All Policy and regulation articles – Page 37
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FeatureRoyale opens Mexico office after fourfold rise in parts shipments
Time-critical shipment specialist, Royale International, has opened a divisional office in Mexico in response to a 400% increase in the movement of automotive parts over the last five years.According to Salvador Marin, senior account manager at Royale International, Mexico is now the company’s third biggest country in terms of revenue, ...
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FeatureIndian regulations: A rainbow of solutions
The Indian vehicle logistics market is in the midst of major change and disruption, much of it in the name of modernisation and improvement. New dimension and safety requirements for car carriers came into force in April, with carmakers and logistics providers scrambling to make their fleets compliant and secure ...
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FeatureEU-Japan trade deal dubbed a ‘positive signal’ for automotive sector
An economic partnership agreed in principle between EU and Japan that would see duties removed on a large amount of goods traded between two regions has been welcomed by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA).Significantly, the agreement – which covers goods accounting for a third of global GDP – has ...
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FeatureRussia summit: Dealing with the reality of a slow recovery
Confidence is gradually returning to the Russian automotive market with sales and production showing definite signs of life after a tough period of retrenching and divestment. Sanctions remain but many at this year’s Automotive Logistics Russia conference in Moscow felt that this was the time to invest in the market ...
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FeatureBMW parts distribution centre in US to cut double-shipping
BMW has officially opened a new distribution centre in Spartanburg, South Carolina, to handle service parts from North America-based suppliers and destined for regional aftersales customers for the X-series SUV models built at the carmaker’s nearby manufacturing plant in Greer.The facility, which the OEM refers to as a ‘continental distribution ...
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FeatureNorth American ports: Slowdown after growth tests capacity to cope
While seven years of consecutive sales growth in the North American automotive industry have put vehicle handling ports to the test in terms of throughput, many of them are now being tested further by the slowdown in sales in the US, with inventory build-ups in some ports, and slower throughput.Meanwhile, ...
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FeatureWWL executives indicted on price-fixing charges
The US District Court in Baltimore has indicted the chief operations officer at Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL), Kai Kraas, on price-fixing charges.Kraas, along with former WWL CEOs Anders Boman and Arild Iversen, has been charged by the court in Baltimore with “participating in a long-running conspiracy to allocate certain customers ...
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FeatureBMW to invest $600m in South Carolina plant for future X-models
German carmaker BMW Group has announced a $600m investment at its largest manufacturing facility, Spartanburg, in the US state of South Carolina, as it prepares it for future generations of the X-model SUV range.The company has produced 3.9m vehicles since production began at the plant 25 years ago. In that ...
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FeatureRussia: Ready for a recovery?
Vehicle sales in Russia have shown modest rises in recent months, raising hopes that this year will finally return to growth and kick off a longer-term recovery. Following several months of increases, sales of new light vehicles in the first five months of the year had risen by 5.1% compared ...
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FeatureSpanish auto terminals returning to normal following strike
Most stevedoring strikes that have been affecting container and vehicle movements at the Spanish ports over the last couple of weeks have now ended, though threats of further action have been made by the IDC and UGT unions.The strikes, which began on June 5th, were called in protest about new ...
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FeatureMomentum builds for post-Brexit transition period to avoid ‘cliff-edge’
A prominent UK government minister and the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) were among those that this week called for interim arrangements to be put in place after the two-year Brexit negotiation deadline, as the chances of a new trade deal being in place by then seemed unlikely ...
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FeatureKeeping the heat on
The summer of renegotiation is upon us. Officials and policy wonks in the UK and US have invited their counterparts out of the sun and into shaded rooms, red pens in hand, trade and multi-lateral agreements spread on the table. For their sake, we hope the rooms are all air-conditioned.Officials ...
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FeatureUK cars now more British but local content still lags behind Europe
The percentage of local content in UK manufactured passenger cars continued to increase in 2016, but ‘anecdotal reports’ suggest the country has a way to go to reach levels achieved by other major European carmaking countries.The latest Local Vehicle Content Analysis report from the Automotive Council, a joint UK government ...
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FeatureMexico fines seven shipping lines over price-fixing
Mexico’s Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) has issued seven ro-ro carriers with fines totalling 581.6m pesos ($32.4m), saying they acted as a cartel to increase prices.The companies involved are K-Line and K-Line Americas, Mitsui OSK Lines, Mitsui OSK Bulk and NYK Line from Japan, Chile’s CSAV, and Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics ...
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FeatureAnalysis: Hung parliament casts doubt and hope over Brexit
This article is being updated regularly.The UK general election on June 8th, in which the governing Conservative party lost its parliamentary majority, has cast uncertainty over investment and policy in terms of the country’s automotive industry and supply chain – most notably over pending negotiations to leave the European Union.There ...
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FeatureEurope conference: Two-thirds of UK car manufacturing ‘could move to EU within a year’
Up to two-thirds of the UK's automotive manufacturing base could theoretically be relocated to the EU within a year after the country leaves the trading bloc, global lead analyst at Autofacts PwC, Christoph Stürmer, has warned.Speaking on the first day of the Automotive Logistics Europe conference in Bonn today (Wednesday ...
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FeatureTransition to automated trucks must be managed, warn trade bodies
The potentially devastating effect of autonomous vehicles on truck drivers’ jobs means the transition to the technology will need to be carefully managed, according to a new report.There are, however, obvious benefits to automated road freight, including cost savings and safer roads, according to the new report from the International ...
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FeatureChina approves JAC-VW electric vehicle production plan
The China National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has given final approval for local carmaker JAC and Germany’s Volkswagen Group to jointly produce a new brand of passenger electric vehicles in the country.The two companies first signed a memorandum of understanding for an electric vehicle partnership back in September.A statement ...
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FeatureGeely chosen as Proton’s strategic partner
Chinese carmaker Geely will take a 49.9% stake in Malaysia’s Proton group, as well as a 51% controlling interest in luxury car brand Lotus as part of a deal with DRB-Hicom Group.Under a $360m bailout agreement signed with the Malaysian government last year, the carmaker was required to find a ...
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FeatureGM restricts production in India to exports and exits South Africa after 90 years
General Motors has announced further restructuring of its international businesses, including moving to an export-only production model in India and exiting the South African market altogether.Poor sales, margins and a lack of scale in the supply chain have contributed to the decisions. They follow a recent pattern at GM of ...