Abu Dhabi to try out automated driving tests

Cars fitted with almost a dozen cameras will test the skills of learner drivers under a new smart driving test in Abu Dhabi.In Dubai, the Roads and Transport Authority unveiled a similar version of the driver testing system at Gitex, one of the region’s largest technology events.A new application for booking limousines and Tesla vehicles through Apple and Google stores was also announced by the authority on the opening day of the week-long Gitex event at Dubai World Trade Centre.

Dacia Duster now Europe’s second best selling car

Two automobiles made by Romanian car maker Dacia, owned by Renault, were amongst Europe’s best selling cars in August.A global supplier of automotive business intelligence, Dacia sold 19,451 units of its Duster model, an SUV.Dacia’s cheapest model, the Sandero, saw sales of 17,764, and was the fourth best-selling car in Europe, behind Volkswagen’s T-Roc.

Great Wall to recall 62,655 vehicles

BEIJING, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) — China's SUV and pickup manufacturer Great Wall Motor Co. Ltd. will recall 62,655 vehicles due to defective exterior rear-view mirrors, according to the country's top market regulator.
The recall, set to begin on Dec. 15, will involve HAVAL H2s models made between Nov. 4, 2016 and Oct. 11, 2017, said an online statement from the State Administration for Market Regulation.
Due to a defective coating, exterior rear-view mirrors of the affected vehicles may detach from the mirror housings in extreme cases, posing safety risks.
The company promised to replace the defective rear-view mirrors free of charge.

BMW to cut work hours, pay of highly-qualified employees

BERLIN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) — German carmaker BMW is planning to reduce the salaries of its highly qualified employees by 10,000-14,000 euros each year, the German business magazine WirtschaftsWoche reported on Friday.
BMW is also seeking to reduce the working time of its skilled workforce from 40 to 35 hours a week, a measure that would save around 100 million euros, WirtschaftsWoche said.
In the past, the German carmaker let employees with sought-after qualifications work 40 hours instead of 35 hours a week to avoid having to train new people and to be able to deploy proven specialists for longer time.
“I will ensure that highly qualified workers can continue to work 40 hours,” Manfred Schoch, head of the workers' council, told WirtschaftsWoche.
The reduction of working time would affect around one-third of the company's 17,000 employees.
According to WirtschaftsWoche, BMW was negotiating with the workers' council on a package of several measures to save 12 billion euros ..

AMS takeover of Osram fails

… technology . “We intend to leverage our position as OSRAM’s largest shareholder in a dialogue with OSRAM as we continue to pursue the full acquisition of the company, securing a solid future for OSRAM” AMS…

-Fighting GM puts a financial squeeze on striking union workers

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Oct 3 (Reuters) – While striking workers at General Motors Co's U.S. auto plants continue walking picket lines for a third week to demand better pay and benefits, the financial pressure has mounted for union members like Frank Lee.
Analysts estimate that GM could lose $1 billion from the labor dispute that began on Sept. 16 and is now the longest nationwide strike at the automaker since 1970. For GM, which had $24 billion in cash and marketable securities as of June 30, that cost is likely manageable.
But it's a different story for some strikers.
Frank Lee, a United Auto Workers union member at GM's Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, is fending off bill collectors.
“Until yesterday, I was negative in my bank account,” said Lee. “I called the bank to try and stop an insurance payment from coming out. I failed to do that; it was too late”.
Adding to the difficulty of his situation, union regulations prohibit Lee from seeking outside em..

Changan ford to launch 18 new models in 3 years

CHONGQING, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) — Changan Ford Automobile Co. Ltd., a joint venture between China's Changan Automobile and American automaker Ford, plans to launch 18 new automobile models by the end of 2021, including 5 new energy vehicles in the Chinese market.
Since its establishment in Chongqing in 2001, Changan Ford has produced more than 6.5 million vehicles with an output value of more than 800 billion yuan (112 billion U.S. dollars), and its annual sales were once close to 1 million vehicles. Changan Ford, however, ended the trend of continuous growth in 2017, with annual sales of 819,000 vehicles, a year-on-year decline of 14 percent. Sales in 2018 were only 378,000 units, down 54.4 precent from a year earlier.
Experts said the sales downturn of Changan Ford is partly due to a lack of new models from 2016 to 2018.
To tackle the downturn, Ford Motor said it will accelerate the localization of new models of Ford and Ford luxury brand Lincoln. The first Lincoln SUV model will be..

VW registers unit in Turkey ahead of production decision

Volkswagen has established a subsidiary in Turkey’s western Manisa province, the country’s Trade Registry Gazette showed on Wednesday, as the company nears a final decision on the location for its new production plant.The remainder will be paid in the next two years.VW had been looking into a possible new plant in eastern Europe.