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Tag: Auto

  • Suzuki To Set-up Automobile Plant In Myanmar

    Suzuki To Set-up Automobile Plant In Myanmar

    Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corporation has announced that it will be setting up a new manufacturing facility in Myanmar, under its subsidiary Suzuki Thilawa Motor. This will be the company’s third facility in Myanmar and will be located in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone, southeast of Yangon. At present, Suzuki produces the Carry LCV, Ciaz, Ertiga and Swift cars at the existing plants. The new production facility will have provisions for welding, painting and assembling vehicles, and will have a manufacturing capacity of 40,000 vehicles annually.

    Suzuki will be investing about $109 million in the upcoming Myanmar plant and will be ready by September 2021 for operations. The manufacturer first set shop in Myanmar in 1998 as part of a joint venture and has been retailing its range of four-wheelers and two-wheelers from 1999. With a growing economy in the region, the automaker has seen a steady hike in its sales volumes.

    Suzuki produced about 13,300 units in 2019 in Myanmar, a 125 percent year-on-year growth over 2018. Sales, on the other hand, stood at 13,206 units, growing at 128 percent year-on-year. Much like India, the Japanese auto giant is a market leader in the neighboring country and accounts for about 60 percent of the market share in four-wheeler sales.

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  • Coronavirus Sees China’s Geely Automobile Facing One Of Toughest Years

    Coronavirus Sees China’s Geely Automobile Facing One Of Toughest Years

    China’s Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd said on Monday 2020 may be one of its toughest years yet, as pressure stemming from the coronavirus outbreak on production and sales persists.

    But it said it planned to go ahead with global expansion, despite lower sales and net profit for 2019, when the country’s auto market suffered a slump, even before the novel coronavirus led to lockdowns that have paralyzed economic activity and disrupted supply chains.

    Geely Automobile, based in the eastern province of Zhejiang, is China’s most globally high-profile automaker following investments by parent company Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd’s in European manufacturers Volvo Car and Daimler AG.

    China car sales fall 92% as coronavirus keeps buyers home

    Auto sales in China, the world’s largest market, have slumped as coronavirus fears prevent buyers at home.

    The profit announced on Monday of 8.19 billion yuan ($1.15 billion) was lower than the 9.14 billion yuan average estimate by 33 analysts on Refinitiv.

    Its shares closed at 11.28 HKD on Monday, down 4.08% from last Friday.

    “The recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus had caused serious disruption to our supply chain and thus our production levels, meaning additional pressure on our business volume and profitability in 2020,” Geely Automobile said in a filing to the Hong Kong exchange.

    Geely Automobile, which plans to roll out 6 new models under the Geely, Lynk&Co and Geometry marques this year, sold 1.36 million cars in 2019. It is maintaining a sales target of 1.41 million cars in 2020.

    The headwinds are likely to persist in the near future, making 2020 probably one of the most difficult years in the group’s 23-year history, Geely said.

    Revenue fell by 9% from the previous year to 97.40 billion yuan. Analysts had estimated 99.43 billion yuan.

    Geely Automobile’s president An Conghui told a conference call the company plans to start selling Lynk&Co in Europe at the end of this year and share more models with Malaysian automaker Proton, in which it has a stake.

    Geely Automobile and Volvo – which Geely’s parent bought from Ford Motor Co in 2010 – are planning to merge and list in Hong Kong and possibly Stockholm.

    The new company would have improved research capabilities, lower cost and brands in different segments, Geely’s chief executive Gui Shengyue said.

    That could help to position it as global automakers pursue alliances to respond better to the cost of meeting tougher emission rules, electrification and autonomous driving.

    The industry worldwide will also be seeking to revive sales as soon as there is a widespread easing of restrictions on movement to slow the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 30,000 people globally.

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  • 2020 Volkswagen Golf To Come With Car2X Technology As Standard

    2020 Volkswagen Golf To Come With Car2X Technology As Standard

    We all loved the way the new Golf looks and there are many of you who have asked us on multiple occasions, about its arrival in India. Sadly, the Golf isn’t coming here, but while it’s turning a lot of heads across the world, there’s another reason why it’s become the talk of the town. The Volkswagen Golf is the first car that can help drivers to prevent accidents, and that’s thanks to its innovative Car2X technology, which allows it to wirelessly connect with other vehicles and the traffic infrastructure. Now the impressive part about this is that the technology will come standard on the Golf.

    The new Golf is the first car on the European market to come standard-equipped with Car2X technology, which is based on the Wi-Fi p wireless standard. This type of Wi-Fi is specifically tailored to local communication between vehicles and does not use the mobile phone network, which means it provides blanket coverage within the limits of the system. Within a radius of up to 800 metres, connected vehicles directly exchange positioning data and information with one another. This allows them to warn each other of danger or make contact with the traffic infrastructure within a matter of milliseconds.

    The German automotive association ADAC tested Volkswagen’s Car2X technology, during which it sent the new Golf into eight typical hazardous situations in which a driver, without being warned, would not be able to react at all, or would only be able to react much later. In all eight situations, the vehicle warned the driver reliably and in time, often even 10 or 11 seconds before the impending accident.

    In the initial development stage, which Volkswagen is introducing with the new Golf, Car2X technology is active at speeds over 80 kmph. In the future, it should also be able to improve safety in city traffic. It also offers major advantages if the car communicates with nearby traffic lights – in this way being better able to control traffic flow and protect the environment.

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  • You might soon unlock your BMW with your iPhone

    You might soon unlock your BMW with your iPhone

    Apple and premium German car manufacturer BMW are seemingly collaborating to bring the CarKey iPhone feature to eligible vehicles of the carmaker. Evidence for this was unraveled in the iOS 14 code, hinting that iPhone users might soon be able to unlock their BMW cars with their iPhones thanks to the CarKey feature. As a reminder, the existence of CarKey itself was revealed in the iOS 13.4 beta back in February.

    Given that BMW was among the very first automakers to adopt Apple’s CarPlay feature a few years back, it would make sense to assume that CarKey could be adopted on upcoming beemers as well.

    It seems that CarKeys could be stored inside the ubiquitous Wallet app and even be shared with other people through iMessage. “Yo, mom, shared me the keys for the car” would sound a whole lot cooler! Code strings suggest that you will not only be able to lock and unlock your vehicle with your device, but also start it remotely. This is already available through the BMW Connected app, but native iOS support would definitely be great. There would seemingly be two ways to unlock the car – either by holding your phone near the NFC-enabled door handle or just having your iPhone in your pocket.

    Apple could use NFC, UWB (ultra-wide band) chip, or a combination of the two. The UWB chip debuted with the iPhone 11-series but has been pretty underused when it comes to features, as it’s currently only used to aid AirDrop discovery.

    On the topic of anti-theft countermeasures, CarKey will enjoy the same level of biometric security that the sensitive data on your iPhone enjoys, but there would seemingly be an option to use CarKey without having to authenticate yourself with a Face ID scan or a PIN code for an even faster experience.

    BMW itself neither denied or acknowledged the rumored functionality. When asked, the company replied rather nonchalantly with “Please understand that at this point we cannot confirm your request nor give you further details. We would like to refer you to our press release, ” which suggests that we could be in for news on the matter very soon.

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  • BMW India Shuts Down Chennai Plant

    BMW India Shuts Down Chennai Plant

    BMW Group India has announced a number of measures to restrict employee movement during the novel coronavirus pandemic that’s swept the globe. The automaker has announced that it will be closing the Chennai-based manufacturing facility with immediate effect until March 31, 2020, while employees at The National Sales Company and BMW India Financial Services will work from home during this period. Meanwhile, essential services including security, facility management and healthcare will continue to operate. Furthermore, the German auto giant said that it will keep all its showrooms pan India closed during this period, while aftersales and breakdown services will remain functional albeit with limitations.

    A statement from the BMW Group read, “For the well-being of employees in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, work from home has been implemented across BMW Group offices in India with immediate effect. Business continuity is to be ensured across all functions while adhering to all government directives and necessary safety measures. Across the BMW, MINI and BMW Motorrad dealerships in India, staff will work from home to offer services to customers. Aftersales and breakdown services staff will operate as per the local government directives and will be functional with limitations. All showrooms are presently closed and will reopen as per local government advisory.”

    Almost all major automakers including Tata Motors, Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, FCA India and more have announced plant closures amidst the outbreak. In the luxury space as well, Volvo India had already announced that it has asked its employees to work from home, while Audi India has also shut operations with the closure of the Skoda Auto-Volkswagen facilities across India, while Mercedes-Benz too has closed the Chakan facility, near Pune. The auto industry is estimated to bear a loss of ₹ 15,000 crore every day during this phase, which further adds to the sector’s woes since the past year.

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  • SoftBank Nears Deal To Invest In Didi’s Self-driving Unit

    SoftBank Nears Deal To Invest In Didi’s Self-driving Unit

    SoftBank Group Corp is close to finalizing a deal to lead a $300 million investment in the autonomous driving unit of Didi Chuxing, news website The Information reported on Monday, citing people with knowledge of the situation.

    Earlier on Monday, SoftBank said it plans to raise as much as $41 billion to buy back shares and reduce debt, in an unprecedented move to restore investor confidence as a financial market rout pummels its shares and its portfolio companies.

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  • Hyundai Motor India Suspends Operations At Its Chennai Plant

    Hyundai Motor India Suspends Operations At Its Chennai Plant

    The life-threatening Coronavirus pandemic has put the world on stand by and the story is no different in our country. Many automakers across the globe have already stopped production and even automakers in India are suspending operations as the number of Corona cases cross 350 in the country today. After Maruti Suzuki, Honda Cars India, Mahindra and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), even Hyundai Motor India has announced shutting down its Chennai plant March 23 onwards till any further notice.

    The step comes after the lockdown announcement by the State government as a precautionary measure against the outbreak of COVID-19. In succession to the ‘Janta-Curfew’ implemented nationwide today, over 80 cities in the country including the national capital are going on a lockdown tomorrow 6:00 AM onwards. Even Tata Motors that had announced to excessively scale-down productions at its Pune plant March 23 onwards is likely to go on a complete shutdown. Tata Motors had earlier affirmed through a statement that the company will preferably stop operation March 24 onwards after observing the situation in the country.

    Hyundai has taken several initiatives for the welfare of its customers as well amidst the Coronavirus scare. The carmaker will be providing round the clock roadside assistance to its customers in case of any emergency. It will offer two months extended warranty to those customers who are not able to avail the standard or extended warranty and free services due to any health emergency or shutdown of dealerships and workshops during the lockdown. Hyundai has deployed 1000 doorstep bikes and cars to provide road assistance services to its customers.

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  • Tesla Suspends Production At U.S. Vehicle Factory Due To Coronavirus

    Tesla Suspends Production At U.S. Vehicle Factory Due To Coronavirus

    Tesla Inc said on Thursday it will suspend production at its San Francisco Bay Area vehicle factory on March 24, ending a standoff with California authorities concerned about the spread of the coronavirus.

    The company said its New York solar roof tile factory also will temporarily suspend production, while operations at its Nevada battery plant will continue.

    “Despite taking all known health precautions, continued operations in certain locations has caused challenges for our employees, their families and our suppliers,” the company said in a statement.

    Tesla’s shares were down 8% in after-hours trading following the announcement.

    The decision to suspend production at the Fremont, California, plant comes as Tesla ramps up production of its Model Y sport utility vehicle at the factory. Demand for the Model Y is expected to be higher than for all of Tesla’s other models combined, Chief Executive Elon Musk has said.

    The decision to suspend production comes as Tesla ramps up production of its Model Y sport utility vehicle at the factory

    Musk on Thursday tweeted that Tesla’s China operations were running “normally across hundreds of suppliers & all of Tesla Shanghai.” The $2 billion Shanghai factory, which started delivering Model 3 sedans in December, is key to Tesla’s growth strategy and the company plans to expand production capacity there.

    Elon Musk’s expected defense of a $2.2 billion deal in court was postponed on Friday from its expected Monday start, due to the coronavirus outbreak.

    A Shanghai-based Tesla representative told Reuters the Chinese factory’s production rate has exceeded pre-coronavirus levels and over 91% of workers have returned to work since March 6.

    Tesla plans to start building Model Y SUVs in Shanghai from 2021 and expand car parts manufacturing capacity, a government document seen by Reuters showed.

    Cui Dongshu, secretary-general at the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) told Reuters Tesla sold around 3,900 vehicles in February, up from 2,620 vehicles in January.

    Tesla’s decision to suspend production at its San Francisco area plant came after several days of discussions with local officials and after the company met on Thursday with the city of Fremont.

    California’s governor on Thursday issued a statewide “stay at home” order to residents, telling them to leave their homes only when necessary during the coronavirus pandemic.

    The highly contagious respiratory illness has infected more than 10,700 in the United States.

    The automaker also said it believed it had enough liquidity to successfully navigate the extended period of uncertainty, with some $6.3 billion in cash at the end of the third quarter, ahead of a recent $2.3 billion capital raise.

    Tesla’s Fremont facility, which is the company’s sole U.S. auto factory, employs more than 10,000 workers

    The city and officials from the surrounding Alameda County did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

    Alameda County is one of six counties covered by an order from regional officials to “shelter in place,” which limits activity, travel and business functions to only the most essential, and advises people to stay home except for the most crucial reasons.

    The county sheriff’s office said on Tuesday afternoon Tesla was not considered an essential business and cannot continue to operate its factory normally.

    Tesla said on Thursday it would continue basic operations at the Fremont factory in compliance with the order to support vehicle and energy services and charging infrastructure.

    Tesla’s sole U.S. auto factory employs more than 10,000 workers, with annualized production of slightly more than 415,000 units by the end of December 2019.

    In an email to employees on Thursday, Tesla said operations at the Fremont plant will transition to “minimum basic operations” beginning on March 24.

    Employees at the California and New York factories will be provided with paid leave during suspended operations, the email said.

    Tesla’s Giga factory in Nevada, which employs around 7,000 people, produces battery packs for its electric vehicles and stationary storage systems.

    Its Buffalo, New York, plant produces the company’s solar roof tiles as well as some Supercharger and energy storage components. It has more than 1,500 workers in Buffalo, the company said last month.

    U.S. automakers Ford Motor Co, General Motors Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, on Wednesday said they were shuttering their U.S. plants, as well as factories in Canada and Mexico, to stop the spread of coronavirus.

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  • Rolls-Royce To Shut Production At Goodwood For 1 Month Over Coronavirus Pandemic

    Rolls-Royce To Shut Production At Goodwood For 1 Month Over Coronavirus Pandemic

    Britain’s Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has announced that the luxury automaker will suspend production at the Goodwood manufacturing facility in the UK for two weeks starting from March 23, 2020. Furthermore, the automaker will keep the facility closed for an additional two week period for the pre-planned Easter maintenance shutdown. The decision to close the plant arises due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus globally, which has affected the production and supply of components to automakers. Moreover, the virus is posing a major health risk, given its airborne nature. With the UK reporting over 2600 cases and about 71 deaths, the country has had to take strict measures to contain the virus.

    Torsten Muller-Otvos, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said, “This action has not been taken lightly, but the health and well-being of our exceptional workforce is first and foremost in our minds.  We are a tight-knit community at the Home of Rolls-Royce and I have no doubt that our resilience will shine through during this extraordinary time. As a deeply customer-focused company, we are aware that this decision to pause our production will possibly cause some discomfort or inconvenience to a few of our esteemed patrons, for which we apologize while seeking their understanding at this difficult time.”

    Rolls-Royce’s Goodwood plant employs about 2000 personnel with each of the cars hand-built

    Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce has said that day-to-day operations of the company will be assured by non-production employees who will remain at work at the company’s head office on the Goodwood Estate or who will work from home on a rotational basis. The company has engaged social distancing measures, it said in a statement.

    More recently, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked automakers including Rolls-Royce, Ford and Honda to build medical equipment to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. The UK government also said it will take support from the defense industry to build healthcare equipment to meet the increasing number of cases. Apart from Rolls-Royce, Nissan, BMW and Toyota among others have also announced plant closures in the UK, leaving Jaguar Land Rover and Honda with operational facilities. The closure will affect about 17,000 employees and production across the auto sector.

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  • 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.

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    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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