All articles by aladmin – Page 15
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ArticleJLR opens technical centre for SVO
UK – The 20,000 sq.m facility near Coventry will house the HQ of the OEM’s Special Vehicle Operations as well as manufacturing, painting, technical, and customer commissioning and presentation areas. Jaguar Land Rover has invested £20m ($25.9m).“The SVO technical centre is a very modern facility, inspired by a Formula One ...
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ArticlePanamera made completely at Leipzig
Germany – The Porsche factory in Saxony will take over the production and painting of the new-generation bodies-in-white from Volkswagen Hanover, which has held this responsibility since the launch of the model in 2009. Previously, Leipzig undertook the pre-assembly and final assembly.Porsche has spent around €500m ($556.4m) on a fourth ...
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ArticleJones to direct VW’s car division
UK – Effective from July 4, Alison Jones will replace Alex Smith as brand director of Volkswagen Passenger Cars. Smith is moving to a role elsewhere in the industry.Jones has spent ten of her 18 years at the Group with the Volkswagen brand, holding management and head-of positions in Retailer ...
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ArticleNissan cuts CO2 emissions by 22.4%
Japan – The figure was revealed on the publication of the Nissan’s annual Sustainability Report. The OEM said that progress has been accelerated by the Nissan Green Program which was introduced in 2002; the most recent version, NGP2016, laid out ambitious targets to reduce environmental impact and resource consumption by ...
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ArticleFord of Europe now landfill-free
UK – The OEM says it has eliminated the 6,000 tonnes of waste per annum which were previously sent to landfill from manufacturing operations involved in the production of 1.2m vehicles. The target was achieved over a period of five years.Ford employed innovative strategies to avoid creating waste, such as ...
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ArticleThyssenkrupp's damper systems plant
Mexico – The company has announced that it will build a new facility at San Miguel de Allende in Guanajuato, where it has been constructing a plant for cylinder-head covers with integrated camshafts since the beginning of the year. Investment in the site will total €150m ($166.7m).Thyssenkrupp’s components manufacturing complex ...
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ArticleNissan’s domestic production drops
Japan – The OEM released output figures for May showing a decrease of 2.5% year-on-year to 65,309 units. Production outside Japan was relatively stable, rising just 0.9% to 370,000 units, but enabled Nissan to claim a record for May, and its 13th consecutive monthly increase.Global production totalled 435,938 units (+0.4%), ...
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ArticleMcLaren’s new engineering apprentices
UK – The carmaker has launched a three-year NVQ Level 3 programme, initially with an intake of 15 students but with potential for an increase at a later date. McLaren Automotive’s first engineering apprenticeship scheme, introduced one year earlier than scheduled, complements existing graduate and work-placement programmes.“Since McLaren Automotive launched ...
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ArticleGKN makes 300,000th eAxle
Italy – The cumulative total was achieved by the company’s production lines at its Italian and Japanese centres of excellence. GKN has been making the electric axle (eAxle) since 2002 and has seen demand rise alongside the popularity of vehicles with hybrid electric all-wheel drive (eAWD) technology.“Plug-in hybrids with eAWD ...
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ArticlePSA Rennes to make Citroen crossover
France – The C84 project is part of a product strategy which will involve the launch of four new models in less than 18 months. Based on the EMP2 (Efficient Modular Platform 2), the Citroen will enter production by 2018.“The decision to manufacture this new vehicle in Rennes shows that, ...
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ArticleFord reduces summer shutdowns
US – The OEM announced that certain plants in North America will not close for the full two weeks as usual due to strong demand for SUVs, with sales at a record high for the first five months of the year. Ford will make an extra 22,000 units this summer.The ...
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ArticleVan der Burgh takes wheel at Toyota GB
UK – Currently director, Consumer One at Toyota Motor Europe, Paul Van der Burgh will replace Matt Harrison as president and managing director of Toyota GB from July 1. Harrison will become vice-president, Toyota Sales and Marketing, Toyota Motor Europe.Van der Burgh has held several senior roles at Toyota Europe, ...
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ArticleBMW breaks ground at San Luis Potosí
Mexico – Once construction is complete, the plant in the north-central state will make BMW 3 Series sedans, with capacity for 150,000 units per year. Production is expected to begin in 2019.The new factory will have a bodyshop, paintshop and assembly hall, and represents an investment of $1 billion. Its ...
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ArticleHonda Pingtung reaches 300,000 units
Taiwan – The milestone vehicle was a CR-V SUV, which rolled off the assembly line 13-and-a-half years after production began at the plant. Honda Pingtung reached a cumulative output of 200,000 units in May 2012.Honda Taiwan was established in 2002. Production launches at the Pingtung plant were as follows: CR-V, ...
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ArticleNissan unveils new fuel-cell technology
Japan – The OEM announced that it is currently researching and developing a solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system which runs on bioethanol electric power and is claimed to be a world-first for the automotive industry. Nissan says the technology will enable similar driving ranges to those of conventional vehicles, at ...
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ArticleHonda Kumamoto resumes motorcycle production
Japan – The OEM says it has now completed the removal of debris and a damage assessment at those facilities which were most affected by the earthquakes in April, including the assembly hall. Production of Honda’s main motorcycle models recommenced on a small scale on June 6.Kumamoto suspended manufacturing on ...
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ArticleVW Puebla makes Tiguan LWB test BIW
Mexico – The first test body-in-white (BIW) for the Tiguan long wheelbase (LWB) was assembled on June 10 and used to check the calibration of bodyshop equipment and processes. The plant in south-central Mexico is due to launch full production of the model in the first quarter of 2017.The construction ...
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ArticleJLR opens factory at Itatiaia
Brazil – The plant in Rio de Janeiro State is Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) first wholly owned plant outside the UK and the first production centre opened by a UK automotive group in Latin America. The company invested 750m reais ($215.7m) in the factory and associated Education Business Partnership Centre.“Land ...
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ArticleBoler-Davis to replace DeLuca at GM
US – Jim DeLuca is retiring after a 37-year career encompassing manufacturing, labour relations and quality. Alicia Boler-Davis will take over as executive vice-president, Global Manufacturing, with the transition beginning immediately.In her new role, Boler-Davis will report to Mary Barra, chairman and CEO, and lead 180,000 employees at 171 facilities ...
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ArticleFrancavilla in charge of GM's quality
US – As vice-president, Global Quality, Tony Francavilla will report to Mary Barra, chairman and CEO. His appointment is effective immediately.“Tony’s diverse technical expertise and global leadership experience position him well to further accelerate GM’s progress in every aspect of vehicle quality,” commented Barra. The company’s new head of quality ...