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Category: Automotive

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Auto and Car news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Nissan Stops Production At UK Factory Over Coronavirus Impact

    Nissan Stops Production At UK Factory Over Coronavirus Impact

    Nissan has stopped output at Britain’s biggest car factory due to the impact from coronavirus as it assesses supply-chain disruption and the drop in demand, the most significant closure to affect the country’s autos sector so far from the outbreak.

    Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port car factory in northern England is also due to close on Tuesday until March 27 as party of parent company Peugeot’s plans to shut sites across the continent to handle the crisis.

    Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida says he’s happy to be fired by shareholders if there’s no sign of a turnaround at the Japanese automaker. Julian Satterthwaite reports

    Nissan’s Sunderland factory in north-eastern England made nearly 350,000 out of Britain’s 1.3 million cars last year, producing the firm’s Qashqai, Juke and LEAF models.

    “Further measures are currently under study as we assess supply-chain disruption and the sudden drop in market demand caused by the COVID-19 emergency,” the Japanese automaker said in a statement.

    Local lawmaker Sharon Hodgson, from the opposition Labour Party, called on the government to do more to support people.

    She wrote on Twitter: “40,000 people in and around my constituency rely on the plant for their livelihoods and I will do everything I can to secure them.”

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  • Ferrari To Close Plants In Italy For Two Weeks In Coronavirus Response

    Ferrari To Close Plants In Italy For Two Weeks In Coronavirus Response

    Luxury carmaker Ferrari said on Saturday it closed its two plants until March 27 in a response to the coronavirus outbreak in Italy and an emerging shortage of parts.

    Ferrari adds to a string of Italian manufacturers that have closed plants or slowed production rates in response to the virus emergency, threatening to disrupt Europe’s struggling automotive industry.

    Ferrari said in a statement it had so far ensured production continuity, as it already implemented all the health measures decided by the Italian government at the two sites, located in hometown Maranello and in Modena, in the northern Emilia Romagna region.

    France, Spain on lockdown over coronavirus

    France and Spain will close most shops, restaurants, and entertainment facilities and are encouraging people to stay home as the countries combat the coronavirus epidemic in Europe. The sweeping changes come as U.S. President Trump on Saturday extended

    However, it added the company was “now experiencing the first serious supply chain issues, which no longer allow for continued production”.

    Premium brakes maker Brembo, whose clients include Ferrari, said on Friday it would temporarily close its four Italian plants next week.

    All non-manufacturing activity will continue regularly, through smart working, Ferrari said.

    A source close to the matter said the company will adopt further measures during the closures period, including sanitization of the sites’ areas and added that no contagion cases were recorded among Ferrari’s workers to date.

    Italy agreed a series of measures on Saturday to improve health controls in factories, offices and other workplaces that have been allowed to stay open during the country’s coronavirus lockdown.

    Ferrari’s workers will continue to receive their full salary and will not be requested to use their day-off allowance during the closure period, the source said.

    Chief Executive Louis Camilleri said Ferrari took the decision to close its plants out of respect for its workers, “for their peace of mind and those of their families”.

    Earlier this week carmaker Fiat Chrysler and industrial vehicle maker CNH Industrial said they were temporarily halting operations and slowing production rates at some of their Italian plants to comply with the government’s anti-coronavirus requirements.

    Tyremaker Pirelli said it was cutting production at its Settimo Torinese plant, near Turin, after a worker tested positive for the coronavirus.

    Ferrari said its Formula One team Scuderia Ferrari had also suspended its operational activities.

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  • Ford To Shut Spanish Factory For One Week Due To Coronavirus Outbreak

    Ford To Shut Spanish Factory For One Week Due To Coronavirus Outbreak

    Ford said on Sunday it would shut its Spanish plant in the eastern region of Valencia for one week starting on Monday after three employees tested positive for coronavirus.

    “We have had three positive cases of COVID-19 in the Ford Valencia plant in the past 24 hours,” the company said, adding it was following protocol by isolating all employees that had contact with the infected workers.

    The Ford Endeavour recently underwent a substantial update. We get our hands on the updated SUV to find out if it still lives up to the benchmarks of the brand.

    The plant, one of Ford’s largest outside the United States, employs over 7,000 workers and produces over 400,000 vehicles a year including the Mondeo and Galaxy models.

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  • Volkswagen Plans To Tap Electric Car Batteries To Compete With Power Firms

    Volkswagen Plans To Tap Electric Car Batteries To Compete With Power Firms

    Volkswagen’s expansion in electric cars will open up new business opportunities in storing and managing energy, encroaching on business currently dominated by utilities and energy firms, chief strategist Michael Jost said on Thursday.

    Electric car batteries could be used to stabilize the energy grid by charging the battery in times of excess supply and selling electricity back to the grid at times when supplies of electricity from wind and solar power are low, Jost said.

    An automotive analyst says the car industry will potentially suffer as the world economy is negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic

    “By 2025 we will have 350-gigawatt hours worth of energy storage at our disposal through our electric car fleet. Between 2025 and 2030 this will grow to 1 terawatt-hours worth of storage,” Jost told journalists in Berlin.

    “That’s more energy than is currently generated by all the hydroelectric power stations in the world. We can guarantee that energy will be used and stored and this will be a new area of business.”

    The German carmaker is not alone in looking into this field. German utility E.ON has been working with Japanese carmaker Nissan to develop so-called vehicle-to-grid (V2G) services.

    Volkswagen is launching the ID:3 electric car this year. A basic version will cost less than 24,000 euros ($27,000) in Germany, once green car tax breaks and incentives are deducted, putting electric cars on par with combustion-engined variants.

  • Rolls-Royce Dawn Silver Bullet Roadster Teased

    Rolls-Royce Dawn Silver Bullet Roadster Teased

    Rolls-Royce is all set to introduce its first collection car of the new decade. It’s the Dawn Silver Bullet Collection and according to the company it is an ode ‘to decadence, to frivolity, to heady heydays and irreverent past times’. It’s basically the open-top roadster iteration of Dawn, and Rolls-Royce teased the car and we’ll know more about it very soon.

    A quilted transmission tunnel, with design cues taken from the leather jacket, runs through the center of the cabin in a tailored fashion.

    Drawing inspiration from the roadsters of the 1920’s -the Dawn Silver Bullet Collection looks seductive and cool too. It comes with a newly commissioned ultra-metallic silver paint finish which looks fantastic on the car. The aero cowling gives the Dawn Silver Bullet a high-shouldered silhouette. The rakish silver center spine brings the bodywork into the cabin, giving it the intimate, connected feel of a true two-seater.

    A behind-the-scenes look at Sunseeker, Britain’s biggest superyacht builder.

    It comes with a newly commissioned ultra-metallic silver paint finish which looks fantastic on the car.

    The Dawn Silver Bullet Collection features dark exterior detailing; dark headlights and a new dark front bumper finisher. The wheels are part-polished and offer a translucent shadow finish with a single silver pinstripe.

    Inside, the Dawn Silver Bullet Collection comes with an open-pore carbon fiber fascia. A quilted transmission tunnel, with design cues taken from the leather jacket, runs through the center of the cabin in a tailored fashion.

    Only 50 examples of this car will be made and we are sure there are plenty out there who want to scoop up this two-seater roadster from Rolls-Royce

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  • Tesla Rolls Out Its One Millionth Car

    Tesla Rolls Out Its One Millionth Car

    American electric car maker, Tesla Inc. has rolled out its one-millionth car from its main vehicle manufacturing facility, Tesla Factory, in Fremont, California. The company’s CEO, Elon Musk has posted a photo of the one-millionth car, a red color Tesla Model Y, congratulating his factory team for achieving the new production milestone. The company, which was founded in 2003, started producing cars in 2008 with the Tesla Roadster (discontinued) in 2008, taking 12 years to reach the one million mark.

    Currently, the company offers four models, Model S, Model 3, Model X, and the Model Y. Tesla recently also revealed its fifth pure electric vehicle, the Tesla Cybertruck, which made its debut in November 2019 and is slated to go into production in 2021. Tesla currently operates several production and assembly plants in addition to the Fremont facility, which includes – Giga Nevada near Reno, Giga New York in Buffalo, New York, and the most recently opened Giga Shanghai in Shanghai, China, Tesla’s first plant outside America

    China’s industry ministry urged Tesla to keep its China-made vehicles consistent after some Chinese customers complained the automaker put less advanced chips in their cars.

    The company has already started selling China-made Model 3s and plans to produce the new Model Y at its China plant. Furthermore, the company has started work to build a new Gigafactory near Berlin Germany. Based on the company’s current targets growth rate, Tesla’s next million cars could very well be rolled much sooner. Early this year in January, the company announced that it hopes to ship over 500,000 cars worldwide in 2020.

    Tesla unveiled the Model Y in March 2019, and the prices start at $39,000 (approximately ₹ 27 lakh). The Model Y will be available in a standard range version, and a long-range, Dual-Motor All-Wheel Drive, and Performance variants. The company says that the Model Y electric crossover is spacious enough to carry seven adults (gets optional 3rd row) and their gear. The high-efficiency powertrain and ultra-responsive motors will provide 0-98 kmph in as little as 3.5 seconds and a top speed of up to 241 kmph. The Model Y with the Standard Battery will have a range of 370 km while the long-range variant will be able to travel up to 483 km on a single charge.

  • Volkswagen Tiguan Diesel To Be Discontinued From April 2020

    Volkswagen Tiguan Diesel To Be Discontinued From April 2020

    With the BS6 norms kicking in, Volkswagen India has done some major restructuring to its current lineup. While the automaker has launched the updated Polo and Vento with the 1.0-litre petrol motor, the diesel versions have been discontinued. Similarly, the German auto giant is all set to boot the Tiguan diesel from its Indian line-up by the end of this month. The five-seater Volkswagen Tiguan diesel won’t be upgraded to meet the BS6 emission norms that kick-in from April 2020.

    The Volkswagen Tiguan was launched in India in May 2017 as a five-seater premium SUV. The model is powered by a 2.0-litre TDI diesel engine and does not get a petrol engine, even as an option. With the VW Group going petrol-only in India, the engine won’t be upgraded to meet the BS6 emission norms. Although, it is likely that the company will bring a petrol version of the Tiguan, if it has strong demand for it.

    Volkswagen has shifted its focus to the SUV segment starting 2020 and it launched the Tiguan AllSpace, which is the long wheelbase, seven-seater version of the SUV at a price tag of Rs 33.12 lakh (ex-showroom). The AllSpace is a more practical alternative for the Indian market and is more suited to lock horns with rivals in the segment including the Toyota Fortuner, Honda CR-V, Mahindra Alturas G4 and the likes. The Tiguan Allspace’s introductory price makes it just ₹ xx lakh expensive than the top-end Tiguan 5-seater and that’s one reason why the company can expect the demand for this 7-seater to surge.

    The Volkswagen Tiguan AllSpace is a petrol-only offering and comes with the 2-litre turbocharged TSI motor that develops 187 bhp. The model is offered only with the 7-speed DSG automatic transmission and is fully loaded on the feature front with All-Wheel Drive as standard. Nevertheless, the void of a five-seater SUV from Volkswagen will be soon filled by the T-Roc compact SUV that is slated to be launched on March 18, 2020. Like the Tiguan AllSpace, the T-Roc is being brought to India as a Completely Built Unit (CBU) and will be priced around the ₹ 20 lakh (ex-showroom) mark. The SUV will be sold in a single-variant with power coming from the 1.5-litre TSI turbo petrol engine that belts out 148 bhp. The new T-Roc will take on the Jeep Compass, MG Hector, Tata Harrier and the likes, and will be sold in a fully-loaded single variant.

  • Volvo Inaugurates Battery Assembly Line In Belgium

    Volvo Inaugurates Battery Assembly Line In Belgium

    Volvo Cars inaugurated a brand new battery assembly line at its Belgian manufacturing plant in Ghent, where it will start building its first fully electric car, the XC40 Recharge P8, later this year. The inauguration of the assembly line is in line with the company’s ambitious electrification strategy and its climate action plan. Ghent is one of two car manufacturing plants operated by Volvo Cars in Europe and has produced Volvos since 1965. It aims to reduce its lifecycle carbon footprint per car by 40 percent between 2018 and 2025, as the first step towards its goal of becoming a climate-neutral company by 2040.

    Over the next five years, Volvo Cars will launch a fully electric car every year, as it seeks to make all-electric cars 50 percent of global sales by 2025, with the rest hybrids. Recharge will be the overarching name for all chargeable Volvos with a fully electric or plug-in hybrid powertrain.

    The XC40 Recharge gets dual electric motors which are mounted on the front and rear axle that develop 402 bhp & 659 Nm

    Geert Bruyneel, head of global production operations, said “As the first of our plants to get a battery assembly line, Ghent plays a pioneering role as we continue to prepare our manufacturing network for electrification.”

    Earlier this year the company announced the planned construction of a battery assembly line at its US plant outside Charleston, South Carolina. Construction of that assembly line is expected to start soon. The company will also build battery electric vehicles at a Volvo-operated manufacturing plant in Luqiao, China, based on the CMA platform.

    Last year, Volvo Cars signed long-term supply agreements with two leading global battery suppliers, CATL of China and LG Chem of South Korea. The agreements cover the supply of batteries over the coming decade for next-generation Volvo and Polestar models, including the XC40 Recharge P8.

  • Honda Motorcycle And Scooter India To Start Testing A New Electric Scooter

    Honda Motorcycle And Scooter India To Start Testing A New Electric Scooter

    Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI), the second-largest two-wheeler brand by volume in India, is all set to start testing an electric scooter. While HMSI has time and again maintained that there’s no plan for developing electric two-wheelers, the latest development does seem to indicate that Honda will now test waters to possibly develop an electric two-wheeler. The development comes after we brought you an exclusive report about India’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, Hero MotoCorp, working on the Hero eMaestro electric scooter. Now, it seems Honda is not averse to working on an all-electric two-wheeler after all. While electric vehicles do seem to be the next growth of the automotive industry, Honda has not confirmed a timeline, or if at all an electric scooter will be developed and launched in India.

    Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, HMSI, said, “We are bringing one of our electric scooters to India which will be basically used for the study. We will be doing a market survey and feasibility survey with this model and decide on the roadmap of future EVs of Honda in India. It’s very difficult to set the next future line-up but the survey will be starting in the next three to four months.”

    However, Honda hasn’t shared any plans about launching the scooter in India yet as the EV industry is still in a nascent stage. Though the industry is trying to speed up the process of EV adoption, there are quite a few complications automakers will have to resolve in a bid to make EVs as viable as any regular two-wheeler. “We see that there is an effort by the Indian two-wheeler makers as well as the Society Of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) and certain talks are there. But there are other challenges as well in terms of the EV infrastructure, in terms of charging infrastructure, the real performance of the vehicle and the range of the vehicle. So, these are the challenges, in the long run, the industry really will have to tackle,” Guleria added.

    Honda is yet to share details about the scooter that will undergo testing in India and chances of it making to production will depend on its real-world performance on the road and how well the industry can deal with the challenges. For now though, there’s no concrete word on if Honda will go on to the next phase of designing and developing an electric two-wheeler for India. The feasibility study with the electric scooter may be the first step in that direction. With more and more mainstream two-wheeler manufacturers going electric, Honda definitely doesn’t want to be left out. TVS Motor Company has already launched the iQube electric scooter, and Bajaj Auto has revived the legendary Chetak name in the company’s new electric scooter. With Hero MotoCorp also planning to launch the eMaestro, Honda certainly seems to be looking to join the electric bandwagon as well.

  • 2020 Hyundai Verna Facelift Launch Details Out

    2020 Hyundai Verna Facelift Launch Details Out

    The new Hyundai Verna Facelift will be launched with the 1.0-liter, three-cylinder, GDI turbo petrol engine that made its debut in the Venue last year and is also offered in the Grand i10 Nios and Aura. Like the Venue, even in the Verna this engine will be paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission (DCT) while a six-speed manual gearbox will be standard. The new Verna will also share part of its engine line-up with the new Hyundai Creta. So the 1.5-liter, four-cylinder, naturally aspirated petrol engine and the 1.5-liter, four-cylinder diesel engine will also be on offer. While the six-speed manual gearbox will be standard on both engine options, the petrol will also come with a six-speed intelligent variable transmission (IVT) and the diesel will have a 6-speed automatic transmission.

    Hyundai has also dropped a teaser image of the Verna ahead of its launch. Though the silhouette of the car remains unchanged, the face has been heavily updated and is in-line with Hyundai’s latest family face. It gets an all-new cascade grille finished in chrome and is flanked by new LED headlamps. At the rear too it gets new LED taillights and the bumpers have been revised as well.

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  • BMW’s Dingolfing Plant Tests Fully Connected Logistics

    BMW’s Dingolfing Plant Tests Fully Connected Logistics

    As part of a three-year research project supported by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, the BMW Group and three partner companies from Bavaria are exploring the possibilities for making BMW Group Plant Dingolfing a smart factory for logistics. The ‘Autonomous and Connected Logistics’ research project was officially launched in September 2019 and is now entering the practical phase. A number of innovative Industry 4.0 production technologies are being combined in an overall concept and tested under real conditions at BMW Group Plant Dingolfing. The BMW Group is contributing around 4.8 million euros to the project costs.

    Testing of 5G wireless technology, which, over the course of the project, will be set up at BMW Group Plant Dingolfing as a trial network, will play a key role in linking different logistics solutions. The new mobile telecommunications standard allows large data volumes to be transferred within a very short time. 5G enables real-time connectivity between machinery and equipment.

    Within the BMW Group production network, the BMW Brilliance Automotive joint venture has already rolled out the 5G wireless communications network across all its three plants. The long-term goal is to set up a 5G network at all BMW Group plant locations worldwide. Further sub-projects will explore the use of logistics robots, mobile devices and digital displays in the logistics process and test connectivity between different systems.

    Peter Kiermaier, head of Logistics Planning at BMW Group Plant Dingolfing: “We also want to use new technologies to increase transparency in conventional processes and enable smooth coupling of manual and autonomous technologies.”

  • Tesla Wins Approval To Sell Longer-Range China-made Model 3 Vehicles

    Tesla Wins Approval To Sell Longer-Range China-made Model 3 Vehicles

    Tesla Inc has secured Chinese government approval to sell longer-range China-made model 3 vehicles in China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Friday.

    The vehicles will have a driving range of more than 600 kilometers before they need to be recharged, the ministry said in a statement, while the current China-made Model 3 has a standard driving range of more than 400 kilometers.

    Tesla started delivering cars in December from its $2 billion factories in Shanghai.

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  • Toyota Recalls 3.2 Million Vehicles Worldwide Over Fuel Pump Problem

    Toyota Recalls 3.2 Million Vehicles Worldwide Over Fuel Pump Problem

    Toyota said the recall now covers 1.8 million U.S. Toyota and Lexus vehicles in total in the United States, including older vehicles from as far back as the 2013 model year — and more than 1 million vehicles than it announced in January.

    Toyota Motor said Wednesday it is now recalling 3.2 million vehicles worldwide to address a fuel pump issue that could result in engine stalling. The Japanese automaker first said in January it would recall 696,000 U.S. vehicles with a fuel pump that may stop operating and lead to stalling of the engine. Dealers will replace the fuel pumps with new ones.

    Toyota said the recall now covers 1.8 million U.S. Toyota and Lexus vehicles in total in the United States, including older vehicles from as far back as the 2013 model year — and more than 1 million vehicles than it announced in JanuaryToyota began a probe into the fuel pump issue in June.

    The automaker told the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in January it was aware of 66 field reports and 2,571 warranty claims that relate to fuel pump failures in the vehicles initially recalled. Owners have complained of rough engine running, engine not starting and loss of power while driving at low speeds. Toyota said the reports occurred more commonly in areas of the southern U.S. with warmer climates.

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  • New-Gen Hyundai Creta To Come With Blue Link Connected Car Tech

    New-Gen Hyundai Creta To Come With Blue Link Connected Car Tech

    The soon-to-be-launched Hyundai Creta will now come with the company’s Blue Link connected car technology. Slated to be launched on March 17, the second-gen Creta will be the third Hyundai car to get the Blue Link system, after the Venue and Elantra facelift. And while the other two only got up to 34 connectivity features, the Creta will come with over 50 connectivity features. Furthermore, in addition to the natural language-based voice recognition program, and Smartwatch integrated Blue Link application, the system now also comes with the ‘Hello Blue Link’ – a wake-up word for activating in-car controls with a voice command.

    Tarun Garg, Director – Sales, Marketing & Service, Hyundai Motor India, said, “With the All-New Creta, Hyundai aims to offer customers the Ultimate Technology Experience. All New Creta will feature Blue Link Connectivity, bringing in ‘Hello Blue Link’ – a wake-up word to activate voice recognition service at ease for in-car control and assistance alongside New Smart Watch Integrated Blue Link application. With Smart and Intuitive solutions offered on the All-New Creta, Hyundai aims to give customers a Quality Time on the go, enhancing the driving experience and providing a Happy Life to its customers.”

    With the new Blue Link system, Hyundai offers connectivity features across a wide range of spectrum like – safety, security, remote access, vehicle relationship management, location-based services (live-tracking), and alert services (theft alert). These, of course, are in addition to the new voice recognition system that understands Indian accent, and Hey Blue Link command. By just saying ‘Hello Blue Link’ you can now control several functions like – Sunroof Open/Close, Seat Ventilation Control, Climate Control -Temperature, Fan Speed control, Wind Direction and Air-intake type control (Fresh/ Circulation)

    The New-Gen Hyundai Creta’s smartwatch connectivity offers remote access to several in-car controls

    Similarly, the smartwatch connectivity feature also offers you remote access to several in-car controls like – engine start/stop, remote door lock/unlock, and remote horn+lights. You can also turn on the in-car air purifier along and check your in-car air quality information with the smartwatch. It also shows vehicle status via the Blue Link app, along with vehicle alerts like stolen vehicle alert, Geo-Fence Alert, Speed Alert, Time Fence Alert, Valet alert, Idle Alert.

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  • Toyota’s China Sales Sink In February On Coronavirus Outbreak

    Toyota’s China Sales Sink In February On Coronavirus Outbreak

    Japanese automaker Toyota said on Wednesday its car sales in China, the world’s biggest auto market, fell 70.2% in February due to the coronavirus epidemic which has killed more than 2,900 people. Toyota, which is the first major global automaker to report its February sales in China, said it sold 23,800 Toyota and premium Lexus cars.

    According to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), China’s overall passenger car sales dropped 89% in the first 23 days of February.

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