MG Hector bookings temporarily closed owing to high initial demand

MG Hector been receiving an overwhelming response ever since it was launched in India on June 27.MG Hector bookings had started on June 4 in India and by the time of its launch, the company had received more than 10,000 bookings.MG Hector boasts of an impressive design having features like bold front grille with surrounding chrome accent, split LED headlamps, LED DRLs, LED fog lamps, LED tail lamps, LED fog lamps, dual-tone machined alloys, shark fin antenna, floating light turn indicators and heated ORVM.

Kia Motors begins sales of compact SUV Seltos

Kia Motors began selling its new compact sports utility vehicle Seltos on Thursday.Seltos is available in two engine lineups, a 1.6 turbo gasoline which runs on maximum of 177 horsepower and 27 kilogram-meters of torque, and a 1.6 diesel model that is equipped with maximum of 136 horsepower and 32.6 kilogram-meters of torque.Kia has also applied its latest driving safety technologies as default to Seltos, putting the driving assist functions including forward collision-avoidance assist, lane following assist, lane keeping assist, driver attention warning and high beam assist to all trims.

Brazil pair arrested over fake supercar factory

Olice in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina have raided a clandestine factory manufacturing bootleg luxury vehicles.Officials from the Santa Catarina Civil Police’s Investigative Unit seized eight semi-assembled replicas of Ferraris and Lamborghinis in Monday’s raid.The investigation began when Ferrari and Lamborghini representatives contacted the Santa Catarina Civil Police.

China’s EV startup denies laying off 90 employees in Silicon Valley

China’s electric vehicle (EV) startup Seres, formerly known as SF Motors, on Tuesday denied it has fired 90 employees at its Silicon Valley office, saying only 47 jobs were cut across the United States.The SF5 model, first unveiled in Silicon Valley in March 2018, is a small SUV boasting as much as 684 horsepower with 300 miles (about 480 km) of range, equipped with advanced intelligent EV technologies.Seres is the EV unit of China’s Chongqing Sokon Industry Group (Sokon), whose U.S. headquarters is in Santa Clara, Silicon Valley.

SAIC General Motors Is Sticking With Low-Emission, but Unpopular Engine

One of China’s top carmakers said it will continue to equip its vehicles with a type of engine that emits less pollution, even though it has been a drag on sales, as China has ramped up efforts to improve the fuel efficiency of gas guzzlers.The standards aim to cut polluting emissions from new vehicles by about half of the previous threshold.In June, China’s car sales rose 4.9% year-on-year to 1.8 million, the first sales increase since May 2018.

Ford CEO under pressure to execute ambitious global strategy

The spotlight is on Ford CEO Jim Hackett and his ability to balance several significant challenges as the carmaker pursues new partnerships that complicate manufacturing operations while advancing a historic overhaul of its business in an increasingly uncertain global trade environment.Auto manufacturers are aggressively turning to alliances with one-time rivals to reduce the large investment costs needed to produce emissions-free vehicles and develop autonomous driving technology.Ford’s pending passenger vehicle with Volkswagen’s electric platform will only be available in Europe, due to U.S. consumer preference for larger sports utility vehicles and pick-up trucks.

A Ford-Volkswagen alliance with Argo could redraw self-driving sector

An expanded alliance between Ford Motor Co and Volkswagen AG that includes a partnership in Ford self-driving unit Argo AI could redraw the balance of power in autonomous vehicles.Argo has been overlooked as Waymo, Alphabet Inc’s self-driving subsidiary, has deployed its robo-vans, and General Motors Co’s Cruise Automation subsidiary has raked in billions of dollars in investments.VW recently concluded a development agreement with Aurora, the Silicon Valley self-driving start-up that includes Hyundai Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles among its customers. More sourcesA Ford-VW alliance with Argo could redraw self-driving sector (Reuters: Jul 12, 2019 at 12:39 AM)