All Feature articles – Page 56
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FeatureHonda’s Celaya plant out of action until mid-November
Damage caused by the flooding of Honda’s car assembly and engine plant in Celaya, Mexico, which happened at the end of June this year, has forced the carmaker to suspend production there until November. The company said that expert teams had completed an investigation of the damage to the tooling ...
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FeatureCaterpillar highlights rising costs
Supply chain expenses, materials prices and tariffs all conspired to raise costs for US heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar in the second quarter of this year, the company has reported.Despite revealing that net profits more than doubled in the period to $1.71 billion from $802m a year ago while turnover rose ...
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FeatureBAIC opens compact SUV plant in South Africa
Chinese vehicle-maker BAIC has officially opened its 11 billion rand ($834m) assembly plant in South Africa, which will start making the X25 compact SUV from imported semi-knockdown (SKD) kits in the fourth quarter of this year. BAIC has been exporting the vehicle to South Africa from China since 2017.The plant, ...
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FeatureExports prop up UK car production despite trade uncertainty
The number of cars made in the UK fell by 5.5% to 128,799 last month, with domestic demand plummeting by 47.2% to 15,647, according to figures from the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). However, production was bolstered by a 6% rise in exports to 113,152 units, with almost ...
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FeatureVehicle makers grapple with cost of trade wars
Carmakers are faced with shifting production, higher purchase costs, lower profits and the possibility of raising the price of their products as a consequence of the continuing global trade conflict.Volvo Cars of Sweden is shifting production of its XC60 SUV for the US market from China to Europe to avoid ...
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FeatureYusen buys share in JV with NYK and Anji
Yusen Logistics has bought a 20% share in the existing joint venture between its parent company NYK and China’s Anji Automotive Logistics for an undisclosed sum. Yusen bought the 20% share from NYK, which previously held 49% of the company. A spokesperson for the company said that the decision to ...
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FeatureBMW to build €1 billion assembly plant in Hungary
BMW has announced it will build an assembly plant in Hungary next year, near the town of Debrecen in the east of the country. The German carmaker said it had chosen Debrecen because of the advantages it offered in terms of infrastructure, logistics connections and proximity to the supplier network. ...
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FeatureAnfac study downgrades port logistics in Spain
The Spanish automotive manufacturers’ association, Anfac, has just released its annual Maritime Port Logistics Grading study, which identifies Santander (pictured), Sagunto and Pasajes ports as currently the best for vehicle processing in Spain.One of the significant conclusions of the report, however, is that the overall grading for port logistics declined ...
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FeatureDamaged Kess vessel being towed to Swedish port
Ocean forwarder K Line has confirmed that its ro-ro vessel Makassar Highway, which ran aground off the Swedish coast last week on its way to Sodertalije port in Sweden, has been refloated and is now being towed at a slow speed to Oskarshamn port. Photo credit: KustbevakningenThe vessel was carrying ...
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FeatureCosco Shipping Lines hit by cyber-attack
Cosco Shipping Lines has restored network services to its America regions following a ransomware attack that took out local email and telephone connections last week, delaying services and temporarily affecting its global business. On July 25 the company was forced to isolate internal networks and shutdown connections within its American ...
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FeatureVW takes Duesmann from BMW and creates new role for Brandstätter
Volkswagen has offered Markus Duesmann (pictured) a position on the group’s management board. He is currently on the management board of rival OEM BMW, where he is responsible for its supplier network and purchasing. The carmaker has also created a new role for its head of procurement, Ralf Brandstätter, who ...
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FeatureArgentina reduces rates on parts imports
The Argentinian government is cutting import duties by 2% on more than 130 automotive parts to improve the vehicle industry’s competitiveness.The reduction is intended to help manufacturers of trailers, buses, trucks and agricultural machinery, as well as cars and vans.“We will continue working on different measures to improve the industry’s ...
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FeatureRussia's car exports fail to meet forecasts
Russian vehicle exports are behind government expectations, despite being up 3% on last year’s figures. The country exported 34,200 finished vehicles between January and May this year, according to the country’s Federal Custom Service, but due to the logistics subsidies and other state support measures that have been made, the ...
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FeatureCeva appoints Terry Carter as senior VP
Ceva Logistics has appointed Terry Carter to the newly created position of senior vice president of transportation for contract logistics. He will report to Brett Blissell, chief operating officer contract logistics and is tasked with coordinating transport for Ceva's business worldwide, including its third party contractors.Carter brings more than 25 ...
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FeatureBMW renews contract with DHL Freight
BMW has renewed its contract with DHL Freight to handle overland transport services in 17 European countries. It has also added a digital supply chain management service in a number of key markets.DHL Freight moves inbound parts to BMW factories as well as providing spare parts deliveries for the carmaker’s ...
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FeatureContinental expands PDC in Germany
Tier one supplier Continental is expanding its aftermarket parts distribution centre (PDC) in Southern Hesse, Germany by almost 7,000 sq.m in response to growth in the independent aftermarket.Property manager Prologis is carrying out the expansion work for Continental Aftermarket at the facility in Gross-Rohrheim, increasing the logistics space to 34,000 ...
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FeatureBLG expands US services for Mercedes-Benz
BLG Logistics is expanding its core operations in the US, where it acts as a supplier for Mercedes-Benz.The company is making its largest investment ever outside Germany at its US base in Vance, Alabama, where a total of $7.1m is being spent on setting up an automated small-parts warehouse for ...
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FeatureAudi starts electric motor production at Györ
The first electric motors at Audi’s plant in Györ, Hungary, went into production this week and will be shipped to Belgium for fitment on the Audi e-tron, the carmaker’s first all‑electric model, which is being made at its assembly facility near Brussels.Current production capacity is approximately 400 electric axle motors ...
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FeatureTrigo expands in the US with Lumbee buyout
French quality management company Trigo has expanded in the US with the acquisition of Lumbee Enterprises, the US-based manufacturing, sorting, inspection and sub-assembly provider, for an undisclosed sum.Trigo works in the automotive and aerospace industries (among others) providing inspection and testing services. It also offers technical rework services, including painting ...
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FeatureFCA boss Sergio Marchionne dies after surgery
Sergio Marchionne (pictured), who was CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) until earlier this week, has died just days after undergoing surgery at a hospital in Zurich, Switzerland. No further details surrounding his death have been disclosed.Marchionne was the CEO of the joint venture carmaker since its formation in 2014 ...