Retail News CRM

Tag: Auto

  • Porsche Expands Customisation Project Division For One-Off Model Requests

    Porsche Expands Customisation Project Division For One-Off Model Requests

    It’s not the first time we are seeing Porsche offering customization options and it’s also a common trend among premium car buyers. But now Porsche is expanding its Exclusive Manufaktur program along with the Tequipment and Classic divisions. Now this will give the chance to its customers who want to make their Porsches exclusive and one-off. This service will be offered across range and not just for sports cars or SUVs or any specific model. And there is something for classic Porsches as well, but we’ll come to it in a bit.

    Porsche has extended the range of products and services in the divisions in a way that customers can modify their vehicles to bespoke one-off units. This is an interpretation of the Sonderwunsch program, which literally translates to “special request,” Porsche’s customization from the 1970s. To be precise, it is offering exterior wrap options, individual starting numbers, prints on the floor mats, illuminated door entry guards, and logo projectors in the vehicle doors among others. The unique part about this program is that the option is not limited to just new models. Yes! The personalization also extends to used vehicles and also on the table is customizations for off-road use.

    The Tequipment division in Porsche’s gallery also offers a range of accessories and retrofit options for individual customer vehicles. Now coming to classic vehicles, Porsche is currently focusing on spare parts supply and factory restorations in a bid to keep them in working condition. Now obviously, handling projects which are too radical are best for aftermarket, but the carmaker will be accepting all those projects that it finds sensible and feasible. Also, Porsche will archive every one-off request and keep them in the database.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Ministry says no to cuts in auto registration fees

    Ministry says no to cuts in auto registration fees

    The Ministry of Finance has rejected a proposal to reduce auto registration fees by half, saying it is not necessary for the current setting.

    The proposal was made by the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA), seeking support for manufacturers amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

    However, the Ministry of Finance said that the government had already implemented different measures to support businesses and citizens last year, including extending the deadline for payment of taxes and land use fees and incentives on special consumption tax for cars manufactured or assembled locally.

    “After reviewing the proposal, the Ministry of Finance sees that lowering registration fee is not suitable with the current setting,” it said.

    Last year, the government had provided a 50 percent discount on the registration fees for cars produced domestically.

    The move lowered the government’s revenues by VND6 trillion ($260 million).

    The Ministry of Finance also denied VAMA’s request to lower the production of cars under an import tax incentive program.

  • Renault Introduces New Nouvelle Vague Brand Strategy

    Renault Introduces New Nouvelle Vague Brand Strategy

    Renault is gearing up to give it’s brand a new direction. The French carmaker has adopted “Nouvelle Vague” strategy targeting to maximize its number of electrified vehicles by 2030 in a bid to move towards sustainable development. More than 2000 engineers from five companies will work on cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data processing, software, and microelectronics. Then, Renault’s Re factory in Europe will recycle or upcycle up to 1.20 lakh units every year. Nearly 80 percent of those recycled materials will be reused in new batteries.

    By 2030, Renault is targeting to become world’s best automotive manufacturer when it comes to the percentage of recycled materials in new vehicles. The company will also introduce seven electrified models in C and D segments. It has also unveiled the new Arkana coupe SUV that marks and the new-generation Megane E-TECH Electric. The company has also announced that the E-TECH Hybrid technology will continue to power upcoming C and D segment vehicles. Renault has been leading in the EV segment in Europe with almost 4 lakh vehicles sold to date. In Europe, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom – will continue to be its key markets. The company will also try and increase local dominance in Brazil, Russia, Turkey, and India.

    The brand has also unveiled its new logo and the Megane will be the first model to wear it. The latest iteration was created in 1992 and Renault felt that it began to look a little dated, even though it was reworked in 2015. The new brand logo adores a streamlined design, with neither typogram nor brand signature. The new logo is an open-ended shape and Renault says that it reflects the brand’s openness and transparency. It was co-designed with Landor & Fitch consultants and will be phased in on all Renault brand vehicles and across the Renault network. By 2024, the entire Renault range will sport the new logo.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Julian Thomson Steps Down As Jaguar’s Director Of Design

    Julian Thomson Steps Down As Jaguar’s Director Of Design

    Julian Thomson, Design Director at Jaguar, has resigned and will be leaving the company at the end of this month. An internal memo revealed that he will leave Jaguar for exploring other exciting opportunities. He took over the reins at Jaguar Design after Ian Callum’s departure in 2019 and was tasked with establishing the future strategic design direction for the brand. He worked on production models, updated models and concepts cars as well. He was responsible for the design of various cars from Jaguar such as XK, XF, XJ, F-TYPE, XE, F-Pace, E-Pace, and Jaguar’s first-ever electric vehicle – the I-Pace as well. We have reached out to Jaguar Land Rover for a comment on the same, and the company is yet to respond.

    Thomson also served as the head of design at Lotus and was the brains behind the design of the famous Lotus Elise. He was appointed as Chief of Exteriors at the Volkswagen Group’s Concept Design Centre in Barcelona in 1998 and worked on production and concept vehicle design for various brands under the Volkswagen umbrella such as Audi, Bentley, Seat, and VW itself. Julian joined Jaguar in 2000 as Advanced Design Director and also served as Advanced Design Director for Land Rover between 2006 and 2008.

    Thomson studied Mechanical Engineering at Hatfield University before completing an MA in Automotive Design at the Royal College of Art. He began his automotive industry career in 1984 as a designer at Ford in Dunton, England, before moving to Lotus Design in Norwich in 1986. In the recent past, Former JLR CEO, Professor Ralf Speth moved to TVS Motor Company as the chairman while Wayne Burgess, yet another designer who had worked with Jaguar before was appointed as the Head of Vehicle Design at Ola Electric.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • EV Owners Shifting Back To Gas Power In The U

    EV Owners Shifting Back To Gas Power In The U

    A study by the University of California, Davis, which has been published by the Nature Energy Journal has shown some disturbing signs for EVs. While the world makes this tectonic shift away from gasoline-powered vehicles, between 2015-2019, 18 percent of EV owners in California shifted back to gasoline while 20 percent of the plug-in hybrid owners also did the same. The study reveals the primary culprit for the switch was the lack of reliable level 2 charging, particularly at home. While EVs, despite being more expensive than gasoline-powered vehicles, are considered more affordable because of the more affordable nature of charging and almost no after-sale cost which makes these vehicles more reliable, the limitations of range and the time that it takes to charge a vehicle offset these benefits.

    According to the research paper, almost half of the respondents who bought an EV had access to level 2 charging. 30 percent of them also had proper plugin charging at home and they still dumped their EVs. Interestingly, 54 percent of the respondents were less likely to buy an EV if they didn’t have access to convenient at-home charging.

    In the US particularly, things have moved along quite a bit in the last two years. EVs have become more ubiquitous because of the Tesla Model 3 which has become the best selling executive sedan in the world. Tesla also has a rather affordable SUV in the Tesla Model Y and there is a legion of new vehicles coming to the US mostly from traditional automakers.

    While all of this has happened, the charging technology has moved along. Tesla’s supercharger network has grown while also Volkswagen’s Electrify America has become the biggest charging network in North America. But more players are entering the space like Rivian which is highly capitalized and also pouring its cash into developing its charging network. GM has now partnered with 7 networks via a super app for charging its vehicles.

    The government has also changed in the US. Under Biden, EVs are getting a huge push and if tax credits come back, then things will be even more lucrative for EV adoption. The data from the report is also likely skewed slightly from the current trends because it takes broad 4 year period when EVs and their infrastructure weren’t as developed or refined.

  • Volkswagen Expects Chip Supply To Remain Tight In Coming Months

    Volkswagen Expects Chip Supply To Remain Tight In Coming Months

    Volkswagen expects semiconductor supplies to the car sector to remain tight in coming months, the head of the carmaker’s namesake brand was quoted as saying on Saturday.

    “I think the situation will remain tense,” Ralf Brandstaetter, CEO of the Volkswagen brand and member of the carmaker’s management board, told German news agency dpa.

    He said a fire at a factory operated by automotive chip maker Renesas Electronics Corp, as well as snowstorms in Texas that have hurt factory production, had effectively idled output.

    “The impact will certainly be felt in the coming months,” Brandstaetter said, adding Volkswagen’s procurement task force was busy around the clock dealing with the issue which remained at the top of the agenda of Volkswagen’s management board.

    Volkswagen AG has been unable to build 100,000 cars due to the shortage, CEO Herbert Diess said in March, adding the group would not be able to make up for the shortfall in 2021.

    Brandstaetter said the situation was expected to ease somewhat in the second half of the year.

    Wayne Griffiths, president of Volkswagen’s Spanish brand SEAT, said last month the challenges caused by the shortage were likely to intensify in the second quarter.

  • Intel To Invest $600 Million To Expand Chip, Mobileye R&D In Israel

    Intel To Invest $600 Million To Expand Chip, Mobileye R&D In Israel

    Intel Corp said on Sunday it will invest another $600 million in Israel to expand its research and development (R&D) and confirmed it was spending $10 billion on a new chip plant. The announcement was made during a one-day visit to Israel by Intel Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger as part of a European tour that included Germany and Belgium last week. Intel is investing $400 million to turn its Mobileye unit headquartered in Jerusalem into an R&D campus for developing self-driving car technologies. Another $200 million will be invested in building an R&D centre, called IDC12, in the northern port city of Haifa next to its current development centre.

    Intel said the “mega chip design” facility will have a capacity of 6,000 employees. Gelsinger, on his first European tour since taking charge of the company in February, in a statement issued on Sunday predicted: “a vibrant future for Intel and Israel for decades to come”.

    In recent years, Intel has bought three Israeli tech companies – Mobileye in 2017 for more than $15 billion, artificial intelligence chipmaker Habana in 2019 for $2 billion, and Moovit a year ago for $1 billion. During his brief visit, Gelsinger met with Intel and Mobileye management and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel’s Finance Ministry in early 2019 said Intel would get a $1 billion grant to build an $11 billion chip plant, although at the time Intel would not confirm the amount.

    On Sunday, Intel said the investment would be $10 billion and the first phase of construction has begun. Its current Fab 28 plant at the company’s Kiryat Gat site produces 10 nanometres (nm) chips. Intel has not disclosed whether the new plant will produce smaller chips, which can increase efficiency, but in March it said it was building two 7 nm chip plants in Arizona for some $20 billion.

    Intel Israel’s exports grew to a record $8 billion in 2020 from $6.6 billion in 2019, accounting for 14% of total high-tech exports and 2% of Israel’s GDP. Intel is the largest employer of Israel’s high-tech industry with nearly 14,000 workers.

    Lees ook:

  • Huge Rise In Coronavirus Cases Hit India’s April Fuel Demand

    Huge Rise In Coronavirus Cases Hit India’s April Fuel Demand

    Indian state refiners’ local fuel sales in April declined due to state-level restrictions aimed at stemming a rampant second wave of coronavirus infections, preliminary data shows. The deadly second wave topped 400,000 new daily cases for the first time on Saturday.

    Authorities reported 401,993 new cases in the previous 24 hours, the highest daily count globally, after 10 consecutive days over 300,000. Deaths from COVID-19 jumped by 3,523, taking the total toll in India to 211,853.

    “Overall fuel demand is down by about 7% from pre-covid level of April 2019,” said A.K. Singh, head of marketing at refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp.

    “We were near pre-covid level in March but new restrictions and covid wave-2 has temporarily reduced demand equivalent to about 10% of March demand for both personal mobility and industrial goods movement,” Singh told Reuters.

    He said the local fuel consumption will ‘start to look up’ in June, by when second wave of coronavirus is expected to weaken.

    Analysts are expecting India’s demand for transportation fuels to witness a sharper slump in May due to more impending restrictions.

    Declining fuel sales will reduce crude intake by refiners. The country’s top refiner Indian Oil Corp is operating refineries at an average 95% capacity.

    State companies – IOC, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and BPCL – own about 90% of India’s retail fuel outlets.

    State retailers’ fuel sales in April declined from their sales in March and April 2019 levels, while posting a sharp rise from the year ago month when there was a nation-wide lockdown.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Volkswagen’s CEO To Step Aside At Skoda

    Volkswagen’s CEO To Step Aside At Skoda

    Volkswagen boss Herbert Diess is stepping down as head of the supervisory boards at subsidiaries Seat and Skoda to focus on building up a stronger software-development team, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

    Volkswagen declined to comment.

    Handelsblatt had reported the news earlier.

    At Seat, Diess would be succeeded by current technology head Thomas Schmall and at Skoda by Murat Aksel, head of procurement on the Volkswagen board, the source added.

    Volkswagen has been heavily focused on regaining lost ground in the fast-growing field of software-heavy electric cars, where United States and Chinese manufacturers are seen as having a lead.

  • Ford To Decide On India Investment Plan In Second Half Of 2021

    Ford To Decide On India Investment Plan In Second Half Of 2021

    Ford Motor Co expects to firm up capital allocation plans for India in the second half of 2021, a senior executive said in an email to staff, as the automaker overhauls its strategy in a loss-making market. Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford has tasked senior executive Steven Armstrong with evaluating investment plans for India in his new role as transformation officer, South America, and India, the automaker said in a separate statement this week.

    “We have a lot of work to do as we continue to assess our capital allocations in the market,” Dianne Craig, president of Ford’s International Markets Group (IMG), said in an email to staff on Wednesday, referring to India.

    “While we expect to have an answer in the second half of this year, the appointment of Steven…will help focus our efforts and speed up the process,” she said.

    IMG includes India, where the company employs more than 16,000, and 100 other markets.

    Ford India head Anurag Mehrotra will report to Armstrong, who previously headed the Changan Ford joint venture in China and will take on his new role from May 1, the company said.

    Confirming that the company expects to reach a capital allocation decision in the second half of the year, a Ford India spokesman said that the country is an important market and a source of global powertrains for its Ranger SUV.

    Ford has said previously it will allocate capital consistent with its plan to generate consistently strong cash flows and achieve an 8% company adjusted EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) margin.

    The automaker beat Wall Street’s first-quarter profit estimate late on Wednesday, telling investors all its markets under IMG were profitable except for India.

    CEO Jim Farley, who is overseeing an $11 billion global restructuring of Ford, wants to boost profits in India but the country is a lower priority than some other markets, sources said previously.

    Ford is not the first western automaker to struggle to win over India’s frugal buyers and turn a profit in a market dominated by Suzuki Motor Corp’s and Hyundai Motor’s extensive line-up of mainly low-cost cars.

    General Motors exited the domestic market in 2017 after 20 years, while Harley-Davidson Inc packed up last year after a decade of unsuccessful efforts to gain a foothold.

    Ford entered India 25 years ago but has a less than 2% share of the passenger vehicles market in the world’s second most populous nation, where car penetration is lower than in the U.S. and China.

    A tie-up with domestic automaker Mahindra & Mahindra, now called off, would have ended most of Ford’s independent operations in India but allowed it to launch new vehicles faster, at a reduced cost, and with lower investment.

    The two companies planned to develop at least three new SUVs and share powertrains.

    Ford will now need to pick vehicles from its global portfolio to sell in India, or develop new ones, a source said.

    The joint venture would have also helped Ford tackle low plant utilization in the country, which remains one of its biggest problems, the person added.

    Two years ago Ford used only around 60% of its total annual production capacity of 440,000 units across two Indian plants, with the pandemic reducing it to as little as 20% last fiscal year.

  • Luxury Brand Genesis Gears Up To Make Its Foray Into The European Market

    Luxury Brand Genesis Gears Up To Make Its Foray Into The European Market

    Last year in September, Hyundai Group’s premium car brand- Genesis hired Dominique Boesch as its first Managing Director for the European market and now the company is all set to make its foray into the market. Genesis took to Twitter through its European handle to share the news and the tweet read, “The Genesis journey continues. All roads lead to Europe. Get ready to join us on this thrilling new adventure.”

    Dominique Boesch had joined Genesis from Audi AG where he held the role of Sales Director in France before serving as Managing Director in Korea, Japan, and China, respectively, over his twenty-year tenure. After more than 10 years in Asia, Boesch returned to headquarters as head of European sales, and, most recently, he was leading the brand’s future Global Retail Strategy.

    In Europe, Genesis will go against the likes of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, and Jaguar Land Rover among others. Genesis hasn’t revealed any plans about its product line-up or models it will launch initially to start its operations with. It also showcased the electrified G80 at Auto Shanghai 2021 and it will be the brand’s first EV. It will go on sale alongside the conventional G80, GV70 crossover, and the GV80 SUV in the global markets, and the same is expected even in Europe.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Ford Plans To Set Up A New Battery plant Near Detroit In 2022

    Ford Plans To Set Up A New Battery plant Near Detroit In 2022

    Ford is planning to open a battery development center near Detroit by the end of 2022 according to a report published by IANS. The American carmaker says that it wants to control the key technology for electric vehicles and the 2,00,000 sq.ft. will be equipped to design, test, and even for small manufacturing of battery cells and packs. The lab will also be used to develop electronic controls and other items and Ford is planning to move its operations in-house.

    Going ahead, the company wants to manufacture its battery packs on a large scale in a bid to make sure that enough batteries are manufactured to accelerate the transition from conventional combustion engines to electric vehicles. “We now see that the market is going to develop very quickly, and we will have sufficient scale to justify having greater levels of integration. We will no longer take an approach of hedging our bets and planning around the uncertainty of how fast that will play out,” Hua Thai-Tang, Chief Product and Operations Officer- Ford told IANS.

    The move comes at a time when the global auto industry is racing to control supplies including precious metals needed to make batteries and individual cells that form big battery packs to run as many as 300 new electric models coming out in the next two years. Ford’s new CEO – Jim Farley plans to take a turn from Ford’s previous path of buying technology and batteries from supply companies. That said, the company is still open to join hands with suppliers, universities and start-ups for the technology.

    Ford has already discussed the transition to battery power with the Biden administration. The company is already in a trade secret fight with its battery suppliers like SK Innovation, and LG Energy Solution. The U.S. International Trade Commission decided in February that SK stole 22 trade secrets from LG Energy and so it should be barred from importing, making or selling batteries in the United States for 10 years. So the decision gave SK four years to make batteries for Ford. SK is in contract with Ford to make batteries for an electric version of Ford’s F-150 pickup, the nation’s top-selling vehicle. The dispute was settled earlier this month when SK Innovation agreed to pay $1.8 billion along with an undisclosed royalty.

  • Porsche To Build EV Battery Cells Factory In Germany

    Porsche To Build EV Battery Cells Factory In Germany

    In a bid to speed up its e-mobility drive, the German carmaker Porsche is reportedly planning to set up a factory to produce battery cells for electric vehicles. This plan was confirmed by the company’s CEO to a local German newspaper. The European carmakers are looking to ramp up production of the electric cars to meet stringent environmental rules in the European Union. Moreover, they are also aiming to reduce their dependence on battery suppliers in Asia.

    In an interview with a local newspaper, Oliver Blume said that “Battery cells are a key technology for Germany’s automobile industry which we must also have in our own country.” He also said the carmaker wants to play a pioneering role in this step.

    He also confirmed that the battery cell factory would be built in the Swabian town of Tuebingen, Germany. Moreover, the company will purchase EV batteries from its parent company, which plans to build half a dozen battery cell plants across Europe. Volkswagen also intends to expand infrastructure for charging electric vehicles across the globe.

    Blume further said, “But there will also be a segment for high-performance battery cells. It’s a Porsche domain. Just as we developed high-performance internal combustion engines, we now want to be at the forefront of high-performance batteries.”

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Tesla To Setup India Headquarters In Mumbai

    Tesla To Setup India Headquarters In Mumbai

    Tesla is all set to roll out its first electric car in India this year and the American EV manufacturing company has started establishing its base in our market. It had registered itself in Bengaluru earlier this year and according to it is now setting up its office in Lower Parel-Worli area in Mumbai. The company will be establishing its production base in Karnataka and is evaluating a few ready commercial projects in Lower-Parel for a 40,000 sq ft office.

    Tesla has started hiring for top positions from IIM Bengaluru alumni. Manuj Khurana has been appointed as Head – Policy and Business Development for India operations. The company has also hired Nishant Prasad as Charging Manager who will head Tesla’s supercharging, destination charging, and home charging business. He was earlier head of Charging Infrastructure and Energy Storage at Ather Energy. And finally, Tesla India has Chithra Thomas as its country HR Leader, who was earlier working at Walmart and Reliance Retail. “Tesla India is moving full speed ahead with building a local team. We are excited to see the progress. Hoping to see you (Musk) in India when Tesla delivers the first cars,” Tesla Club India said in a tweet on Wednesday.

    Last week, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari invited Tesla to start manufacturing EVs in India. During his address at The Raisina Dialogue 2021, he said that it is a golden opportunity for the company to start manufacturing in India. Gadkari also added that Indian EV makers are also improving the quality of their models and local manufacturing means they are able to price their products at a competitive price. Similarly, Tesla will also benefit if it engages in local manufacturing.

    Lees ook:

  • New-Generation Skoda Octavia Launch Delayed Due To The COVID-19 Lockdown In Maharashtra

    New-Generation Skoda Octavia Launch Delayed Due To The COVID-19 Lockdown In Maharashtra

    The new-generation Skoda Octavia was slated to go on sale towards the end of this month in the country. However, in light of the lockdown imposed in the state of Maharashtra, the launch has been indefinitely delayed. Zac Hollis, Director – Sales and Marketing, Skoda Auto India confirmed the development in a tweet. The automaker will be rescheduling the launch as the current situation improves. The new-generation Octavia was originally slated for launch in 2020 but was delayed due to the pandemic. We expect Skoda to announce a new launch date once the situation improves in the state.

    The 2021 Skoda Octavia has got plenty of upgrades over its predecessor. The sedan is longer by 19 mm at 4689 mm, and wider by 15 mm at 1829 mm. The design language has seen notable improvements and the model gets a new chrome grille, new headlamps with Matrix LED technology, a new bumper design and a sculpted bonnet. The bot-lid now gets more prominent Skoda lettering along with the LED taillights with the signature pattern.

    The cabin of the new-generation Skoda Octavia will be feature-laden and will come with a two-spoke multi-function steering wheel sporting knurled scroll wheels and a new control button. The model also gets a 10.25-inch digital instrument console and a 10-inch touchscreen infotainment system. The lower variants will sport an 8.25-inch display. Other features will include Trizone Climatronic, keyless entry, electric parking brake, acoustic side windows, and more.

    The India-spec fourth-generation Skoda Octavia is likely to get the 2.0-litre TSI with 188 bhp and 320 Nm and it will be offered only with the DSG automatic transmission. Skoda could also offer the Karoq’s 1.5-litre TSI four-cylinder petrol engine that develops 148 bhp and 250 Nm. Details though are yet to be confirmed.

    Maharashtra continues to be one of the worst affected states in terms of COVID-19 cases, with the second wave of the virus harsher than ever. The state reported over 67,468 new cases in the last 24 hours (at the time of filing this report). Maharashtra also reported its worst Covid-19 related death tally in a single day after recording 568 fatalities in the last 24 hours. In light of the growing cases, the Maharashtra government announced a statewide lockdown from April 22, after 8 pm, and will be in effect till 7 pm on May 1, 2021.

    Lees ook: