Category: Newswire

German carmaker Audi misses deadlines for engine software updates: reports

BERLIN, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) — Volkswagen subsidiary Audi has missed several deadlines and even failed to “submit all necessary paperwork” for most of the affected diesel cars, the German business newspaper and broadcaster Bayerische Rundfunk reported on Tuesday.
Citing from a government response to a parliamentary inquire by Germany's Green Party, Handelsblatt and Bayerische Rundfunk reported that Audi was considerably behind schedule in removing software manipulations of Euro 6 and Euro 5 diesel vehicles.
According to the reports, Audi failed to provide application documents for many of Audi's car models and necessary software updates could not be approved by the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA).
Audi's A8 luxury sedan with a 4.2-liter Euro 6 engine is also affected. The KBA had ordered a recalled of the car about two years ago, after the Environmental Action Germany (DUH) had found the highest nitrogen oxide values it ever measured for a Euro 6 vehicle.
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German automotive supplier Schaeffler resorts to short-time work

BERLIN, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) — German automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler has reduced working time by an average 25 percent for about 250 of its 500 employees in the special machine construction sector at its Erlangen-Frauenaurach location, the company announced on Monday.
Schaeffler did not specify how long the new regime would last. The measure would be in effect “until further notice,” a company spokesperson said.
Last week, Schaeffler announced that as of Dec. 1, contracts of employees whose working hours had been increased from 35 to 40 hours per week would be reduced to the agreed 35-hour week.
Back in March, the company had presented an efficiency program that included the possibility of short-time work for its employees. At the time, Schaeffler had also said that it would cut 700 jobs in Germany.
According to Schaeffler, the measures were the result of a number of external and internal factors that had led to a significant weakening of the EBIT (earnings before interest ..

Tesla’s new insurance program prompted some early questions amid a bumpy rollout

Tesla vehicles are, in some cases, more expensive to insure than competing vehicles, a problem the electric-car maker has tried to address by introducing an insurance product, Tesla Insurance, for California customers on Wednesday.While it is not possible to insure a Tesla vehicle and a non-Tesla vehicle together on the same Tesla insurance policy.Tesla may instead see the product as a marketing tool designed to boost vehicle sales by addressing the perception that Tesla vehicles require higher-than-normal insurance costs.

Waymo urges U.S. to ‘promptly’ remove barriers to self-driving cars

Waymo, the self-driving car unit of Google parent Alphabet Inc, on Thursday urged the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to “promptly” remove regulatory barriers for cars without steering wheels and brake pedals.Many automakers plan remote controls to pilot autonomous vehicles through factories or onto trucks.In January 2017, GM sought an exemption from NHTSA to deploy fully automated vehicles without steering wheels before the end of 2019.

BMW Hopes to Regain Lost Ground with Facility Expansion

BMW said Wednesday it will invest W30 billion to expand its logistics center in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province in a bid to regain consumer confidence following massive recalls last year (US$1=W1,215).The logistics center in Anseong handles over 86,000 kinds of parts, making it the largest in Korea among imported car brands.BMW also plans to build a large-scale service center on the outskirts of Seoul.