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Tag: Auto

  • Apple self-driving car testing plan gives clues to tech program

    Apple self-driving car testing plan gives clues to tech program

    Apple Inc outlined a plan to train operators of self-driving cars in documents submitted to California regulators earlier this month, the latest clues to the company’s autonomous vehicle technology aspirations.

    Apple was granted a permit to test self-driving cars on April 14 by the California Department of Motor Vehicles but the company has never said anything about its plan.

    The state released 41 pages of Apple application documents to Reuters that give some clues about the company’s highly secret self-driving effort, which it has never openly acknowledged.

    The iPhone maker joins a long list of carmakers, start-ups and technology rivals, including Alphabet’s Waymo, that are testing cars on state roads. Apple is looking for new hit products and autonomous car technology is expected to revolutionize the traditional auto industry.

    As part of the application, Apple included a 10-page training plan that appeared to be related to operators taking back manual control of the car during automated driving exercises of the system, which it calls a development platform.

    Apple declined comment beyond the filing.

    The plan includes a document called “Automated System: Development Platform Specific Training Overview” whose objective is “to train safety drivers in various automated driving conditions.”

    “Development platform will be controlled electronically (e.g. joystick) and safety drivers must be ready to intervene and take control,” the document reads.

    The document highlights different scenarios to be tested, from high speed driving and tight U-turns to lane changes.

    One letter sent from Apple to the state Department of Motor Vehicles noted that Apple’s development platform “will have the ability to capture and store relevant data before a collision occurs.”

    The document does not include detail on how Apple’s self-driving platform actually works or other technical details. It also does not say what kind of sensors are found on Apple’s three permitted vehicles, all 2015 Lexus model RX450h.

    The permit does not necessarily mean that Apple itself is building a full car. Apple could instead be designing a self-driving platform that can be integrated into other manufacturer’s cars.

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  • Vietnam’s car imports jump 34 pct y/y in Q1 on tax cuts

    Vietnam’s car imports jump 34 pct y/y in Q1 on tax cuts

    Vietnam’s car imports have risen a staggering 34.4 percent from a year ago to 26,500 units, with more than half of them coming from low-tariff markets in Southeast Asia, customs figures show.

    The car import value in the first quarter edged up just 1 percent from the same period last year to $488 million, data from the General Customs Department showed.

    Cars from Southeast Asian countries totaled 14,460 units, accounting for 55 percent of the quarterly import volume and which jumped 67.6 percent from a year ago, the data show. The import from Indonesia increased five-fold.

    The strong purchase was fueled by large tariff cuts from major markets like Indonesia and Thailand, citing several importers. The import tariffs on cars from ASEAN countries have been cut to 30 percent as of January 2017, from 40 percent last year, before being fully removed in 2018.

    The tax cuts have helped reduce the retail price in Vietnam by 6-7 percent, the businesses said.

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  • Osram eyes acquisitions of up to $530 million

    Osram eyes acquisitions of up to $530 million

    German lighting company Osram is on the lookout for acquisitions worth up to 500 million euros ($530 million), although there are no specific plans for a deal as yet, its finance chief told Retail News.

    Osram wants to strengthen the areas of electronics and software within its automotive lighting unit and is looking for acquisition targets or partners, Ingo Bank told Boersen-Zeitung in an interview published on Saturday.

    Acquisitions for its Opto semiconductors unit would also be attractive if they opened up access to markets, he said.

    Osram has funds available after the sale of lamps division LEDvance, which brought in gross proceeds of about 500 million euros, and thanks to its strong balance sheet, Bank said.

    “We have a lot of firepower and the ability to act. However, we will not be making the error of buying for the sake of it,” the paper quoted him as saying.

  • Tianjin FAW Xiali Auto expects Q1 net loss to widen

    Tianjin FAW Xiali Auto expects Q1 net loss to widen

    Tianjin Faw Xiali Automobile Says it expects Q1 net loss to widen to 240-290 million yuan from 166.9 million yuan ($24.24 million) year ago.

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  • Apple receives permit in California to test self-driving cars

    Apple receives permit in California to test self-driving cars

    Apple Inc has secured a permit to test autonomous vehicles in California, fuelling speculation that it is working on self-driving car technology in a crowded arena of companies hoping to offer those cars to the masses.

    The permit allows it to conduct test drives in three vehicles with six drivers, the state Department of Motor Vehicles said on Friday. The vehicles are all 2015 Lexus RX450h, according to the DMV.

    Although it has never openly acknowledged it is looking into building an electric car, Apple has recruited dozens of auto experts in recent years, and the permit pulls the curtain back a bit on any possible plan.

    “This does confirm what’s long been rumored: that Apple is at least toying with the idea of getting into the autonomous game in some capacity,” said Chris Theodore, president of consultancy Theodore & Associates, and a former vice president at Ford Motor and Chrysler.

    The permit does not mean Apple is definitely building a car. “This is not necessarily automobiles as initially rumored, but software or possibly hardware associated with autonomous technology,” Theodore said.

    An Apple spokesman declined to comment directly on the filing, pointing back to a statement the company made in November when it wrote to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on the subject of regulating self-driving vehicles.

    “The company is investing heavily in the study of machine learning and automation, and is excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation,” Apple’s director of product integrity, Steve Kenner, wrote in that five-page letter.

    Apple executives have been coy about their interest in cars. Chief Executive Tim Cook has suggested that Apple wants to move beyond integration of Apple smartphones into vehicle infotainment systems.

    Apple joins a growing list of traditional carmakers, technology companies, and small start ups to test drive cars in California – all vying to be the first to have commercially viable vehicles on the roads.

    Companies that have been issued permits also include Alphabet Google unit, Ford Motor, Volkswagen AG, Daimler AG, Tesla Motors and General Motors.

    Many companies have said the first cars will launch in 2020 but some experts believe it may take much longer due to regulatory challenges.

  • Volkswagen to build new SUV

    Volkswagen to build new SUV

    Volkswagen AG plans to build another new sport utility vehicle at its Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant as demand surges for larger vehicles, the German company’s top U.S. executive said on Wednesday.

    VW Group of America Chief Executive Officer Hinrich Woebcken told reporters at the New York auto show that the automaker planned to build a five-seat SUV in Tennessee, but he declined to say when production would begin. The news follows VW’s 2014 announcement that the company would spent $900 million to build a new SUV in Tennessee.

    VW, the largest automaker worldwide by sales, will start selling its new seven-seat VW Atlas SUV next month.

    Woebcken said VW was shifting focus in the United States from a mainly car brand to a “family friendly” automaker offering larger, U.S.-built SUVs.

    At the show, major automakers said they expected the popularity of SUVs to increase in the United States. SUVs’ share of U.S. vehicle sales rose to nearly 40 percent in 2016 from 32.6 percent in 2014.

    Woebcken would not say whether VW would add additional workers in Tennessee to build the new SUV.

    VW will sell four separate SUVs in the United States later this year, a figure that does not include the new one.

    The company said on Tuesday that it would continue selling the current Tiguan as the “Tiguan Limited” for several years even as it plans to offer a completely new, larger version later this year. The company also announced it was offering an industry-leading six-year, 72,000 mile warranty on its new SUVs.

    As part of its diesel emissions settlement, Volkswagen has agreed to add at least three additional electric vehicles, including an SUV, in California by 2020 and must sell an average of 5,000 electric vehicles annually there through 2025.

    Woebcken said he hopes that decision will help boost the company’s image in the United States. VW has agreed to spend up to $25 billion to buy back vehicles and resolve claims from U.S. regulators, dealers, owners and states.

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  • Tesla becomes most valuable US car maker, edges out GM

    Tesla becomes most valuable US car maker, edges out GM

    For the first time in the era of the modern automobile, the most valuable U.S. car maker is not based in Detroit. Silicon Valley’s Tesla Inc overtook General Motors on Monday to become the U.S. car maker with the largest market capitalization as the century-old automobile industry increases its reliance on software and cutting-edge energy technology.

    That milestone is likely to be on the minds of Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk and GM Chief Executive Mary Barra as they and other CEOs visit the White House on Tuesday to discuss tax reform and infrastructure with President Donald Trump.

    Helped by an analyst’s recommendation, Tesla rose 3.26 percent to a record high of $312.39 on Monday. Its market value of $50.887 billion exceeded GM’s by about $1 million.

    Over the past month, the luxury electric car maker has surged 35 percent as investors bet that Musk will revolutionize the automobile and energy industries.

    That compares to a declining share performance by GM in recent years that recently led billionaire investor David Einhorn to propose splitting the stock into two classes to help boost its price.

    Tesla’s market capitalization is now equivalent to $102,000 for every car it plans to make in 2018, or $667,000 per car sold last year. By comparison, GM’s market capitalization is equivalent to $5,000 per car it sold in 2016.

    The Palo Alto, California company is rushing to launch its mass-market Model 3 sedan in the second half of 2017 and quickly ramp up its factory to reach a production target of 500,000 cars per year in 2018. Last year it sold 76,230, missing its target of at least 80,000 vehicles. By comparison, GM sold 10 million cars and Ford sold 6.7 million.

    With its stock down nearly 20 percent since 2013, GM has scaled back operations outside the United States while pushing to improve its profitability. It announced in March it would sell its European operations.

    Reflecting Wall Street’s worries, GM’s stock trades at 6 times its expected earnings, the lowest multiple among companies in the S&P 500.

    Proponents believe Tesla, which is not profitable, argue its stock price is justified based on long-term expectations for Tesla’s growth.

    They also point to opportunities from Tesla’s acquisition last year of money-losing solar panel installer SolarCity and Tesla’s Nevada battery cell plant aimed at driving down manufacturing costs.

    Analyst enthusiastic

    After driving a Tesla for seven months, Piper Jaffray analyst Alexander Potter on Monday upgraded the stock to “overweight” from “neutral”, describing Tesla’s products as “captivating”.

    “Tesla isn’t just another company. More so than any stock we’ve covered, Tesla engenders optimism, freedom, defiance, and a host of other emotions that, in our view, other companies cannot replicate,” Potter wrote in a report.

    Skeptics believe Tesla’s growth targets are unrealistic and that the company risks being overtaken by GM, Ford and other deep-pocketed manufacturers ramping up their own electric-vehicle offerings.

    Its market capitalization remains smaller than Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp, at $173 billion.

    Tesla’s rich valuation has made it a target of short sellers, who so far in 2017 have suffered over $2 billion in paper losses as the stock rallied.

    Jeffrey Gundlach, who oversees over $105 billion in assets at Los Angeles-based DoubleLine Capital, told Reuters last week: “As a car company alone, Tesla is crazy high valuation. As a battery company – one that expands and innovates substantially – maybe the valuation can work.”

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  • Toyota Invests $1.33 Billion To Upgrade Georgetown, Kentucky Plant

    Toyota Invests $1.33 Billion To Upgrade Georgetown, Kentucky Plant

    A $1.33 billion investment will make Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. the first plant in North America to begin producing vehicles using Toyota New Global Architecture.

    Toyota’s Kentucky assembly plant located in Georgetown, 13 miles north of Lexington and 71 miles east of Louisville, is the automaker’s largest in the world employing 8,200 team members. This represents an all-time high after recently adding over 700 people to support the upcoming launch of the 2018 Camry.

    Last year, TMMK produced nearly a quarter of the total number of Toyota vehicles produced in North America, over 500,000. In total, the plant has produced more than one-third, 11 million, of all Toyota vehicles manufactured in North America since 1986.

    Today’s announcement adds to the $530 million investment the plant committed to in 2013, in part to support Lexus production, the carmaker said. This brings Toyota Kentucky’s investment in the last four years to approximately $1.86 billion.

    “This $1.33 billion investment is part of Toyota’s plan to invest $10 billion dollars in the U.S. over the next five years, on top of the nearly $22 billion Toyota has invested in the U.S. over the past 60 years,” said Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota Motor North America.

    “Toyota New Global Architecture is about exciting, ever-better vehicles for our customers as it will improve performance of all models, including increased fuel efficiency, more responsive handling, and a more stable, comfortable feel while driving,” he added.

    “This is the largest investment in our plant’s history and it speaks directly to the quality of our people and our products, as well as the partnerships we’ve forged in the local community and across the state,” said Wil James, president, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. (TMMK). “This major overhaul will enable the plant to stay flexible and competitive, further cementing our presence in Kentucky.”

    “Toyota is a global icon. This $1.33 billion investment is further proof of their commitment to producing American-made cars that are among the finest quality found anywhere in the world,” said Governor Matt Bevin. “It also serves as a testament to the hard work and dedication of the plant’s current employees, and reaffirms Toyota’s confidence in the advantages of manufacturing in Kentucky. We are grateful that this significant investment further validates the fact that Kentucky is the engineering and manufacturing hub of excellence in America.”

    “This major investment further solidifies Toyota’s long-term commitment to its Kentucky plant,” said Secretary Terry Gill of the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development. “Its ripple effects will add to Toyota’s three decades of transformative impact on our communities and for our residents across the Commonwealth. Additionally, this strengthens Kentucky’s status as a top state for auto manufacturing.”

  • Volkswagen offers six-year warranty to win back customers

    Volkswagen offers six-year warranty to win back customers

    Volkswagen AG is trying to win back American customers after its diesel emission scandal with SUV warranties that it said will be the longest in the United States.

    Ahead of the New York auto show, the world’s largest automaker said Tuesday it will offer a six-year, 72,000 mile warranty on its new 2018 Atlas and 2018 Tiguan sport utility vehicles that go on sale later this year.

    “This warranty further addresses the needs of American buyers head-on,” said Volkswagen Group of American chief executive Hinrich Woebcken.

    VW said most other major rivals offer a 36,000 mile, three-year warranty on similar SUVs. The longest warranty is now offered by Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) and its Kia Motors Corp (000270.KS) affiliate. That warranty extends 60,000 miles or five years. The powertrain warranty is 100,000 miles, but it only lasts five years or 60,000 miles if transferred.

    The German automaker has been struggling to recover since it admitted in 2015 the company installed secret software that allowed vehicles to cheat emissions tests for six years.

    The new VW warranty is twice as long as the current three-year 36,000-mile warranty on the Tiguan. The Atlas is a new model.

    VW brand U.S. sales this year are up 10 percent this year, but fell 8 percent in 2016 to 323,000 vehicles after falling 5 percent in 2015. The automaker halted all U.S. diesel sales in late 2015.

    AutoNation (AN.N) Inc chief executive Mike Jackson said that an extended warranty could help win customers.

    “The American people are full of forgiveness. All you have to do is say you are sorry and give them a deal,” said Jackson, who heads the largest U.S. new car dealership chain. VW has “to give a price that reflects that you are asking for forgiveness.”

    In March Volkswagen pleaded guilty as part of a settlement over the automaker’s diesel emissions scandal.

    In total, VW has agreed to spend up to $25 billion in the United States to address claims from owners, environmental regulators, states and dealers and offered to buy back about 500,000 polluting U.S. vehicles.

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  • China’s Changan forms electric car JV with local startup Nio

    China’s Changan forms electric car JV with local startup Nio

    China’s fourth-largest automaker Chongqing Changan Automobile Co Ltd and Nio, an electric car startup formerly known as NextEV, will form a joint venture to cooperate on researching and selling electric cars, Nio said on Sunday.

    China is aggressively promoting electric cars to combat urban smog and push the industry to the forefront of automotive technology, loosening rules in recent years to allow startups like Nio to flood the industry and challenge established Chinese automakers.

    The Changan-Nio JV will focus on research, sales and service for green cars, although under a broader partnership the two sides will also share resources related to smart vehicle technology, manufacturing and other areas, according to a statement from Nio.

    Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed.

    A Changan spokesman said the company had no further information to release regarding the partnership.

    Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd was an early backer of Nio, and rival internet company Baidu Inc last month said it was leading a new round of investment into the startup.

    Nio has also partnered with Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Corp Ltd to produce electric vehicles on a contract basis.

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  • Ford to invest more than 1.3 bln yuan in Nanjing research centre

    Ford to invest more than 1.3 bln yuan in Nanjing research centre

    Ford Motor Says to invest more than 1.3 billion yuan ($188.47 million)in research and engineering centre in China’s Nanjing city by end-2020.

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  • Mitsubishi open to helping Renault in Southeast Asia

    Mitsubishi open to helping Renault in Southeast Asia

    Mitsubishi is open to rebadging and selling models from alliance partner Renault in Southeast Asia. It’s one way the newest member of the Renault-Nissan alliance could create synergies with its partners, Mitsubishi Chief Operating Officer Trevor Mann told Automotive News Europe.

    “Renault is almost non-existent in Southeast Asia,” Mann said at the auto show here this month. “If it made sense for Mitsubishi to cross badge a Renault product in Southeast Asia that could be an interesting discussion.”

    Mitsubishi also has a more dominant presence than Nissan in much of Southeast Asia. Mann said the company’s strength in places such as Thailand, where it has three factories that have produced more than 3 million vehicles, could be used to help boost Nissan’s market share and its bottom line.

    For instance, Mann told Reuters the two companies are studying joint production of pickup trucks in Southeast Asia. Mitsubishi, which builds the Triton pickup in Thailand, could supply Nissan with its next-generation Navara pickup. Nissan currently builds the Navara for local sales in Thailand.

    “If you look at our cost performance in that region, we are the benchmark within the alliance,” Mann said. “Our cost-base on pickups is better than Nissan’s.”

    Mitsubishi’s pickup architectures are likely to become the basis for future alliance models, added Mann, who was formerly Nissan’s chief performance officer but was dispatched by CEO Carlos Ghosn to help turn around Mitsubishi after Nissan paid $2.3 billion for a 34 percent controlling stake in the scandal-hit company last October.

    Mitsubishi’s admission that it cheated on fuel-economy ratings for several nameplates sold in Japan opened the door for Nissan to make the move. The two companies expect the deal to lead to combined savings of 49 billion yen ($473.2 million) in the 2017 fiscal year that ends in March 2018.

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  • Maruti Suzuki Alto becomes the largest selling car in India, maintains 13 year streak

    Maruti Suzuki Alto becomes the largest selling car in India, maintains 13 year streak

    According to the latest numbers, the Maruti Suzuki Alto is yet again the best selling car in India. Leading the sales in its 13th consecutive year, the car maker registered sales of over 2.41 lakh units of the Alto in 2016-17.

    The fiscal year of 2016-17 saw the Alto contributing about 17 percent of total domestic sales of 1,443,641 units for Maruti Suzuki. The Alto also alone sells more than the total volumes sold in a year by several other passenger car makers individually in India. Out of the 2.41 lakh sales last year more than 21,000 units of the car were exported countries like Sri Lanka, Chile, Philippines, and Uruguay.

    Maruti brought the Alto to India back in September 2000 and in its existence of nearly 17 years, the car maker has not only improved it but has sold multiple variants. It is said that the the car’s success has been due to two reasons.

    Firstly, Alto has the largest number of variants among the entry level hatchbacks with different fuel, transmission and engine options. Secondly, Maruti Suzuki has a vast distribution network.

    “Alto is the No. 1 best-selling brand for 13 consecutive years. This unique distinction is a reflection of Alto’s popularity. I am delighted that Alto once again dominates the car industry in 2016-17,” said RS Kalsi, Executive Director (M&S) at Maruti Suzuki.

    “Maruti Suzuki’s unmatched nationwide service network, guaranteed performance and lower maintenance cost, Alto is a natural choice of the customers across India. We are thankful to all our customers for their continued support to Brand Alto. Alto K10 with AGS is the most affordable two pedal technology in the entry segment,” he said.

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  • VW’s Audi and Porsche to join forces on vehicle development

    VW’s Audi and Porsche to join forces on vehicle development

    Volkswagen Group’s Audi and Porsche brands will join forces on vehicle development, the two upmarket brands said on Wednesday, to help the world’s largest carmaker save money in the wake of its costly emissions test cheating scandal.

    The pact comes as Volkswagen (VW) Chief Executive Matthias Mueller, who previously worked as Porsche’s CEO and Audi’s head of product management, finalizes a plan to step up development of autonomous cars, electric vehicles and digital services.

    Porsche and Audi said the focus was on jointly developing shared vehicle platforms, modules and components, in a deal that follows a period of intense in-house competition for development resources.

    Projects will be jointly headed by representatives from each brand. In the coming months, joint teams will prepare the specific areas of cooperation and define a roadmap to 2025, they said.

    Porsche, taken over by VW 2012, has emerged as a strong rival engineering center to Audi. Porsche’s MSB platform, used for its four-seater Panamera model, has been adopted for VW group’s next generation Bentley Continental model even though Audi had developed a similar offering.

    Since the group’s emissions test cheating on diesel engines was exposed in September 2015, Audi has lost two research and development chiefs and the head of its automotive electronics division, who did pioneering work in the area of autonomous driving and battery technology.

    Audi remains the group’s center of excellence for sport-utility vehicles, a lucrative and growing market, where it supplies platforms to Porsche and other brands such as Bentley.

    With self-driving vehicles likely to play a major future role in the industry, Audi also develops autonomous cars for the group.

    But a separate internal race has begun to become an engineering hub for electric vehicles, a field which includes research and development of battery cells, battery packs and electric motors.

    Porsche has developed the J1 electric cars platform, while Audi has also worked on its own electric car.

    Porsche has also taken over production of eight-cylinder gasoline engines for large sportscars for the VW group, even though Audi has its own engine factory in Hungary.

  • Australia new vehicle sales edge higher in March

    Australia new vehicle sales edge higher in March

    Australian new vehicle sales bounced modestly in March as the timing of the Easter holidays resulted in more selling days compared to the same month last year.

    The Australian Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries’ VFACTS report out on Thursday showed 105,410 new vehicles were sold in March, up 0.9 percent on the same month last year.

    March this year had two more selling day than in 2016.

    For three months to March, sales were running 0.8 percent behind the same period last year.

    Sales of SUVs continued their domination with a rise of 7.9 percent on March last year, giving them 39.4 percent of the entire market. Sales of passenger vehicles dropped 10.7 percent, extending their long decline.

    Sales of light commercial vehicles jumped 11.3 percent, while sales in the heavy vehicle market rose 11.0 percent.

    Toyota Motor Corp retained first place on the sales ladder with 18.6 percent of the market. Mazda Motor Corp had another strong month taking 9.9 percent.

    Hyundai Motor took third spot with 8.3 percent, ahead of Mitsubishi on 7.3 percent. The Holden unit of General Motors took 6.8 percent and Ford held 6.5 percent.

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