Category: Automotive

Inchcape sells Volkswagen dealerships in Essex to Group1

Inchcape has disclosed of Volkswagen car and van franchises in Essex to US giant Group 1 for an undisclosed sum. The acquired dealerships are located in Chelmsford, Colchester, Romford and Southend. This acquisition is expected to generate approximately $115m (£93m) in revenues for Group1. The addition of these stores increases Group1’s UK operations to 49… Continue reading Inchcape sells Volkswagen dealerships in Essex to Group1

Monday Morning Auto News, Jul 22, 2019

UK authorities invest nearly $100 million into electric vehicle research – CNBC: Industry and academia are set to lead the development of the new technologies.
India’s Kotak Mahindra Bank Q1 profit slightly misses estimates – Reuters: India’s Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd reported a 32.7% jump in first-quarter profit, but marginally missed estimates as …
Uber Profit Path Seen Slowed by Riders Taking Cheaper Rides – Bloomberg: Uber Technologies Inc.’s path to profit is likely to be slowed by growing competition as a significant number of customers are willing to wait around for …
Factory strategist Zipse offers BMW a bold way forward – Automotive News: This month, before Oliver Zipse knew that he would be named CEO of BMW Group, he gave an impassioned talk here to the …
Traffic safety agency says its critics are wrong about its lack of toughness – Freep: … defects and must rely too much on car companies, safety advocates say. … “In many cases, we work closely with the manufacturer to raise consumer …
Ford`s Slowing China Business Is Creating Roadblocks for Its Global Ambitions – Wall Street Journal: Ford’s multibillion-dollar push to expand in China this decade has veered off course, leaving it mired in a sales slump that is weighing on its future in the world’s …
Automakers, TRW face US lawsuit over airbag system – Automotive News: Six automakers and supplier TRW face a U.S. federal lawsuit seeking class-action certification over defective airbag control units. The complaint, filed Monday in …

Cummins makes offer for VW’s large engines unit, report says – Automotive News: VW CEO Herbert Diess has vowed to simplify the group which has 12 brands, trucks, buses, motorbikes, cars and electric bicycles as part of its …
Hyundai Motor lays out U.S. recovery plan, places hope on new SUV models – Reuters: South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co laid out its U.S. sales turnaround plan on Monday with an expanded line-up of sport-utility vehicles (SUV), after posting its biggest quarterly profit jump in seven years.
S.Korea’s Hyundai Motor posts double-digit growth in Q2 operating profit – Xinhuanet: South Korea’s biggest automaker Hyundai Motor posted double-digit growth in the second-quarter operating profit on …
China Focus: Auto expo shows fierce competition in Chinese market – Xinhuanet: An Liguo, a sales manager from Changan Automobile, a major domestic brand, said that many consumers in China hunt for bargains and value both …
Korean Boycott Could Spread to Japanese Luxury Cars – Bloomberg: Japanese luxury cars may also take a hit, said Kwon Soon-Woo, an analyst at SK Securities. Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. have a …
Hyundai Motor Q2 net profit rises 31.2%, new models boost domestic sales – Reuters: South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co on Monday said second-quarter net profit climbed 31.2%, as a weaker local currency …
Jaguar Land Rover is recycling more plastic – Autocar:
Europe Plans to Use the US Election to Beat Trump’s Trade War – Bloomberg: While the daunting threat of U.S. tariffs on Europe’s auto industry and other measures is very much alive, one line of thinking in the EU is that Trump …
Israeli startup uses artificial intelligence to predict auto crash injuries – Freep: Carmakers are investing millions in an Israeli startup is using big data to predict what kind of injuries drivers have sustained after an accident.
Toyota teases its plans for Olympics in Tokyo – Automotive News: Toyota’s plan to showcase new mobility technologies at next year’s Summer Olympics is still under construction. But more ideas might be in the works.
New Mini crossovers to fortify brand, BMW says – Automotive News: BMW will double down on its Mini brand with new products, even as customers drift away from small cars.
Outside the norm: ZF’s external airbag predicts crash – Automotive News: When ZF demonstrated its new external airbag in Germany, it was more than a variation on a familiar theme. The new game is all about predictive sensing.
Ford’s sales of big trucks surge after shift to U.S. – Automotive News: Moving production to Ohio from Mexico in 2015 made it easier for dealers to sell and service the F-650 and F-750.
ProPilot 2.0 alters Nissan’s curves – Automotive News: The automaker is discovering that as its self-driving technologies become more sophisticated, it will need to rethink some of its vehicle design touches.
GM CEO to blame for Silverado – Automotive News: The Silverado’s weak performance is the fault of GM’s leadership, writes an Automotive News reader in a letter to the editor.
BMW iNext: electric SUV’s innovative steering wheel revealed – Autocar: Autocar
The ritual dance with UAW begins again – Automotive News: and there are plenty – certainly the most difficult has to be the corruption scandal that the UAW and primarily FCA have …
Aluminum’s carbon footprint is dirty – Automotive News: Global sales of electric vehicles surged 63 percent in 2018 to 2 million – a figure predicted to increase sevenfold by 2025. By 2030, total global EV …
More Americans have died in car crashes since 2000 than in both World Wars – Washington Post: Since January 2000, more Americans have died in car crashes than did in both World Wars, and the overwhelming majority of the wrecks were caused …
US-Japan trade and the auto sector will be high on Abe’s agenda as he claims victory at the polls – CNBC: US-Japan trade and the auto sector will be high on Abe’s agenda as he … kept its armed forces from fighting abroad since 1945, when World War II ended. … Japan has been bracing for U.S. curbs on auto imports as its trade surplus …
Truck platoons can save fuel and combat a rising shortage of drivers – Automotive News: In December 2018, a McKinsey study predicted that any platooning solution that allows trucks to operate without a driver in the second truck would not …
Q&A with Red Whittaker – Automotive News: Self-driving vehicles start with Red Whittaker. … than a decade ago, which helped spark the modern-day push to build autonomous-driving systems.
Why Level 3 automated technology has failed to take hold – Automotive News: Two summers ago, Audi stood on the precipice of an automated-driving breakthrough. Its redesigned A8 sedans contained a system called Traffic Jam ..

Related

CO2 emissions in US could fall again in 2019, federal agency projects

A new report by the U.S. Energy Information Agency forecasts that for the first time in two years annual carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. will decrease.

The report, issued last week, forecasts that U.S. CO2 emissions will fall by 2.2 percent in 2019, in what it says is the largest decrease since 2015.

After rising by 2.7 percent in 2018, the EIA also predicts that U.S. CO2 emissions will fall by a further 0.7 percent in 2020.

The agency chalks up the drop to more coal-fired powerplants being retired and replaced by natural gas plants. Coal currently makes up 27 percent of U.S. power generation, which the EIA forecasts will fall to 24 percent in 2019 and 23 percent in 2020. Natural gas generates 35 percent of American electricity in 2018, which is expected to rise to 38 percent in 2019, before falling back slightly in 2020.

Part of the slowing decrease may come from the scheduled retirement of five nuclear reactors in 2020, the EIA report says.

EIA expects U.S. CO2 emissions to fall in 2019

Renewable energy is also forecast to grow over the next few years. Wind and solar power make up 10 percent of U.S. power generation in 2019, which the EIA expects to rise to 11 percent in 2019 and 13 percent in 2020. (Hydro power is forecast to remain flat, at 7 percent.) Recent reports have shown that the cost of installing new wind and solar power has dropped below the cost of keeping old coal plants running.

With all these improvements, why are the decreases so small? The EIA Annual Energy Outlook shows that while efficiency continues to improve for all types of energy use, the demand for energy continues to rise with economic expansion, population growth, and increased travel, making the switch to cleaner and more efficient fuels more imperative. Indeed, the International Energy Agency says worldwide energy demand grew by 2.3 percent in 2018.

Carbon dioxide is an unavoidable byproduct of combustion, so the only way to use it is to reduce the use of fossil fuels. That could come with more electric cars and more renewable generation of electricity.

2019 EIA Annual Energy Outlook transportation energy usage

The EPA lists transportation as the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, at 28.9 percent of U.S. CO2 emissions in 2017.

The drop in U.S. CO2 emissions comes despite efforts by the Trump administration to pull out of the global Paris Climate Accords, which seek to limit global temperature rise to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit over pre-industrial levels by the year 2100.

Even then, the U.S. improvements likely won't be enough. The International Energy Agency reported that worldwide CO2 emissions rose 1.7 percent in 2018.

Revision of Outlook for Fiscal 2019 and Preliminary Q2 Key Data

Due to the following factors, Continental’s previous outlook for the 2019 fiscal year issued on May 9, 2019 will no longer be achievable: Whereas the previously communicated outlook was based on expectations of a flat development in global light vehicle production in fiscal 2019 versus the previous year, current expectations are for a decline of… Continue reading Revision of Outlook for Fiscal 2019 and Preliminary Q2 Key Data

German owners give Slovak subsidiaries more power

Germany is a hatchery of firms that have been forming the Slovak economy for decades.Brose Prievidza, which produces engines and other car parts for the automotive sector, also plans to build a new Slovak R&D centre.The transfer is not just about R&D. The biggest German investment, Volkswagen Slovakia, produces five vehicle brands as the only plant in the group, using a very unique automatised control room.

Urban Electric releases image of on-street pop-up charger

British startup Urban Electric has released an image of its UEone, a retractable pop-up charging hub for residential on-street parking. The company says its charger is a solution for the 50% of UK city drivers who park on the street at night. The company plans to install the units as fast charging hubs on residential… Continue reading Urban Electric releases image of on-street pop-up charger

Next-Gen BMW 5 Series To Have Two Or More Electric Variants

Let’s get on with it. Much like GM and a few other automakers, BMW announced major plans for some 25 electrified models by 2025. More recently, the automaker’s CEO Harald Krüger — who’s now leaving the company in a few weeks — said those efforts will happen ahead of schedule, by 2023. Moreover, of the 25 electrified… Continue reading Next-Gen BMW 5 Series To Have Two Or More Electric Variants