All articles by aladmin – Page 18
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ArticleMarchionne marches on at Ferrari
Italy – While retaining his current role as chairman, Sergio Marchionne is taking the responsibilities until now held by CEO Amedeo Felisa, who has served the company for 26 years. In his retirement, Felisa will hold a technical advisory position on the board of directors.“I have known Amedeo for more ...
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ArticleSteiner replaces Hatz at Porsche
Germany – With immediate effect, Michael Steiner succeeds Wolfgang Hatz as member of the executive board with responsibility for R&D. Hatz, who took the position in February 2011, is leaving the company at his own request.The statement from Porsche noted that Hatz went on temporary leave “as a precaution”, following ...
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ArticleNissan CIVAC celebrates 50 years
Mexico – The plant at Jiutepec in Morelos State was the company’s first outside Japan. Nissan said that, as well as launching its global strategy, CIVAC “established the beginning of a longstanding tradition in innovation, research, commitment and the highest quality standards in vehicle manufacturing”.José Muñoz, executive vice-president, Nissan Motor ...
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ArticleJLR saves 50,000 tonnes of aluminium
UK – The ‘REALCAR’ closed-loop recycling reclaimed an equivalent weight to 200,000 XE body shells over the past 12 months, cutting 500,000 tonnes of CO2. The aluminium-intensive model recently marked its first full year of sales.The REALCAR project, led by Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and part-funded by Innovate UK, saw ...
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ArticleLotus loses weight
UK – The vehicle-maker says it has cut 207kg from its model range over the past 12 months, after following a holistic approach to weight loss. The chassis for the Elise and Exige now weigh just 68kg each, and the company’s heaviest car is only 1,395kg.“We’re not concerned with following ...
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Beeston to direct Infiniti in Britain
UK – As country director, Barry Beeston will be responsible for all sales and marketing within the UK. He will assume the role on May 1, reporting directly to Francois Goupil de Bouille, vice-president of Infiniti Europe, Middle East and Africa.Beeston moves to Infiniti UK from Nissan Motor (GB). He ...
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ArticleAir compressor deal for Wabco and Cummins
US – Under the new agreement, Wabco will be the exclusive supplier to Cummins in North America for air compressors in trucks, buses and industrial equipment. The deal builds on the joint venture, Wabco Compressor Manufacturing, which was established in 1998 in Charleston, South Carolina.“Alongside making further use of Wabco’s ...
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ArticleTaylor takes charge of GM’s compliance
US – The vehicle-maker has appointed Jeffrey Taylor as deputy general counsel and chief compliance officer, with immediate effect. He will report to Craig Glidden, executive vice-president and general counsel.Taylor will have overall responsibility for the ethics and compliance programme. The vehicle-maker says he will “support GM’s business operations and ...
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ArticleNikolai takes Gigante role at Waupaca
US – Currently COO and president, Mike Nikolai will replace Gary Gigante as CEO of the Hitachi Metals subsidiary from July 1. Gigante will retire, as will Kris Pfaehler, whose responsibilities will be assumed by current executive vice-president John Wiesbrock.Nikolai started at Waupaca Foundry in 1993 as a metallurgist at ...
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ArticleFaustmann leads Pre-Series Center, Audi
Germany – As head of the facility since April, Thomas Faustmann now oversees the building of concept cars, prototypes and pre-series vehicles. He has served the Volkswagen Group since 1991.Faustmann first worked in Germany, starting as a production planner at VW Salzgitter before moving to Wolfsburg the following year to ...
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ArticleBMW makes senior appointments
US – Chris Koenders will leave his role as executive vice-president, Operations, to become head of Project Retail Channel Performance Europe. He will be replaced by Petter Witt, moving from his role as regional vice-president, Western Region. The changes will take effect on May 1.Koenders joined the vehicle-maker in 1993 ...
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ArticleFCA to invest $74.7m at Trenton
US – The vehicle-maker will retool North Plant at Trenton Engine Complex, Michigan, to produce next-generation, four-cylinder engines from the third quarter of 2017. Assembly will take place on the flexible production line which was installed in 2012.“This investment in our flexible production line at Trenton North will allow us ...
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ArticleFord spends $1.6bn at Livonia and Ohio
US – The investment is divided into $1.4 billion for Livonia Transmission, Michigan, and $200m for Ohio Assembly Plant. The former will build a new, ten-speed transmission which will be introduced first in the new F-150 Raptor and certain other F-150 models. The investment at the latter will support production ...
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ArticleVolvo makes American leadership changes
US – Jim Raggi will become regional vice-president, Southern Region; Gregor Hembrough will be vice-president, Northeast Region; and Michael Cottone will be promoted to regional vice-president, Western Region. The reshuffle is part of Volvo’s ongoing transformation in the US.Raggi was previously responsible for the Northeast Region, and Volvo says he ...
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ArticleMazda MX-5 reaches 1m units
Japan – The milestone was reached on April 22, after 27 years of mass production at Ujina Plant No.1 in Hiroshima. Mazda is currently making the fourth generation of the model, known as the Roadster in Japan.The original MX-5 debuted at the Chicago Auto Show in 1989. A generation later, ...
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ArticleFord recycles F-150 aluminium
US – The vehicle-maker says it is recycling as much as 20m pounds of scrap per month using the closed-loop system at Dearborn Truck Plant, Michigan. This equates to more than 30,000 F-150 bodies in the latest configuration, a SuperCrew body including doors, bonnet, tailgate and 6.5ft cargo box.According to ...
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ArticleAudi Neckarsulm starts A8 production
Germany – The carmaker invested in additional body construction and assembly facilities for the new model, strengthening the ability of the plant to make large sedans. Completion of the upgrade took 17 months from groundbreaking.According to Audi, the new bodyshop was a particular planning challenge. A roof was built over ...
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ArticleEarthquakes disrupt Japan production
Japan – Vehicle-makers have been obliged to temporarily suspend production at a number of plants after earthquakes in the south of the country on April 14 and April 16.Honda initially announced a suspension of production until April 22 at its Kumamoto factory but has now extended this to April 28, ...
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ArticleOerlikon Balzers expands at Bengaluru
India – The company has made a major investment in its new Automotive Solutions building, tripling the size of the existing service centre in Bengaluru. Oerlikon says the expansion will allow it to provide faster and better service, plus a wider portfolio, to customers for precision parts in a range ...
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ArticleNexteer announces European expansion
Poland – The motion control specialist will spend over $16m on building a third plant and on opening a technical centre in Tychy later this year. The company will add 100 engineers to its workforce and has already started the recruitment process.The new factory will boost Nexteer’s capacity to produce ...