All VW articles – Page 2
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FeatureVW to increase Wolfsburg output to 1m
Volkswagen plans to increase annual production at its German plant in Wolfsburg to a million units by 2020, meaning an additional 210,000 vehicles will be assembled at the plant. The carmaker will shift Golf production from its Zwickau (Germany) and Puebla (Mexico) plants, and add production of the forthcoming Seat ...
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FeatureAnu Goel: the highs and lows
What have been some of the high points in logistics in your career?One is the swing toward providing a level of service that customers expect, as opposed to providing a level of service that we either think they need or that the system can provide. Those are two different ...
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FeatureCracking under sanctions
The re-imposition of sanctions by the US on Iran has dealt a hammer blow to the country’s emerging automotive industry. The threat of retaliation by the US against those whom it deems to have broken those sanctions has, once again, prompted vehicle-makers and logistics companies to pull out of the ...
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FeatureVW hit by industrial action in Russia
Logistics workers at VW’s assembly plant in Kaluga, Russia, carried out industrial action earlier this month in protest over plans to outsource some staff, trade union MPRA said in a statement on its Facebook page, which was posted on August 6.Logistics workers implemented a go-slow policy at the plant based ...
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FeatureBattling a perfect storm
The finished vehicle sector in North America is dealing with a lot of challenges at the moment. There is a basic imbalance in the number of vehicles that the US imports and exports with its global trading partners, which contributes to ongoing problems involving congestion and limited capacity on hinterland ...
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FeatureAfter Marchionne, what next for Fiat Chrysler?
Sergio Marchionne (pictured), former CEO at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), was a remarkable man. He frequently dominated the automotive industry’s headlines and news agenda over the last decade or so and his recent passing away robs the industry of one of its few stars. In an age when corporate suits ...
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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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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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FeatureVW to add second model at Navarra
Volkswagen is planning to make the new T-Cross compact SUV at its Navarra plant, following an investment of around €1 billion ($1.17 billion).The addition of the T-Cross will potentially raise output at the plant from 244,000 units in 2017 to around 350,000 a year and increase the workforce by about ...
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FeatureA rising tide – with political undercurrents
Mexican production and exports continued to grow through 2017, both to the US and globally. At the same time, US sales remained strong and were fed by an increase in imports from established and emerging markets. It is only in Canada that both sales and assembly are showing a decline. ...
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FeatureGrappling with the capacity crunch
With demand for automotive exports via North American ports rising again last year, OEMs face a number of new challenges in handling vehicles in 2018. With capacity already strained at many hubs, the threat of increased regulatory restrictions on trade is adding further uncertainty for manufacturers moving forward.Congestion continues to ...
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FeatureStefan Sommer to head procurement at VW
Stefan Sommer is moving to Volkswagen Group at the beginning of next year as head of procurement. He replaces Francisco Javier Garcia Sanz, who left the company in April.Sommer, who was CEO of German parts supplier ZF Friedrichshafen until the end of last year, began his career as a development ...
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FeatureWhen will services be back on track?
The state of the rail freight service in the US has been a leading topic of conversation for several months within vehicle supply chains, with discussions still ongoing between OEMs and rail providers. Questions around the availability of capacity and transit delays that have disrupted the timing of finished vehicle ...
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FeatureVW realigns global components business
Volkswagen is reorganising its global components business into a separate corporate division in an effort, it said, to improve efficiency, become more flexible and prepare for growth in electric vehicles. Group Components will sit under the aegis of Volkswagen AG alongside VW Passenger Cars and VW Commercial Vehicles.“We are preparing ...
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FeatureSkoda reveals plans for Indian market
From left to right: Skoda member of the board for sales and marketing, Alain Favey; CEO Bernhard Maier; managing director of Skoda Auto India, Gurpratap Boparai; and member of the board for finance and IT, Klaus-Dieter SchürmannIts parent company VW Group is investing €1 billion between 2019 and 2021 ...
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FeatureTrump stamps on Iran’s automotive revival
When Iran reached agreement with the global community in 2015 regarding denuclearisation, resulting in the lifting of sanctions in early 2016, almost immediately Renault and PSA announced their return to the country. Prior to Iran being ostracised, both companies had been active there via joint venture (JV) manufacturing operations, mostly ...
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FeatureVW resumes production after haulage strikes
Volkswagen’s bus and truck plant at Resende, in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, is reported to be back to normal production, following a week of strikes in the road haulage industry at the end of May.A spokesperson for the company said it was now working with its 4,000-strong ...
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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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FeatureSweet home Alabama
One of the most popular songs about the US state of Alabama, ‘Sweet Home Alabama’, opens with the line “Big wheels keep on turning” – and indeed the number doing so is set to grow after the January announcement that a $1.6 billion Toyota-Mazda joint-venture manufacturing plant is scheduled to ...
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FeatureGefco: Full of get up and go
French transport and logistics provider Gefco started 2018 with an announcement in Paris that it was looking to cooperate more closely with its partners and customers. At the same time, the company said it was looking for international growth and new business as it continued to move beyond the traditional ...