All articles by aladmin – Page 3
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ArticleHonda breaks ground at motorbike plant
Bangladesh – The joint venture Bangladesh Honda Private Limited (BHL) is building a factory on 101,171 sq.m of land at Abdul Monem Economic Zone in Munshiganj District, Dhaka Division. The investment for land purchase and construction amounts to 2.3 billion taka ($30m). “We believe the Bangladesh motorcycle market is very ...
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ArticleBMW opens Shenyang battery plant
China – The new facility will supply the nearby Dadong vehicle factory, which is operated by the BMW Brilliance Automotive joint venture and will soon produce the 5 Series plug-in hybrid for the local market. It is the first battery factory of any premium vehicle-maker in the country, and the ...
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ArticleGordon Murray’s new manufacturing company
UK – The business, Gordon Murray Automotive, will produce limited-run models, beginning with a car launched under a new brand which will “buck the current trend for ever more complicated and heavy vehicles”, according to a statement. Vehicles will be built using a new version of Gordon Murray Design’s iStream ...
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Smith takes American COO role at Hyundai
US – As chief operating officer (COO), Brian Smith will look after all aspects of the OEM’s operations in America, including corporate and strategic direction, sales, marketing, customer satisfaction and dealer development. He will report to Kenny Lee, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America.Smith has spent more than 30 ...
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ArticleWinkelmann named as Bugatti leader
France – Replacing Wolfgang Dürheimer, who is retiring after five years as president, Stephan Winkelmann will take over on January 1. Winkelmann has served the Volkswagen Group as managing director of Audi since 2016.Before taking the role at Audi, Winkelmann was president and CEO of Lamborghini for 11 years. He ...
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ArticleToyota responds to Kobe quality issues
Japan – The vehicle-maker said it had examined data provided by Kobe Steel, which has admitted quality violations in aluminium and copper products, and “confirmed that the materials satisfy applicable statutory standards, and our own internal standard, for key safety and durability requirements for vehicles”. However, Toyota emphasised that its ...
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ArticleVolvo plans Polestar plant in Chengdu
China – The Swedish company and its Chinese owner, Geely Holding, announced that together they will invest 5 billion yuan ($754.5m) to support Polestar’s product, brand and industrial development, which will include the establishment of a manufacturing facility in Chengdu. The Polestar 1 hybrid coupe will be made there from ...
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ArticleMazda Hofu starts making new CX-5
Japan – Plant 2 in Yamaguchi Prefecture has joined Hiroshima Plant and other facilities in China and Malaysia as a producer of the new model. Mazda said this will enable it to “flexibly and rapidly” meet growing global demand for crossovers.At the production launch, Hidenori Kawakami, executive officer and plant ...
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ArticleIacovelli to replace Klebert at Schuler
Germany – Schuler said that CEO Stefan Klebert “is not extending his contract and will leave the company by mutual consent” on April 24, 2018, the day of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. His successor, Domenico Iacovelli, has served as deputy CEO since 2007.Klebert joined Schuler on October 1, 2010. The ...
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ArticleFord Craiova starts making EcoSport
Romania – The company said that it switched to European production in place of exports from Chennai, India, in order to meet rising demand. The change required an investment of €200m ($235.8m).“EcoSport is another example of how Ford is growing our business on our strengths, including world-class SUVs,” said Steven ...
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ArticleHonda Anna reaches 25m engines
US – The milestone unit, built on Line 4, was a 1.5-litre turbo for a 2018 Accord made at Marysville Auto Plant, also in Ohio. Honda’s largest engine factory worldwide has reached this cumulative total after 32 years of operation.Anna Engine Plant recently received investment of $47m to introduce engines ...
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ArticleFletcher to deliver GM’s EV strategy
US – In the newly created role of vice-president, Global Electric Vehicle Programmes, Pamela Fletcher will execute the OEM’s plans for an electrified vehicle line up, including the launch of more than 20 pure electric vehicles (EVs) by 2023. She will report to Doug Parks, vice-president, Autonomous and Electric Vehicle ...
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ArticleKobe investigates quality violations
Metal producer Kobe Steel has admitted delivering aluminium and copper products in the past year which did not meet specifications agreed with customers, leaving Japanese car manufacturers concerned about the impact on their own output. Kobe is conducting internal quality and government-ordered safety checks, but has already stated that affected ...
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ArticleAction plan for Czech auto industry
Czech Republic – With key themes of electromobility, autonomous driving and digitalisation, the memorandum between the government and the Association of Czech Automobile Industry (AutoSAP) has been hailed by Skoda, the main automotive manufacturer in the country and a member of AutoSAP. Skoda worked with other organisations to help shape ...
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ArticlePSA’s French plants gain production
France – The OEM confirmed that Mulhouse and Sochaux will build new models from 2020/2021, saying this will secure their “medium-term manufacturing visibility”. It added that details of the vehicles will be disclosed at a later date “for strategic reasons”.Situated less then 70km apart in the east of the country, ...
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Novares opens paint line, Sainte Marguerite
France – The company formerly known as Mecaplast – Key Plastics invested €8.5m ($10.1m) to build a 600sq.m extension equipped with the latest robotic technology. Novares said the facility will support six vehicle-makers in the region: PSA, Fiat, Volvo, Daimler, Opel and Renault.“At Sainte Marguerite, we are producing references for ...
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ArticleHonda to shake up domestic operations
Japan – The OEM is to end production at Sayama Automobile Plant as part of a plan to “evolve” its Japanese manufacturing activities, which will also involve the establishment of a “function” to develop production technologies that will be rolled out worldwide. Furthermore, the vehicle-maker stated its intention to acquire ...
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ArticleThyssenkrupp integrates forging units
Germany – The company announced that its new Thyssenkrupp Forged Technologies became operational on October 1, becoming one of the largest forging businesses in the world, with sites in the Americas, Europe, India and China. This global network will be controlled from Thyssenkrupp’s headquarters in Essen, with the aim of ...
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ArticleToyota ends Australian production
Australia – The OEM has wrapped up its manufacturing operation in the country after 54 years and 3,451,115 vehicles. Toyota stopped production of the Aurion in August and the Camry hybrid in September at its Altona plant near Melbourne, three years after the decision was made to conclude the operation.Dave ...
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ArticleEngle to lead new GM region
US – The company announced that it will combine its International and South America regions after the retirement of Stefan Jacoby, executive vice-president and president of GM International, at the end of this year. Barry Engle, currently in charge of South America, will assume the leadership of both regions on ...