All Feature articles – Page 61
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FeatureTurkish exports continue to rise
Turkey’s automotive exports have risen 17% so far this year to reach a value of $13.9 billion, fresh figures from the Uludağ Automotive Industry Exporters' Association (OİB) have shown.In May – the country’s 28th month of continuous automotive export growth – automotive exports were worth $2.8 billion, up 8% on ...
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FeatureUzbek government to buy GM’s stake in joint venture
Uzbek state-owned vehicle-maker, UzAvtosanoat, is looking to buy GM’s remaining 10% stake in the joint venture it has with the US carmaker – GM Uzbekistan.The buyout is expected to be complete by the end of the year and follows UzAvtosanoat increasing its original 75% stake in the joint venture to ...
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FeatureŠkoda puts autonomous robot to work at Vrchlabí
Škoda Auto is deploying a fully autonomous transport robot from this month to move parts around its component plant in Vrchlabí in the Czech Republic. Use of the robot is part of the carmaker’s digitalisation of production processes under its 2025 Strategy, which embraces industry 4.0 technology.According to the VW-owned ...
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FeatureAutomotive in the firing line as Trump extends tariffs
Cars and automotive parts are becoming enmeshed in intensifying global trade wars, with the automotive sector facing increased shipping, supply, manufacturing and cost uncertainty for some time to come.The catalyst has been the US president imposing import tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminium, two key input materials ...
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FeaturePSA to raise European SUV output
Groupe PSA is to increase output of its SUV range across Europe this year “using all its available resources and assets” to meet market demand.The company said the initiative would be supported “by appropriate investments” with an emphasis on inbound logistics to enable each plant to deliver high output.The drive ...
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FeatureBBA expands battery factory in China
Seven months after opening a battery factory in north-east China, BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA) has already started enlarging the facility.The expansion by the joint venture between BMW and Brilliance China Automotive Holdings will enable production of more powerful batteries for fifth-generation eDrive technology to be used in the fully-electric BMW ...
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FeatureMahindra trials Pik-Up assembly at Durban plant
Indian vehicle-maker Mahindra & Mahindra has begun trial production of its Pik-Up range at a new assembly plant near Durban, South Africa.The company’s initial annual production target at the plant, which is located at Dube Tradeport special economic zone, next to the King Shaka Airport, is 2,500 units. It hopes ...
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FeatureNew Russian association to encourage a slicker supply chain
A group of Russian state-owned and private companies has formed a body called the Digital Transport and Logistics Association (DTLA), reported to be the biggest such association to have existed in the Russian transport industry and tasked with establishing a joined up supply chain supported by the latest digital technology.The ...
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FeaturePSA suspends joint venture activity in Iran
French carmaker Groupe PSA has said this week that it is suspending all joint venture activity in Iran, following the withdrawal of the US government from the Iran nuclear deal, otherwise known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).The JCPOA was signed on July 14 2015 between Iran, the ...
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FeatureMetroGistics rebrands as Acertus
US-based finished vehicle logistics provider MetroGistics has reorganised its business and that of its partner companies – Amerifleet, Metro Title Services and McNutt – under one company and will now be known as Acertus.The company has its headquarters in St Louis, Missouri, and will maintain facilities in Alpharetta, Georgia, and ...
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FeatureKeeping up with the pace of change
The automotive industry used to be thought of as slow moving. Until fairly recently, it was not much of a stretch to say that the motor car, for all its improvements in safety and technology, had not fundamentally changed in a century. Vintage car owners could easily point to hundreds ...
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FeatureYoung replaces Schroeder at the AHAA
Guy Young (pictured) has replaced Bill Schroeder as general manager of the Auto Haulers Association of America (AHAA). The association represents the interests of finished vehicle carriers in the US and currently has more than 85 car carrier members (with almost 9,000 trucks between them) and around 35 suppliers.Young has ...
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FeatureDriving value into the supply chain
Better communication is needed in the automotive supply chain, including between OEMs, suppliers, logistics providers and IT experts providing digital supply chain services. Digital technology has a lot of answers for an industry that is making strides in addressing the needs of modern manufacturing and the changing face of mobility, ...
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FeatureKerry Logistics acquires SAS
Third-party logistics provider Kerry Logistics has further extended its reach into the EMEA market with the acquisition of South African-based freight forwarder, Shipping and Airfreight Services (SAS).In a statement, Kerry highlighted the importance of South Africa as a manufacturing hub for the global automotive market.“South Africa’s economy has an important ...
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FeatureECG pilots seek to improve forecasting accuracy
Several pilot projects involving major automotive OEMs and logistics service providers (LSPs) are likely to get underway in Europe over the next few months in the latest stage of an initiative by the Association of European Vehicle Logistics (ECG) to tackle capacity shortages by improving forecasting methodologies.The aim is to ...
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FeatureToyota and Suzuki look at India and export markets
Japanese OEMs Toyota and Suzuki are to consider extending their 15-month-old business partnership to work together on sales, production and technological development, with a focus on India and its export markets.Ideas to be further evaluated include using Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private (TKM) to produce models developed by Suzuki for sale ...
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FeatureFord to make second model in Craiova
Ford is investing up to €200m ($235m) to manufacture a second vehicle at its Craiova assembly plant in Romania, saying the planned expenditure is a sign of the company’s trust in government promises to deliver key upgrades infrastructure and logistics improvements.“Ford has discussed with the government the key infrastructure projects ...
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FeatureManta becoming regional hub for finished vehicles
The northern Ecuadorian port of Manta is looking to expand its role as a hub for finished vehicles and this month reached its full storage capacity for transhipped vehicle volumes.Manta only began operating regularly in the transshipment market as of July last year but in the third week of May ...
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FeatureVehicle imports to Russia increase in the first quarter
Russia imported almost 67,000 finished vehicles during the first quarter 2018, up by just under 50% compared to the same period last year, according to a statement from the country’s Federal Customs Service. Imports over the period were equal to $1.65 billion.It is the first time in a decade that ...
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FeatureA hard look at software risks
Few people realise how much software runs today’s cars, observes Les Hatton, emeritus professor of forensic software engineering at Kingston University, UK. “We sit at home and can’t work out why the printer isn’t working, and then we’ll get in a car where there’s probably more software underneath,” he says. ...