Latest News & Features – Page 163
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ArticlePentastar V-6 output reaches 5m units
US – Available in three displacements, the engine is regarded as a workhorse for FCA; since the start of the year, 47% of the company’s vehicles have been sold with a Pentastar V-6. The milestone unit was produced earlier this month.The 3.6-litre and 3.2-litre displacements power the Jeep Cherokee, while ...
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ArticleGM to spend $1.2 billion at Fort Wayne
US – The funds will go towards upgrades and technology to improve the Indiana plant’s competitiveness in the assembly of light- and heavy-duty trucks. Beginning in June, the improvements are expected to take several years to complete.A new pre-treatment, electro-coating paint and sealing facility will be constructed, while the bodyshop ...
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ArticleMazda’s CX-5 surpasses 1m mark
Japan – The milestone vehicle rolled off the assembly line at the end of April, less than three years after the start of production. According to its maker, only the Mazda3 has reached the 1m figure faster.Mazda’s first-ever compact crossover was also the first production model with the complete range ...
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ArticleA new dimension
Additive manufacturing is seeing wider use across automotive production, from prototyping to toolingDespite all the efforts of the automotive industry to develop more economical engines or aerodynamic body shapes, one of the most basic determinants of the efficiency of vehicle performance remains the consistency with which lubricant fluids are distributed ...
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ArticleChina's road to sustainability
As the government steps up its efforts to ease the country's serious pollution problems, automotive OEMs are turning their operations 'greener' to improve their environmental footprints but also to help profitsThe severe pollution problems in China are well documented, with research from Tsinghua University in Beijing suggesting that an estimated ...
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ArticleNissan’s Mexican output hits 10m mark
Mexico – The milestone comes almost five decades after the Japanese OEM started producing vehicles in the country and represents the efforts of three manufacturing facilities with a combined annual capacity of 800,000 units. The 10 millionth unit was a Nissan Sentra SR built at Aguascalientes A1 Plant for sale ...
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ArticleVW opens Changsha plant
China – The Shanghai-Volkswagen (SVW) factory in the south of the country has the capacity to produce 300,000 Volkswagen (VW) and Skoda vehicles per year, beginning with VW’s New Lavida. Changsha is the VW Group’s 119th facility worldwide and 20th in China.“China is not only the Volkswagen Group’s largest and ...
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ArticleScania Tucumán's $43m raises exports
Argentina – The truck-maker's investment over the past two years to boost the efficiency and output of its plant in the north of the country has resulted in component exports to Europe increasing by 600%.“Scania uses a global production system, so it's essential for us to keep the Tucumán facility ...
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ArticleChina's big chill
As the world’s largest CV market cools down, OEMs are finding themselves burdened with excess capacityIn this article:Economic slowdownCollaborationsDeutz and FAWMAN and SinotruckDaimler and Beiqi FotonVolvo and DongfengIveco and SAICHyundai and Nanjun AutoAnhui Jianghuai AutomobileAnhui Hualing AutomobileShaanxi Automobile GroupOvercapacity problemsDomestic investmentsCommercial vehicle (CV) makers in China are feeling the pressure ...
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ArticleHonda launches new SIMCenter in Ohio
US – The Simulation Innovation and Modeling Center (SIMCenter) is located in the Smith Laboratory at the College of Engineering, Ohio State University, and was funded by $5m from Honda R&D. The facility is focused on the R&D of new and improved computational engineering tools for vehicle design and manufacturing.Using ...
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ArticleGM to grow Bowling Green with $439m
US – The investment will be used to build a new 450,000 sq.m paintshop almost half the size of the existing plant in Kentucky. A groundbreaking event has already taken place and construction is scheduled to last two years from this summer. Chevrolet says the building work will not affect ...
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Article2016 Honda Pilot production begins
US – The vehicle is being made exclusively at Honda Manufacturing of Alabama (HMA). The eight-passenger SUV is fitted with a direct-injection i-VTEC V-6 engine.The new Pilot joins a refreshed Honda light-truck line-up which includes the CR-V and the newly launched HR-V crossover, the gateway model in Honda’s SUV/CUV offering. ...
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ArticlePorsche extends Blume’s contract
Germany – Although the OEM’s member of the executive board – Production and Logistics only joined the company in January 2013, he will start a new, five-year deal in January 2016.A mechanical engineer by training, Oliver Blume has 20 years of experience within the Volkswagen Group. At Audi, he was ...
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ArticleKia cee’d passes 1m milestone
Slovakia – The achievement by Kia Motors Europe comes eight years after the start of production. The cee’d GT five-door hatchback and its 201hp, 1.6-litre T-GDI engine were both made at the company’s Slovakian facilities and are destined for export to the Netherlands.The cee’d is manufactured exclusively for the European ...
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ArticleBenecke-Changshun celebrates tenth anniversary
China – The joint venture between Benecke-Kaliko and Jiangsu-Changshun supplies vehicle interior materials to the Chinese market, operating two production and development locations within the country.Benecke-Changshun Auto Trim was founded in Zhangjiagang, where it now employs 450 personnel in the manufacture of foils for automotive interiors, exclusively for China. At ...
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ArticleLaser World's 'toolmakers of light'
The best and the brightest developments in laser technology will be on display in Munich this JuneLaser World of Photonics has established itself as a key event for those involved in the use of imaging processes and optical technologies in manufacturing. A combination of rapidly developing technology and an increasing ...
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ArticleFord Bridgend output hits 19m engines
UK – The milestone was reached 35 years after production began at the factory in Wales. Earlier this year, Bridgend Engine Plant (BEP) also made its 8 millionth small-capacity, petrol Duratec engine since ‘job one’ in May 1998.“The Duratec engine has been produced here for 17 years and is exported ...
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ArticleTesting Expo: An automatic choice
The likely exhibitors at Automotive Testing in Stuttgart this June make it a must for the motor industryAlready well established as a closely focused event for auto industry professionals, Automotive Testing Expo 2015 will benefit from the ever-increasing role that sophisticated test equipment now plays in motor industry developments. Vehicle ...
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ArticleIntertek unveils new powertrain development facility
UK – The company says it has invested in six high-specification engine test cells at its new Milton Keynes facility. Four of the new test cells are now fully operational, with the final two cells being commissioned in August; these will be equipped with both high- and low-speed 550kW A/C ...
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ArticleMercedes to modernise Untertürkheim
Germany – The company and works council have agreed on a transformation plan for Daimler’s original plant, founded in 1904. The upgrade involves an investment of about €1 billion ($1.1 billion) this year alone, but will bring cost savings of “hundreds of millions” up to 2020, says the OEM.“We are ...