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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 Weighs Restarting China Production In Dongfeng Venture After February 10

    Nissan Weighs Restarting China Production In Dongfeng Venture After February 10

    Nissan Motor said on Tuesday it is considering restarting production in China in its venture with Dongfeng Motor Group sometime after Feb. 10, citing government guidance and its assessment of the coronavirus epidemic.

    The Japanese carmaker also said production in Hubei province, the epicenter of the epidemic, will start sometime after Feb. 14.

    The production plan is subject to change after reviewing the coronavirus situation in the days ahead, a company spokeswoman said. The virus outbreak has killed over 420 people, spread around the world and raised fears about global economic growth.

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  • Toyota Reveal New Safety System To Avoid Accelerator-Brake Mix-Up

    Toyota Reveal New Safety System To Avoid Accelerator-Brake Mix-Up

    Toyota Motor Corp unveiled an emergency safety system on Monday that uses big data to ignore the accelerator if it determines the driver steps on the pedal unintentionally. Japan’s biggest carmaker will roll out what it calls an “accelerator suppression function” in new cars from this summer, beginning in Japan. The system is a response to an increasingly common cause of traffic accidents in aging Japan where the driver, often elderly, mistakes the accelerator for the brake.

    Some 15% of fatal accidents on Japanese roads in 2018 were caused by drivers who were 75 years or older, showed a report from the government, which actively encourages elderly drivers to give up their licenses. Toyota’s announcement comes as automakers globally invest heavily in so-called active safety features as they work to develop fully autonomous cars. It also comes in the same year Toyota will act as an exclusive mobility sponsor for the Tokyo Olympics, where it will showcase its fully self-driving e-Palette transportation pods carrying athletes around the Olympic village at low speeds. Among competitors, Honda Motor Co Ltd plans to launch a car this year capable of full autonomy in highway traffic jam situations.

    Nissan Motor Co Ltd released the second generation of its ProPilot driver-assist system last spring, offering hands-free operation for single-lane highway driving. Toyota rolled out its first-generation Safety Sense package in 2015, which included automated emergency braking and a lane departure alert.

    The second generation became available in 2018, adding assisted single-lane highway driving and making the car capable of recognizing pedestrians at nighttime and bicycles. Its new feature was developed using data collected from the internet-connected cars it has on the road.

    Unlike the car maker’s existing safety options, the new system does not require the presence of an obstacle to function.

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  • Renault-Nissan Can Overhaul Alliance Without Ownership Change

    Renault-Nissan Can Overhaul Alliance Without Ownership Change

    he comments from Jean-Dominique Senard point to an emphasis on more cooperation and operational efficiency as the automakers and junior partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp strive to rebuild profits, which have slumped in the wake of former chairman Carlos Ghosn’s arrest in 2018.

    Renault and Nissan have struggled to repair a relationship badly strained after the arrest of Ghosn, who fled Japan to his childhood home of Lebanon at the end of last year. He has been charged with financial misconduct, which he denies.

    “We all share a sense of urgency,” Senard told reporters in Yokohama, after he and the heads of the three automakers met. He said there was “no other option” but to change, but added reforms could be made without a shift in the capital structure. “The priority as clearly stated was to increase significantly the efficiency of the alliance,” he said.

    Renault SA, which is part-owned by the French state, owns 43% of Nissan Motor Co, while the Japanese firm has 15% of the French carmaker, with no voting rights – a structure that has caused friction in Japan, given Nissan is the larger of the two.

    Renault has previously indicated a desire to move towards a full merger, something Ghosn is said to have championed and which Nissan has strongly opposed.

    Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida told reporters that in order to leverage their respective strengths, Nissan would take an operational lead in China, where it leads its partners in sales, Renault on its home turf in Europe and Mitsubishi in southeast Asia, an area it dominates.

    A similar model will be taken for engineering, where one company will lead in developing a key technology that would then be shared among the partners, the companies said in a statement.

    Fuel economy credits would be pooled by the three in Europe, they added.

    The three companies, which together sold nearly 11 million vehicles in 2018, will announce revised mid-term plans by May, Uchida said.

    The automakers need to improve profitability to compete with global rivals, which are investing heavily to develop electric vehicles, self-driving cars and other new technologies that are transforming the industry.

    Reuters reported this week that Nissan was set to eliminate at least 4,300 white-collar jobs and shut two manufacturing sites as part of broader plans to add at least 480 billion yen ($4.4 billion) to its bottom line by 2023.

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  • Android Auto update adds option to disable notification sounds

    Android Auto update adds option to disable notification sounds

    Google has been trying to fix and improve Android Auto for years, but there’s still a lot of features missing or not working as intended. The latest Android Auto app update doesn’t fix anything but adds a new feature that should have been there a long time ago.

    A new option added after the latest update lets Android Auto users disable notification sounds while they’re driving. Spotted by a Reddit user, the option to disable notification sound is not really new, as Google added and removed the feature a few times before.

    This time, however, Google opted for a toggle, so it’s now much easier to completely disable sounds from notifications whenever you want to focus on driving. The problem is this option does exactly what it says, it disables the sounds, so you will still get notifications on the screen. Not only that, but some users report that notifications will remain on the screen until you manually dismiss them.

    Although the update was released last week, it appears that a wider rollout is happening right now, so everyone should see the new app in the Google Play Store in the next couple of days.

  • Maruti Suzuki Announces Price Hike On Select Models

    Maruti Suzuki Announces Price Hike On Select Models

    Maruti Suzuki cars have become costlier from today owing to an increase in prices of select models. The company has increased ex-showroom prices by up to 4.7 percent and new prices come into effect from today. The company had earlier announced that it will increase prices in December 2019 which was supposed to come into effect from January 1, 2020. However, the company had postponed the price hike to a later date. The increase is a part of cyclical price revision due to an increase in input costs which has now become a norm in the industry.

    Earlier in December, the company had said in a BSE filing, “The cost of the company’s vehicles has been impacted adversely due to an increase in various input costs. Hence, it has become imperative for the company to pass on some impact of the above additional cost to customers through a price increase across various models in January 2020. This price increase shall vary for different models”

    The company has not disclosed the models that have undergone price revision, but we expect the majority of its models have witnessed a price hike.

    Maruti Suzuki cars have become costlier from today owing to an increase in prices of select models. The company has increased ex-showroom prices by up to 4.7 percent and new prices come into effect from today. The company had earlier announced that it will increase prices in December 2019 which was supposed to come into effect from January 1, 2020. However, the company had postponed the price hike to a later date. The increase is a part of cyclical price revision due to an increase in input costs which has now become a norm in the industry.

    Earlier in December, the company had said in a BSE filing, “The cost of the company’s vehicles has been impacted adversely due to an increase in various input costs. Hence, it has become imperative for the company to pass on some impact of the above additional cost to customers through a price increase across various models in January 2020. This price increase shall vary for different models”

    The company has not disclosed the models that have undergone price revision, but we expect the majority of its models have witnessed a price hike.

  • U.S. Senator Slams Tesla’s ‘Misleading’ Name For Autopilot Driver Assistance System

    U.S. Senator Slams Tesla’s ‘Misleading’ Name For Autopilot Driver Assistance System

    A U.S. senator on Friday urged Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) to rebrand its driver-assistance system Autopilot, saying it has “an inherently misleading name” and is subject to potentially dangerous misuse.

    But Tesla said in a letter that it had taken steps to ensure driver engagement with the system and enhance its safety features.

    The electric automaker introduced new warnings for red lights and stop signs last year “to minimize the potential risk of red light- or stop sign-running as a result of temporary driver inattention,” Tesla said in the letter.

    Senator Edward Markey said he believed the potential dangers of Autopilot can be overcome. But he called for “rebranding and remarketing the system to reduce misuse, as well as building back up driver monitoring tools that will make sure no one falls asleep at the wheel.”

    Markey’s comments came in a press release, with a copy of a Dec. 20 from Tesla addressing some of the Democratic senator’s concerns attached.

    Autopilot has been engaged in at least three Tesla vehicles involved in fatal U.S. crashes since 2016.

    Crashes involving Autopilot have raised questions about the driver-assistance system’s ability to detect hazards, especially stationary objects.

    There are mounting safety concerns globally about systems that can perform driving tasks for extended stretches of time with little or no human intervention, but which cannot completely replace human drivers.

    Markey cited videos of Tesla drivers who appeared to fall asleep behind the wheel while using Autopilot and others in which drivers said they could defeat safeguards by sticking a banana or water bottle in the steering wheel to make it appear they were in control of the vehicle.

    Tesla, in its letter, said its revisions to steering wheel monitoring meant that in most situations “a limp hand on the wheel from a sleepy driver will not work, nor will the coarse hand pressure of a person with impaired motor controls, such as a drunk driver.”

    It added that devices “marketed to trick Autopilot, may be able to trick the system for a short time, but generally not for an entire trip before Autopilot disengages.”

    Tesla also wrote that while videos like those cited by Markey showed “a few bad actors who are grossly abusing Autopilot” they represented only “a very small percentage of our customer base.”

    Earlier this month, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it was launching an investigation into a 14th crash involving Tesla in which it suspects Autopilot or other advanced driver assistance system was in use.

    NHTSA is probing a Dec. 29 fatal crash of a Model S Tesla in Gardena, California. In that incident, the vehicle exited the 91 Freeway, ran a red light and struck a 2006 Honda Civic, killing its two occupants.

    The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a Feb. 25 hearing to determine the probable cause of a 2018 fatal Tesla Autopilot crash in Mountain View, California.

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  • Suzuki Motor Will Respond To Dutch Emissions Probe By Mid-February

    Suzuki Motor Will Respond To Dutch Emissions Probe By Mid-February

    Japan’s Suzuki Moto is co-operating with the Dutch authorities over their findings its diesel vehicles had broken the country’s emissions rules, and it is required to respond to the investigation by mid-February, it said on Friday.

    The Dutch road authority ruled on Thursday that Suzuki’s Vitara and Fiat Chrysler’s Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel models broke emissions rules and must be fixed or face a ban on sales across Europe.

    In a statement, Suzuki said diesel versions of its Vitara and S-Cross vehicles used engines and emissions software supplied by Fiat Chrysler.

    The Dutch authorities said the vehicles in question, which are no longer in production, showed emissions levels higher than allowed following a software update in 2017, Suzuki said.

    Earlier this week, the German authorities said they were investigating Mitsubishi Motors Corp for suspected use of illegal, emissions defeat devices installed in its diesel engines.

    Regulators across the world have been clamping down on emissions devices used in diesel models since Volkswagen admitted in 2015 that it used illegal software to cheat U.S. emissions tests.

  • Peugeot To Repatriate Staff From China’s Wuhan Area After Coronavirus Outbreak

    Peugeot To Repatriate Staff From China’s Wuhan Area After Coronavirus Outbreak

    French automotive group PSA, maker of the Peugeot and Citroen brands, said in a statement it will repatriate expat staff and their families from the Wuhan area in China, which is at the center of an outbreak of coronavirus.

    It said that 38 people would be evacuated and that the initiative will be executed in full collaboration with the Chinese authorities and the French general consulate.

    PSA said the evacuees will remain in quarantine in Changsha before traveling back to their home countries.

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  • Skoda Vision IN Concept Teased In New Video

    Skoda Vision IN Concept Teased In New Video

    Skoda India has rolled out a new video teasing its upcoming Vision IN concept SUV. Slated to make its global debut at the upcoming Auto Expo 2020, the new Vison IN concept is built on the new MQB-A0 IN platform and will preview the company upcoming SUV that is set to be based on the localized version of the MQB architecture. The video teaser gives us a glimpse of the new butterfly grille featuring the signature vertical slats outlined in crystal, which is illuminated along with the Skoda logo on the hood. The video also gives us a clean look at the new split LED headlamps which come with the lettering “Vision IN” etched on them.

    Based on the exterior sketches which were revealed earlier, the concept SUV will also come with a clamshell-style bonnet with sculpted lines, alone with a muscular front bumper with beefy claddings and large air intakes. The video and the older sketches both confirm that the SUV will come with a set of roof rails, side and wheel arch claddings and larger alloy wheels. While we do not get to see the rear section of the concept here, the sketch reveals a pair of wraparound LED taillights with the 3D effect, and aluminum diffuser extended to the rear bumper. The SUV also gets a horizontal light strips connecting the reflectors on the tailgate and the bold Skoda lettering that is placed in the center.

    The teaser video also highlights some of the features of the cabin, which will also make heavy use of crystalline elements. For instance, the gear selector button in the center console, under the virtual cockpit, and a decorative crystal piece positioned on the dashboard. The seat covers come with contrast stitching, and the multifunction leather-wrapped steering wheel features the knurl wheels in line with Skoda’s new operating concept. We also get a glimpse of an illuminated SOS button, which indicates, the car could get connected car technology.

    Developed specifically for the Indian market, the new MQB-A0 IN is part of Skoda’s India 2.0 project, and the platform will underpin subcompact models from Skoda and Volkswagen, including the localized version of the Kamiq and the T-Cross. We will get more details about the concept and the company’s upcoming models on February 5, at the Auto Expo 2020.

  • Hyundai India Postpones Investment Plans In New Plant

    Hyundai India Postpones Investment Plans In New Plant

    The slowdown in the Indian auto market has also dented long term plans of automakers in India. Hyundai which was gearing up to set up a new plant in India has now postponed its plans by two or three years. Hyundai Motor India Managing Director (MD) & CEO, S.S. Kim told Times Of India in an interview that the company has sufficient production capacity to meet its domestic and global demand.

    Kim also added that buyer sentiments in India are not very positive at present and it may take around three years to restore the volumes and meet the sales performance targets like 2018. For the time being, the Korean carmaker will continue to focus on new launches that have already started with the launch of the Grand i10 Nios and Aura subcompact sedan.

    Hyundai Motor India has registered 37,953 units in the domestic market in December 2019, as compared to 42,093 units which is a de-growth of 9.8 percent. It’s domestic sales in the calendar year 2019 declined by 7.2 percent at 510,260 units as compared to 550,002 units which were sold in the calendar year 2018.

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  • Jaguar Land Rover To Cut 10 Per Cent Of Workforce At UK Halewood Factory

    Jaguar Land Rover To Cut 10 Per Cent Of Workforce At UK Halewood Factory

    British carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) said on Wednesday it will cut around 10% of the workforce at its northern English Halewood factory as it changes shift patterns to boost efficiency at the site. The Unite Union said the cuts were linked to slower than forecast growth of the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport vehicles, which are made at the plant. The company said the decision was not related to the loss of volumes.

    JLR posted a 6% decline in 2019 sales, hit by the weakening Chinese autos market and falling demand for diesel vehicles in Europe. But it has bounced back in China in recent months and overall company sales rose by 1.3% in December.

    “Jaguar Land Rover is taking action to optimize performance, enable sustainable growth and safeguard the long-term success of our business,” the company said in a statement.

    “Central to the Halewood manufacturing strategy, we are moving from a three-shift to a “two-plus” shift pattern from April 2020.”

    Around 4,5000 people work at the Halewood factory, one of three of JLR’s car factories in Britain, with roughly 500 jobs affected by Wednesday’s announcement.

    JLR, like much of the car industry, has also faced the challenge of stepping up investment in zero and low-emissions vehicles as regulations tighten while simultaneously dealing with a drop in demand for some conventionally-powered models.

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  • Mercedes-Benz India Announces Its Line-Up For 2020 Auto Expo

    Mercedes-Benz India Announces Its Line-Up For 2020 Auto Expo

    Mercedes-Benz India has announced its line-up for the 2020 Auto Expo, for which the company has planned a range of products, services, and future technology. Among the product line-up at the pavilion, the Stuttgart-based carmaker will also have some of the upcoming models set to be launched in India this year. That includes the Mercedes-Benz A-Class Sedan, the AMG GT 63 S 4 door coupe, and the new-gen GLA, among other models. The company will also showcase its first electric SUV for India, the Mercedes-Benz EQC 400 4MATIC Edition 1886, which is slated to be launched in April 2020.

    The new A-Class sedan will be one of the key products to be introduced in India in 2020 and will mark the entry of the new-gen A-Class range in India. The Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S 4MATIC 4 door Coupe, on the other hand, is also an important product for India, and we were the first ones to drive it. In fact, the car is the world’s fastest series production four-seater and will rival the Porsche Panamera. The new-gen Mercedes-Benz GLA only makes its global debut in December 2019 and is also set to be launched later this year. The EQC 1886, on the other hand, is the forerunner of Mercedes-Benz’s new product brand ‘EQ’ for electric mobility globally.

    Talking about the company’s Martin Schwenk, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India commented, “As leaders in the luxury car industry, our investments at the Auto Expo firmly reiterate Mercedes-Benz’s confidence in the long-term prospect of the luxury car market and the bullishness of its customers; it also underlines our responsibility to drive the industry and provide a positive stimulus to the market. Inspired by our mantra of “Restless for Tomorrow”, the Mercedes-Benz pavilion will be a perfect embodiment of modern luxury, future technology, and progressiveness, all of which are synonymous with the Three-Pointed Star”.

    The Mercedes-Benz pavilion at the Auto Expo 2020 will also have sedans like the new E-Class, MB Certified C-Class, and something from Mercedes-Maybach on display. In addition to the GLA, the company will also showcase the new-gen GLE and GLS, along with a bunch of AMG models like – AMG G 63, AMG A 35 Sedan and AMG C 43 Coupe. Mercedes-Benz will also showcase its flying car concept, the Volocopter, at the auto show. The carmaker will also showcase a bunch of digital innovations like – an e-commerce marketplace for sale of MB cars, collections, MBUX interactive exhibition, what3words and more.

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  • Amazon India To Have 10,000 Electric Vehicles In Its Delivery Fleet By 2025

    Amazon India To Have 10,000 Electric Vehicles In Its Delivery Fleet By 2025

    Amazon India said that it will induct about 10,000 electric vehicles in its delivery fleet in the country. The e-commerce giant says that the idea is to reduce its carbon footprint in the country in accordance to the Climate Pledge that Amazon has signed. As part of the pledge, Amazon announced its plans to introduce 10,000 EVs into its delivery fleet globally in 2022 and one lakh vehicles by 2030, saving 4 million metric tonnes of carbon per year by 2030. Amazon had already begun an EV pilot project in a few cities across India and the learnings from the pilot project has helped the company to have a scalable and a long term EV delivery fleet by 2025. Amazon India announced this right after Amazon President and CEO, Jeff Bezos made a trip to India and announced an investment of $ 1 billion and creation of 1 million jobs by 2025.

    “The fleet of 10,000 EVs-including three-wheeler and four-wheeler vehicles-has been designed and manufactured by original equipment manufacturers in India,” the company said in a statement. The company has been working with a few Indian companies in order to ready a fleet of electric vehicles in its delivery fleet to ensure that last mile deliveries are sustainable. The government’s focus to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles in the country, and steps towards setting up of charging infrastructure with the FAME II policy, has helped the company accelerate and chart its vision for EVs in India, it added.

    “At Amazon India, we are committed to building a supply chain that will minimize the environmental impact of our operations,” Akhil Saxena, vice president for customer fulfillment (Asia Pacific and Emerging Markets) at Amazon, said in a statement.

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  • Tesla Moves A Step Closer To Opening First European Factory With German Property deal

    Tesla Moves A Step Closer To Opening First European Factory With German Property deal

    U.S. electric car pioneer Tesla has agreed to buy a property on the outskirts of Berlin, bringing it a step closer to opening its first European factory, local authorities said on Sunday. The U.S. carmaker last November announced plans to build a giant factory in Gruenheide, in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, giving it the coveted “Made in Germany” label just as local rivals prepare to launch competing models.

    Tesla’s board of directors approved a purchase agreement with the state of Brandenburg on Saturday to acquire a 300-hectare property, Brandenburg government spokesman Florian Engels said in a statement. The state parliament’s finance committee had already approved the sale on January 9.

    A Tesla spokeswoman confirmed the deal. The agreement states a preliminary property price of 40.91 million euros ($45.36 million) which can be amended if an external review provides a different value, Engels said.

    The property is in a designated industrial area and is being checked for weapons from World War II as there are most likely unexploded U.S. bombs still in the ground, he added.

    Politicians, unions and industry groups have welcomed Tesla’s move which is expected to create up to 7,000 jobs in Brandenburg.

    But some 250 locals took to the streets to protest on Saturday, fearing the factory could endanger the water supply and wildlife in the surrounding forest.

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  • New Generation Hyundai i10 Commences Production For EU

    New Generation Hyundai i10 Commences Production For EU

    The new generation Hyundai Grand i10 Nios was launched last year in India and now its European sibling, the 2020 Hyundai i10 is all set to be made available in the continent. Hyundai has commenced series production of the new i10 for Europe with sales to begin by early February 2020. The popular hatchback is produced at the Hyundai Assan Otomotiv Sanayi (HAOS) plant located in Izmit, Turkey. The plant has been operational since 1997 as the company’s oldest-running overseas facility and has a production capacity of 230,000 nits per annum.

    The new generation Hyundai i10 for Europe is identical to the India-spec model but gets a host of changes. This includes a more smartly styled front grille with circular LED daytime running lights in place of the boomerang-shaped ones on the Indian model. The fog lamp housing is different as well and the overall design looks sharper for a sporty look. Other changes include 15-inch alloys with optional 16-inch units; dual-tone paint scheme with a contrast roof and a new tail lamp design that looks sharp.

    The Euro-spec 2020 Hyundai i10 also gets smaller proportions and is about 135 mm smaller, 160 mm shorter with a 25 mm shorter wheelbase. The cabin is loaded with features including the 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless charging, and BlueLink technology for connected tech. The European version also gets collision avoidance assist, high beam assist, lane-keeping assist, driver attention warning and speed limit warning as standard.

    The new i10 will be sold in over 45 markets across Europe with the Turkey plant catering to the demand. The Hyundai Assan plant employs around 2500 personnel and will also be producing the third generation i20 that is expected to be revealed at the upcoming Auto Expo 2020 in New Delhi. The new i20 will go on sale in India first, followed by other markets later in the year.

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