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.

Despite labor tension, Hyundai Motor’s Q2 profit jumps

Amid growing tension between the management and unionized workers, Hyundai Motor said Monday it saw its operating profit rise 30 percent in the second quarter chiefly on the weaker Korean won and sales of new sport utility vehicles.It sold 1.1 million vehicles worldwide, a 7.3 percent decrease from the second quarter in 2018.Despite Hyundai’s earnings recovery, the market is concerned of the growing management-labor tensions over annual wage negotiations which could possibly impact its third-quarter performance.

Bentley bullish on long-term prospects in Chinese market

Bentley Motors is confident about its long-term prospects in China despite a flat market in 2019.Entering China in 2002, Bentley is the most popular luxury auto brand in the country.Bentley currently has 37 dealerships in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao.

Daimler’s Accidental Expat Manager on the Move Again

What started in 2000 as a three-year plan to gain some international experience has resulted in a 17-year career as an expat manager for Daimler stalwart Jörg D. Schmidt.Those possibilities have taken Schmidt from Egypt to Singapore, South Africa, Russia, and Hungary.The market itself is more developed in Australia, built on the back of 27 years of uninterrupted economic growth, albeit there are signs it may now be slowing down.

Self-driving tech slams into wall of human behaviour

A YEAR ago, Detroit and Silicon Valley had visions of putting thousands of self-driving taxis on the road in 2019, ushering in an age of driverless cars.General Motors announced that it would also start a taxi service by the end of this year with vehicles, developed by its Cruise division, that have no steering wheels or pedals.Tesla believes its new self-driving system, based on a computer chip it designed, and the data it gathers from Tesla cars now on the road will enable the company to start offering fully autonomous driving next year.

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.