All articles by Steve Garnsey – Page 15
-
FeatureFord Otosan and AVL join forces on platooning
The commercial vehicle arm of Ford’s joint venture in Turkey, Ford Otosan, has begun developing platooning technology for its trucks with Austrian research company AVL.The first phase of the project is due to be completed by June this year and will see Ford Otosan’s product development team work with AVL’s ...
-
FeatureContrasting trends mark Mexico's car market
Domestic sales of light vehicles are down, exports are up, while production is little changed. These are the key trends in recent months to emerge from the latest survey of the Mexican market by the country’s sector body AMIA. The 1.28m vehicles sold in the year to November represented a ...
-
FeatureDaimler to spend €20 billion on battery cells
German carmaker Daimler says it will buy battery cells costing more than €20 billion ($22.6 billion) over the next decade as it prepares to introduce 130 electrified variants of Mercedes-Benz cars by 2022.The group is investing €10 billion to make the models, plus another €1 billion on an in-house global ...
-
FeatureChina to cut tariffs on US vehicle imports
The Chinese government says it will suspend additional duties of 25% on US-made vehicles and automotive parts for three months starting January 1, amid signs China and the United States are de-escalating their trade dispute.“This is a good signal that [they] are on track to solve the trade war,” Wang ...
-
FeatureGround broken at new BMW logistics centre in Austria
A ground-breaking ceremony was held this week to mark the official start of construction of a new logistics centre at Steyr, Austria, to serve BMW’s nearby engine plant. Contract logistics services provider Industrie-Logistik-Linz will rent the property and use it to consolidate activities from several of BMW Steyr’s external warehouses ...
-
FeatureFaurecia deploys AGVs in Spain
Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) are now working alongside workers and robots at Faurecia’s car seat manufacturing plant in Vitoria-Gasteiz, northern Spain.Through a weightless handling system, workers transfer the car seat from the end of the line to the AGV, which then delivers it to a loading robot.The vehicle then takes ...
-
FeatureSovac starts assembling SKD kits for Audi in Algeria
Audi has begun assembling vehicles at the Relizane plant run by its long-time Algerian partner, Sovac, from semi-knockdown (SKD) kits prepared at the OEM’s Ingolstadt plant in Germany.“[All models] are built at the main plant in Ingolstadt and transported to Barcelona, where they are knocked down into individual assembly groups ...
-
FeatureGerman OEMs meet Trump amid tariff confusion
Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW executives have this week outlined a series of planned investments in the US to administration officials, after meeting with President Donald Trump. Their meetings took place amid uncertainty over trade conditions, after the president’s tweet that China had agreed to end 40% duties on imports of ...
-
FeaturePSA buys shares in China's UAP
Carmaker Groupe PSA has purchased a stake in Chinese spare parts supplier UAP, based in Shandong province, as part of the French group’s expansion in China strategy.The latest acquisition is a first step and could lead to a greater interest in UAP, with several steps defined to increase PSA’s participation, ...
-
FeatureBMW supports cobalt miners in Congo
BMW has signed up to a pilot project to improve conditions for cobalt miners, their families and neighbouring communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).With batteries in high demand given the boom in electrical vehicles, global companies such as BMW have been turning their attention to how cobalt ...
-
FeatureCeva trials truck route from China to Europe
Ceva Logistics has sent what it says is the first-ever TIR truck from Khorgos, in the far west of China, to Europe via Kazakhstan.“The trial proves that the TIR carnet issued in China is accepted in the transit countries en route to Europe,” said Torben Bengtsson, executive vice-president of Ceva ...
-
FeatureBritish automotive industry finds new markets
Asia was the fastest growing foreign market for the UK’s automotive sector last year, with the value of exported goods up 21% on 2016, a new survey has shown.The Asian increase helped lift the sector’s total exports to £40 billion ($51.5 billion) – a 26% increase in two years – ...
-
FeatureFCA to set up parts centre at Rivalta
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is to turn the historic Fiat plant at Rivalta, near Turin, into a parts distribution centre (PDC) serving Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), among other markets. The new PDC in Italy will support customers at more than 5,000 locations, significantly improving delivery time to ...
-
FeatureToyota Australia opens its largest parts warehouse
The largest parts warehouse run by Toyota Australia has been officially opened at Kemps Creek, New South Wales. It is located on 6.4 hectares close to a network of motorways and major arterial roads in the Western Sydney conurbation.The new Toyota Parts Centre (TPC) will house more than 128,000 parts ...
-
FeatureScan Global to purchase IQS Group
Copenhagen, Denmark-based supply chain management company Scan Global Logistics is acquiring 100% of German niche automotive logistics provider, International Quality Service Group (IQS).Founded in 1998, IQS specialises in delivering cars by air or sea to exhibitions and testing events worldwide. Its services include infrastructural support for operation of testing projects ...
-
FeatureAuto tariffs pose biggest threat to US economy, warns OFII
The possibility of Donald Trump placing duties on cars and automotive parts being imported into the US is the largest threat to the country’s economic competitiveness, according to the chief financial officers (CFOs) of international companies taking part in a recent survey.The US Department of Commerce is currently investigating whether ...
-
FeatureCostly 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 ...
-
FeatureMitsubishi 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 ...
-
FeatureMosolf 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 ...
-
FeatureZotye 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 ...