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

UVeye Raises $31m in Funding

UVeye, a Stamford, Connecticut and Tel Aviv, Israel-based company which provides solutions for automatic external inspection of vehicles, raised an additional $31m in funding. The round, which brought total funds raised since 2017 to $35m, was led by Toyota Tsusho, Volvo Cars and W. R. Berkley Corporation. Led by Amir Hever, CEO, UVeye has developed… Continue reading UVeye Raises $31m in Funding

UK authorities invest nearly $100 million into electric vehicle research

Charging an electric carMario Gutiérrez. | Moment | Getty ImagesThe U.K. government has announced £80 million ($99.7 million) of investment to develop the “next generation of electric vehicles” and, potentially, hybrid aircraft.
Authorities said Monday that the funding would, among other things, help to reduce carbon emissions from industries including transport, construction and energy.
Industry and academia are set to lead the development of the new technologies, which the government referred to as power electronics, electric machines and drives (PEMD). These are a range of products that can be used to convert fossil fuel-based systems into electric ones using batteries or other electrical sources.
The investment comes under the umbrella of something called the Industrial Strategy Future of Mobility Grand Challenge. Targets of this challenge include getting rid of diesel rolling stock from the U.K.'s railways by 2040 and delivering zero-carbon road transport by 2040.
“Driving the electric revolution will strengthen the U.K.'s capability to deliver next generation electric vehicles, hybrid aircraft and smart grids,” Mark Walport, the chief executive of U.K. Research and Innovation, said in a statement Monday.
“It will ensure these industries, both large and small, are rooted here in the U.K. attracting inward investment into our manufacturing base,” he added.
Elsewhere within the electric vehicle sector, Toyota has signed an agreement with China's BYD Company to jointly develop battery electric vehicles.
In an announcement Friday, Toyota said it would work with BYD to develop sedans and low-floor SUVs. The Japanese car giant said it wanted to launch the vehicles to the Chinese market, using the Toyota brand, “in the first half of the 2020s.”

Electric Vehicle Production In Indonesia To Start By 2022

Indonesia hopes to catch onto the EV revolution. Indonesia’s government is working to attract automotive manufacturers, who would launch production of electric vehicles and batteries by 2022. There is a big chance for it as Indonesia offers access to battery material resources (nickel laterite ore) and tax incentives. According to Reuters, already “a number of… Continue reading Electric Vehicle Production In Indonesia To Start By 2022

Toyota expands battery supply with CATL deal

As it gradually moves to begin selling more plug-in and electric cars, Toyota is widening its net to secure more batteries.

Japan's largest automaker signed a deal this week to buy batteries from Chinese suppliers Contemporary Amex Technologies (CATL) and BYD. The agreement adds to a January deal Toyota signed to buy batteries from Panasonic.

All three deals go beyond simple battery supplies. Toyota will work with the three battery suppliers on everything from developing new solid-state batteries to building out systems to recycle the batteries they produce.

Toyota executives have said in the past that they don't believe lithium-ion batteries are the best solution for electric cars, and that they expect better chemistry to emerge to make electric cars more affordable, reliable, and safer.

With the electric-car market looking set to expand dramatically in the next few years, Toyota and other automakers that have stood on the sidelines are scrambling to ramp up their own supply chains to begin producing EVs.

Toyota announced in June that it is developing its first dedicated electric-car platform, potentially for a mid-size SUV, in conjunction with Subaru.

Executive vice president Shegeki Terashi told reporters in Japan last month that the company expects half of its sales by 2025 to come from hybrids, electric-cars, or plug-ins, according to a Reuters report. “There may be a gap between the amount of batteries we can produce, and the amount of batteries we may need,” he said at the time.

Toyota Upgrades Prius Plug-in Hybrid In Europe To A 5-Seater

With the fifth seat, the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid will be more functional, which could improve sales a little bit The European division of Toyota announced today that the 2019 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid (aka Toyota Prime) has improved the passenger capacity from 4 to 5 seats. The 5th seat was announced in the U.S.… Continue reading Toyota Upgrades Prius Plug-in Hybrid In Europe To A 5-Seater