OEMs
Driving home the reality of global market changes: Honda Swindon factory closure makes way for logistics site
Honda has closed its Swindon, UK plant, as it ends European production. The carmaker is focusing electric vehicle investment and scale in Asia, and is a sign of how electrification could reshape manufacturing footprints.
Carbon-neutral supply chain a priority for Volkswagen
Volkswagen is making a concerted effort to make the way it moves its vehicles as sustainable as the electric vehicles it is moving. A good example is seen in the export of ID.4 from Germany to the US, as Marcus Williams finds out
Toyota increases exports but Covid hampers output in Japan
Toyota’s production and exports are recovering well in the first half of this year, compared to the impact of the disruption in 2020, but Covid is still hampering production in Japan because of supplier shutdowns in South-East Asia
BMW deploys more hydrogen fuel cell trucks for logistics in Leipzig
BLG Logistics is deploying 37 hydrogen fuel cell trucks to manage parts movements at BMW’s Leipzig plant in Germany
Second phase of work on Jaguar Land Rover’s logistics centre underway
Jaguar Land Rover is installing automated technology from Dematic at its new logistics operations centre in the UK, which promises to bring greater efficiencies to its just-in-time inbound logistics
Mitsubishi Fuso focuses on cleaner logistics to cut carbon from operations
Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus (MFTBC) is cutting carbon from its operations globally by making logistics and procurement greener, starting with carbon neutrality at its Tramagal plant in Portugal
Lotus Cars contracts DHL to handle inbound logistics in UK
From next month DHL Supply Chain will start providing Lotus Cars with warehousing and transport operations as part of a new five-year contract that will support production of the new Emira sportscar
Automotive partnership offers guidance on carbon reporting
As part of the The Suppliers Partnership for the Environment, Ford, GM, Honda, Stellantis and Toyota have drawn up five KPIs for the industry to follow designed to cut carbon from the inbound supply chain
VW to deploy more LNG vessels for North Atlantic car shipments
Volkswagen has commissioned another four car-carrying vessels that can run on LNG to make its delivery of vehicles between Germany and North America more sustainable
Stellantis invests in Ellesmere Port for electric future
Stellantis is investing £100m ($137m) in Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant to make electric vans for commercial and passenger markets in the UK and Europe. The investment, which is supported by the UK government, will result in a new body shop, upgraded assembly line and a battery pack assembly unit
Nissan announces battery hub and electric crossover for UK
Nissan is boosting lithium-ion battery production in the UK with a second gigafactory that will initially provide 9 GWh capacity and provide 100,000 batteries a year for a new crossover EV
Nissan working with Georgia Tech on improving vehicle deliveries and truck driver routes
Nissan is working on a project to improve the delivery of its vehicles to dealerships by road both in terms of time and capacity by breaking down the stages involved in the process
Polestar to make next electric SUV in US
Polestar is building its next electric vehicle, the Polestar 3, at the Volvo plant in the US state of South Carolina in an effort to reduce delivery times and make procurement more efficient
Audi using AI to assess supply chain sustainability
Audi is using an AI tool from Prewave to monitor its supply chain for violations of its sustainability code of conduct. The tool uses automotive speech recognition in 50 languages to check for potential violations of Audi’s sustainability criteria and alerts the carmaker to them.
GM focuses on increasing vehicle deliveries in North America
GM is pulling out all the stops to get vehicles delivered to its dealers and customers in the US and Canada in the midst of a semiconductor shortage that is affecting the automotive industry globally. Its all down to teamwork according to Phil Kienle, GM vice-president, North America Manufacturing and Labor Relations
Renault forecasts shift in the make-up of outbound deliveries
At a recent automotive webinar hosted by Haropa Port, Renault’s global vice-president of supply chain, Jean-François Salles, said that the vehicle mix in the outbound supply chain was going to change over the next few years, with more second-hand, light commercial and shared vehicles being distributed. That trend will require different logistics planning
International Motors to take over Mitsubishi aftersales in UK
International Motors (IM) is in talks with Mitsubishi Motors in the UK to take over the carmaker’s aftersales business this autumn.
Polestar looks deeper into supply chain with Circulor
Polestar has signed a deal blockchain technology provider Circulor that aims to extend its visibility of ethical raw materials sourcing.
Nio targets Norway for first vehicle exports
Chinese electric vehicle start-up Nio will start exporting vehicles to Norway in September this year, beginning with the ES8 SUV. The carmaker will also introduce the ET7 luxury sedan in 2022.
VW cuts transport emissions by expanding Zwickau press shop
Volkswagen’s electric vehicle (EV) assembly plant in Zwickau, Germany, has taken another step into sustainable manufacturing by investing €74m ($95m) to expand its press shop.
