Tag: Manufacturing

Press Releases – Truck CO2 targets: no public charging points for electric or hydrogen trucks available, data reveals

Brussels, 17 January 2019 – The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) has published data on the severe lack of recharging and refuelling infrastructure suitable for electric and other alternatively-powered trucks across the EU. ACEA is issuing this new data ahead of a decisive meeting on Europe’s first-ever CO2 targets for trucks, taking place next week… Continue reading Press Releases – Truck CO2 targets: no public charging points for electric or hydrogen trucks available, data reveals

Carbon and Ford debut 3D printed end-use parts at NAIAS

Today, Carbon, the Silicon Valley-based company behind Digital Light Synthesis (DLS) 3D printing technology, has debuted the first 3D printed parts in production for Ford, at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. Together, the companies are displaying Ford Focus HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Cooling) Lever Arm Service Parts, Ford F-150 Raptor Auxiliary… Continue reading Carbon and Ford debut 3D printed end-use parts at NAIAS

Germany invests to prolong employees’ working lives

Two Porsche workers sit in swivel chairs on wheels, rolling around the factory floor in Leipzig as they inspect the underbody of a sleek black Panamera executive car hovering just above their heads. Using tools built in to their arm rests, they apply final touches to a car that will soon roll off the production… Continue reading Germany invests to prolong employees’ working lives

Elon Musk says Tesla is ending its customer referral program as it’s costing too much

Mack Hogan | CNBC
Juicing up the P100D on a trip to Detroit

Tesla's customer referral program will come to an end on Feb. 1, chief executive Elon Musk said in a tweet Thursday.

The initiative lets drivers give their friends a referral code to get six months of free charging via Tesla's Supercharger network.

Musk said the move was aimed at reducing costs incurred by the scheme. “It's adding too much cost to the cars, especially Model 3,” he said.

Tweet

The premium electric auto manufacturer has made a number of cost-cutting moves of late, as it looks to boost margins and expand profitability. Late last month, the firm cut prices on its Model 3 car in China, while this week it discontinued the lowest-priced versions of the Model S sedan and Model X SUV.

In its last quarterly report, the company scored its first profit in two years, posting net profit of $311.5 million and $881 million in free cash flow.

The firm managed to pump out 86,500 vehicles in the fourth quarter, up from 80,142 in the previous quarter, but disappointed investor expectations when it came to deliveries.

The company is also trying to up its presence in China, and Musk recently broke ground on a new Gigafactory — the name given to the facilities where lithium-ion batteries and Tesla vehicles are produced — which is being opened in Shanghai. The factory, dubbed the Gigafactory 3, is slated to begin partial production in the second half of this year.

That move comes not only as a spate of domestic rivals — including Nio and Xpeng — look to challenge Tesla's dominance in the electric vehicle space, but also as the U.S. and China try to resolve their differences over trade.

A trade battle between the two superpowers has seen billions of dollars' worth of each other's imported goods targeted with new tariffs, and both nations are trying to reach a trade agreement during a 90-day truce.

TRATON corporate communications restructured

Corporate communications has been reorganized at TRATON, the 3-year-old truck and bus division of Volkswagen based in Munich. Wolfgang Meisen (35) became Head of Media Relations & Corporate Messaging on January 1, 2019. He reports to Julia Kroeber-Riel, the Head of Group Communications & Governmental Relations. The TRATON corporate communications department has been based on… Continue reading TRATON corporate communications restructured

Paris launches the process to replace Carlos Ghosn at the head of Renault

Bruno Le Maire announced Wednesday (January 16th) that the French government had launched the process to replace Carlos Ghosn as head of Renault, confirming information unveiled on January 15 by Reuters. The French state, the largest shareholder of the French car manufacturer, has asked that Renault’s board of directors be convened “in the coming days”… Continue reading Paris launches the process to replace Carlos Ghosn at the head of Renault

Ford planning battery-electric F-150

Ford planning battery-electric F-150Detroit — Ford Motor Co. plans to launch full battery-electric F-150 and Super Duty pickups, company officials told investment analysts here Wednesday.
The Dearborn automaker has planned to manufacture a hybrid F-150 for some time. Jim Farley, Ford president of global markets, said Ford is planning more innovation with its most popular vehicle. Offering hybrid and electric variants of the pickup would protect Ford's market share in that segment from automakers like Tesla that have been vocal about plans to launch electric pickups.
“Here's what's going to happen next to future-proof that global juggernaut of commercial vehicles,” Farley said. “We're going to be electrifying the F-Series, both battery-electric and hybrid. And we're doing the same for Transit.”
CEO Jim Hackett in his 19 months at the helm has pushed the automaker to get new technology into some of its most popular and profitable brands. An electrified F-150 could offer more efficient torque, and outfit the pickups with better electric power to the truck bed for aftermarket additions on work vehicles.
Ford officials didn't offer a timeline for the battery-electric F-150. The automaker plans to launch the hybrid F-150 in 2020. That vehicle will be built at Ford's Rouge Complex in Dearborn.
Ford spokesman Mike Levine confirmed the plan to build a battery-electric pickup, adding that it's part of Ford's push to find ways to build customers a better truck.
Hackett in recent days has teased a “surprise” regarding a different battery-electric vehicle he has had a direct hand in creating. The unnamed “Mustang-inspired” battery electric SUV is also due to hit the market in 2020. That vehicle is expected to have a 300-mile range, according to Ford's top officials. It will be a performance-oriented SUV. It doesn't have a name yet, though it was initially rumored to bear the Mach 1 badge.
All told, Ford plans to spend $11 billion on electric vehicles over the next few years to bring 16 battery-electric vehicles and 24 hybrids to the market. This comes after a series of misfires from the automaker on the electric vehicle front.
David Kudla, CEO of Grand Blanc-based Mainstay Capital Management LLC, said Ford might have been smart to let smaller companies like Tesla give electric vehicles mainstream appeal before setting out with their own electrified plans.
“Let Musk reap some of the joy of saving the planet and develop the market,” Kudla said. “Now that it's come along, (Ford) comes in…”
Hackett and Farley said as much during the Detroit auto show.
“We were late,” Hackett said Wednesday morning. “Now we think we're going to be a leader in this.
The battery-electric and hybrid vehicles in addition to adding performance to some Ford models will protect the lineup against any unexpected rise in gas prices, according to Ford officials.
“No transition is perfect,” Farley said Tuesday evening at Automotive News World Congress. “In a way, we had the advantage of watching what happened the first time around. (Customers) want really good stuff.”
ithibodeau@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Ian_Thibodeau
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GM's Barra: We have more products to build in U.S.

GM's Barra: We have more products to build in U.S.As General Motors Co. undergoes a restructuring that will indefinitely idle four U.S. plants this year, the Detroit automaker plans to build more cars in America, CEO Mary Barra said.
“We have more products coming that we will build in the United States,” Barra told reporters after an appearance Wednesday at Automotive News World Congress in Detroit.
Barra declined to comment further on GM's future product or manufacturing plans.
GM announced on Nov. 26 a sweeping workforce and manufacturing restructuring for 2019 that will include idling five plants in the United States and Canada, and cutting some 8,000 white collar jobs. That restructuring effort is expected to save some $2.5 billion this year, helping GM to achieve what it expects to be a modest increase in earnings.
GM is addressing an excess plant capacity issue at its Detroit-Hamtramck and Lordstown assembly plants by stopping work there later this year.
“We have other plants that are lower in capacity utilization that we would want to increase,” Barra said. “We need to make sure that we keep the capacity utilization up at other plants that we’re still working to improve.”
Less than a month after GM said it had 2,700 transfer opportunities for the 2,800 United Auto Workers employees affected by pending plant idlings, the Detroit automaker said Friday that 1,500 workers have volunteered to transfer and about 700 are already en route to new jobs in Michigan and Tennessee.
GM also is looking for ways to keep selling the Cadillac CT6 in the United States after the Detroit-Hamtramck plant, where the brand's halo vehicle is built, stops production this summer.
“We do have several opportunities,” Barra said at the Automotive News World Congress, held in conjunction with the Detroit auto show at GM's Renaissance Center headquarters.
She declined to comment on whether the CT6 could be built at one of GM's U.S. plants to avoid the cost of importing the vehicle from China.
GM President Mark Reuss told The Detroit News this week that importing the CT6 from China would not be the automaker's first choice.
As GM's $7,500 federal tax credit dwindles, Cadillac will lead GM's electrification push in the coming years. The luxury brand, which flashed a sneak peek of its first-ever fully electric vehicle ahead of the Detroit auto show Sunday, takes the baton from Chevrolet, which established an early-adopter EV following with its plug-in hybrid Volt, which will stop production later this year.
The new, electrified Cadillac will be built on GM's next-generation EV platform. Dubbed BEV3, the new electric-car architecture will be designed to accommodate multiple body styles as well as front-, rear- and all-wheel drive options.
nnaughton@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @NoraNaughton
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Exclusive: British Lotus cars to be ‘Made in China’ at new Geely plant: documents

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The Chinese owner of Lotus plans to start producing the British sports car brand in China for the first time with the opening of a new 9 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) factory in Wuhan city, company job advertisements and government documents showed. FILE PHOTO: The Lotus Exige Sport 410 is seen during… Continue reading Exclusive: British Lotus cars to be ‘Made in China’ at new Geely plant: documents