supply chain solutions provider Agility for procurement logistics between Asia and Europe. In the first stage of the operation Agility will handle the shipping of 8,000 TEUs of parts, including tyres, tubes, wheel rims, complete wheels ...
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FeatureEukor and Hoegh announce additional services
The new year has begun with new service announcements from two of the world’s leading finished vehicle forwarders. Eukor Car Carriers has launched a new fixed weekly service from Europe to China, loading from ports at Wallhamn (Sweden), Bremerhaven (Germany), Antwerp (Belgium) and Southampton (UK), to Shanghai, Xingang and Huangpu ...
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FeatureExecutives on the move
The Association of European Vehicle Logistics (ECG) is looking for a new executive director with the announcement this week that Mark Morgan (pictured) will be leaving the association at the end of March. Morgan, who has been in the position since August 2006, is returning to the UK for family ...
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FeatureEnd of the dynamic DUO
Volkswagen’s Japanese division – Volkswagen Group Japan (VGJ) – is terminating the contract it signed in 1991 with Toyota Motor Corp. (TMC) for the distribution of VW vehicles in Japan. From the end of 2010 Volkswagen dealers currently under the Toyota distributorship (called DUO) will move to a new direct ...
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FeatureNYK merges logistics divisions
In his New Year’s Speech to the company on Monday, NYK’s president Yasumi Kudo said that the company needed to merge its contract logistics business, NYK Logistics, with its airfreight forwarding business, Yusen Air & Sea Service, “to establish a structure capable of fully serving all logistics needs of customers”. ...
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FeatureChrysler signs contracts with NAPA and WWL
US carmaker Chrysler is boosting export activity from North America with two new shipping contracts serving Europe, Asia, Australia and the Pacific Rim. The company has signed a contract with the North America Pacific Asia (NAPA) service jointly operated by Norway’s Partner Shipping and Australia’s Praxis Logistics. This month it ...
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FeaturePirates seize Hyundai car carrier
Somali pirates are thought to be behind the hijacking of a car carrier transporting 2,300 Hyundai and Kia vehicles between Singapore and Saudi Arabia while travelling through the India Ocean roughly 600 miles east of Somalia. The pirates used a previously hijacked Pakistan-flagged fishing vessel – the Shazaib – to ...
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FeatureMitsubishi extends Europe distribution with BLG
BLG has extended its contract with Mitsubishi Europe for the distribution of all vehicles from the carmaker’s Nedland plant in Born, the Netherlands, to dealerships throughout Germany and in Norway. The contract has intially been signed up to 2012 and BLG is now Mitsubishi’s sole partner with responsibility for the ...
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FeatureA new year, with new (old) locations?
Since the late 1960s the geography of the automotive sector has been fairly fixed, with most car production in the region where the cars were sold. That strategy remains the mantra of many supply chain executives at OEMs today as well.The exception to this of course has been Japan and ...
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Logistics recession lessons
Nobody likes a downturn, but sometimes in business, as in personal life, you have to learn the hard way. Automotive Logistics Publisher Louis Yiakoumi presents his six essential lessons from the hard timesNo rest for the wicked. Despite the downturn – which led to vehicle stockpiles, shutdowns, parked or scrapped trucks, ...
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FeatureGlobal outlook: fixing the dam for 2010
Automotive logistics companies were breathing easier at the end of 2009. Earlier, global light vehicle sales were projected to drop 14% to around 58m units. Production, which corresponds closely with the revenue for 3PLs, had been predicted below 50m.But incentives, a rebound in Asia, and gradual recovery have led forecasters ...
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FeatureIn Profile: Ford's Matthias Schulz
Matthias Schulz’s career with Ford began just two days after he received his Masters degree in 1987. His path toward leading Ford’s logistics in Europe has a somewhat unexpected origin; he is a mathematics expert, with studies in areas similar to that of Stephen Hawkins.He started at Ford as an ...