Change in management: Personnel changes at Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans

Jason Hoff, currently Head of Production SUV/Sports Cars and President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI), will be the new Head of Quality Management at Mercedes-Benz Cars worldwide, effective on July 1, 2019. Michael Göbel, currently Head of Compact Cars Production Mercedes-Benz Cars, will become head of production SUV/Sports Cars and President and CEO… Continue reading Change in management: Personnel changes at Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans

Ready for Installation – Continental Receives Type Approval for the Intelligent Tachograph

Planning security for the commercial vehicle world – completion of the approval process 6 months before the new DTCO regulation enters into force Manufacturers are already equipping their first new vehicles with the DTCO 4.0 and the new KITAS 4.0 speed sensor Villingen-Schwenningen, January 2019. The technology company Continental is the first supplier on the… Continue reading Ready for Installation – Continental Receives Type Approval for the Intelligent Tachograph

Tesla Changes Model S & X Trims & Pricing, Drops Names Based On Battery Sizes

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Autonomous Vehicles Published on January 29th, 2019 | by Kyle Field
Tesla Changes Model S & X Trims & Pricing, Drops Names Based On Battery SizesTwitterLinkedInFacebookJanuary 29th, 2019 by Kyle Field
Tesla moments ago rolled out a change to its online vehicle configuration tool for the Model S and Model X. As Tesla CEO Elon Musk implied last year, the company has done away with any mention of the battery size in the vehicle name or description. Instead, they are describing the vehicle options in terms of the thing we care about — range. As a special bonus, the pricing on every build in the lineup has been dropped a bit, giving buyers a bit more bang for their buck across the board.

The change has been rumored ever since the company dropped mention of battery capacity when it first took the wraps off the Model 3, announcing its Standard Range and Long Range configurations and listing the miles but not the battery capacity in kilowatt-hours.
However, Tesla has opted for a slightly different approach now with Model S and X. There are no longer batteries of different sizes put in these vehicles based on the trim you pick. The two range options are simply controlled by software.
Model S UpdatesThe base build of the Model S, which has no special name, is now $85,000 in the US for a dual-motor build that can travel 310 miles on a charge. Remember, though, since that’s a software-limited range, an owner who decides they want more range can, at any time, opt to bump the range up from there. All that’s needed is a bit more cash and some over-the-air magic.

The Model S Extended Range bumps the price up $8,000 for an 8% increase in range, up to 335 miles per charge. Neither the top speed of 155 miles per hour or the 0–60 mph time of 4.1 seconds changes with the Extended Range software update, so all that cash is going straight to extra range in the battery.
For those who need a bit of adrenaline with their morning coffee, the Model S Performance tips the scales at a clean $112,000 for a car that will travel 315 miles per charge. That comes with the same battery pack as its less spritely siblings, but it sports upgraded performance hardware in the car that allows it to go from 0–60 mph in just 3.0 seconds.
For those looking for the proverbial nitrous boost, Ludicrous Mode can still be stacked on top of that for an extra $20,000, which translates to a mind boggling 20% more performance — perhaps that’s where the $20K figure comes from. In terms of hard data, you’ll fly from 0–60 mph in just 2.4 seconds, which gives me flashbacks just thinking about. Not to shy away from the numbers, the Ludicrous Tesla Model S Performance will set buyers back $132,000 for the whole platform, and that’s not including any of the other options downstream, like paint, rims, and the like.

Model X UpdatesThe Tesla Model X nomenclature has also been recalibrated based on a standard battery pack for all configurations. Its new base price is $88,000 in the US. That configuration provides 270 miles of range on a full charge.
For those who like pushing the boundaries, an Extended Range build unlocks an additional 25 miles, boosting the range per charge up to 295 miles for an extra $8,000, or a total price of $96,000. Because it’s just a software update that unlocks the extra capacity, the Extended Range option can again be purchased with the car or after the fact as a simple update.

The Model X is no sports car, but it is the fastest and safest SUV out there. However, that speed comes at a price. Bumping the car up to the Performance build drops the 0–60 mph time from 4.7 seconds in the base configuration to 3.5 seconds. Getting to the grocery store for a gallon of milk that much faster might be fun, but it comes at the expense of efficiency as well, as the range of the Model X Performance drops from 295 miles to 289 miles per charge. (I know — 6 miles makes all the difference in the world … almost never.)
Finally, we have the peel-your-eyeballs-off-the-seat Ludicrous Model X Performance. Just like on the S, the Ludicrous upgrade will set buyers back $20,000 for 20% more performance. The real question at this point is not the money — it’s about going 0–60 mph in 2.8 seconds — because let’s be real, buyers who are dropping $137,000 on a Model X aren’t really worried about efficiency. They just want to go fast and look good doing it.
SummaryThese naming recalibrations come as no surprise and put Tesla’s two premium vehicles back at price points that give buyers more options for balancing range and price. Either way, speed is still going to cost you, but at least you can get into a Model S or X at more approachable prices than last week. These changes are live in the Model S and Model X configurators right now, so head on over and configure your dream car. Whether you click that little blue order button or not at the end of the build is up to you.
If this article has helped you make a decision to purchase a Tesla vehicle, you can use our referral code to get 6 months of free Supercharging.

About the AuthorKyle Field I'm a tech geek passionately in search of actionable ways to reduce the negative impact my life has on the planet, save money and reduce stress. Live intentionally, make conscious decisions, love more, act responsibly, play. The more you know, the less you need. TSLA investor. Tesla referral code: http://ts.la/kyle623

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Tesla Partners With Local Community Colleges To Attract Talent At Gigafactory 1

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Autonomous Vehicles Published on January 29th, 2019 | by Kyle Field
Tesla Partners With Local Community Colleges To Attract Talent At Gigafactory 1TwitterLinkedInFacebookJanuary 29th, 2019 by Kyle Field
Tesla is looking to the local community for future employees through its Manufacturing Development Program, which is being offered through Nevada’s Jobs for America’s Graduates program. The program aims to connect high school graduates in Nevada with the skills required to land a job or move forward with postsecondary education. Naturally, it connects nicely to the high-tech manufacturing jobs at Tesla’s booming Gigafactory outside Sparks, Nevada.
Image credit: Tesla
Tesla’s Manufacturing Development Program gives high school grads the chance to plug in at the Gigafactory as a full-time production associate with opportunities to grow from there, if it turns out to be a good fit. Those who make it through the program will be given the opportunity to receive a more specialized education in automation and robotics at the nearby Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, Nevada.
For Tesla, the program offers the company a pipeline of new talent that the company can run through. It is essentially a curated internship at the Gigafactory. If it turns out to be a good fit, Tesla can then afford to invest a bit in further education to really kickstart the careers of new Teslanauts.
The program does not just look at job placement, but also includes housing near the University of Nevada’s campus, with a daily shuttle that runs back and forth to the Gigafactory. The prospect of landing a starter job at Tesla’s monster Gigafactory with all of the accoutrements that are included with the program seems like a great way for a company to not only build a pipeline of new hires for itself, but to help high school grads find a career path that’s best suited for them.
Image credit: Tesla
Granted, that’s “only” within Tesla, but in a company of its size and especially at a facility already sporting more than 7,000 employees with plans to grow to more than 10,000, jobs can be found in almost any line of work, if you’re willing to put some effort into it. When I was hired at Procter & Gamble almost 20 years ago (okay, it was 20 years ago as of this year), I looked at it as the ultimate Choose Your Own Adventure opportunity, and because I really had no idea what I wanted to do with my life at the time, it was perfect.
The partner program with the state of Nevada may be a local program, but it also includes federally funded relocation assistance to allow folks from around the country to get in on the action at a growing facility in a very fast-paced company in a region that’s hot on supporting them through the early stages of the Gigafactory’s production ramp.
The new program ties into Tesla’s existing Gigafactory Training Gateway, which was developed to leverage the factory as a platform for education. Through the program, local schools have created a special 15-credit curriculum focused on advanced manufacturing to build the skills needed for potential employees to thrive at the Gigafactory.
Image credit: Tesla
The Gigafactory Training Gateway was created using funds from Workforce Innovation for the New Nevada (WINN), which was established by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development back in 2015 to help support new industries in the state with educational programs. According to the Northern Nevada Business View, there are more than 120 active Tesla team members in the program, and a large batch is set to move on from the 12–18 month program this spring.
The focus on education in partnership with local community colleges and government programs provides Tesla with a low-risk means of bringing in, vetting, and educating new talent at its Gigafactory.
The upshot of building a factory in the middle of the Nevada desert is that land is cheap (or free) and the local government was tripping all over itself to get Tesla out there, but the challenges of spooling up a force of 10,000 highly trained workers in a remote location are very real. These programs show that Tesla is looking at the problem very pragmatically, leveraging government and internal funds to build relevant skills in the area, and hopefully pulling in some new hires along the way.
Source: Northern Nevada Business View via Reddit

About the AuthorKyle Field I'm a tech geek passionately in search of actionable ways to reduce the negative impact my life has on the planet, save money and reduce stress. Live intentionally, make conscious decisions, love more, act responsibly, play. The more you know, the less you need. TSLA investor. Tesla referral code: http://ts.la/kyle623

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VW aims to open e-vehicle platform to competitors – Tagesspiegel

FILE PHOTO: Volkswagen logos are pictured during the media day of the Salao do Automovel International Auto Show in Sao Paulo, Brazil November 6, 2018. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker/File Photo BERLIN (Reuters) – Volkswagen is in advanced talks with competitors over opening its modular MEB platform for the mass production of electric vehicles to rivals, German paper… Continue reading VW aims to open e-vehicle platform to competitors – Tagesspiegel

EconCore and Covestro partner over stronger, lightweight and FST performing honeycomb cores and panels

EconCore N.V. and Covestro are combining their technologies in order to produce strong and lightweight honeycomb panels with outstanding performance. The products comply with Fire, Smoke, Toxicity (FST) requirements for public transportation applications, including railway and aerospace.
—————–
EconCore N.V. und Covestro bündeln ihr technisches Know-how für die Produktion sehr leichter und gleichzeitig stabiler und leistungsstarker Wabenplatten. Die Produkte erfüllen die FST (Fire, Smoke, Toxicity)-Anforderungen für die Verwendung in öffentlichen Transportmitteln wie Bahnen oder Flugzeugen.

LEVERKUSEN, 30-Jan-2019 — /EuropaWire/ — Partnership between EconCore N.V. and Covestro has been announced with the aim at producing stronger, lightweight and Fire, Smoke, Toxicity (FST) requirements compliant honeycomb panels and cores targeting public transportation applications, including railway and aerospace.

So far both companies have heavily researched and worked on different materials that are lightweight or ultra-light with specific grades and features. EconCore is capable of producing ultra-light honeycomb structures in an economic way, with a high variety of material combinations that can be fine-tuned in order to meet customers’ needs. While Covestro has dealt with a wide range of polycarbonates and blends with specific grades to meet the FST performance required by railway and aviation applications. Additionally, Covestro is currently working on a range of lightweight thermoplastic composite solutions under the brand name Maezio™.

The two companies are now teaming up to optimize the FST (Fire, Smoke, Toxicity) performance of honeycomb panels in order to meet different application requirements. Covestro and EconCore plan to select the right combination of polycarbonate grades and composites for the honeycomb core and skin and at the same time adapting the parameters within EconCore’s honeycomb technology.

Preliminary tests on the FST (Fire, Smoke, Toxicity) performance done on semi-finished, laminated honeycomb panels, are indeed very encouraging. Sandwich-panels with different material and technology combinations have already been produced and evaluated, fulfilling critical tests of EN45545 or FAR25.853 standards for various applications.

EconCore;s newly developed and patented manufacturing process demonstrates significant cost saving potential due to a high-speed and fully integrated continuous production process, where thermoplastic polymers are directly converted into a honeycomb structure and where, in addition, the sandwich skin layers can be immediately laminated onto core.

Arne Böttcher, responsible for market development of the Maezio™ brand in the EMEA region:

“The sandwich technology of EconCore is especially interesting for lightweight applications Covestro is targeting with Maezio™.”

Klaus Kraner, responsible for mass transportation applications in the Polycarbonates segment at Covestro:

“The outstanding manufacturing process of EconCore allows tailoring our materials into lightweight sandwich panel solutions for our customers,” said.”

Tomasz Czarnecki, COO of EconCore N.V.:

“After succeeding in other application domains, we have decided to address inquiries of the higher end markets. The process has been proven to work very well with a wide range of thermoplastic materials, including these with FST chemistry, while EconCore’s technology has demonstrated its capability of delivering high-performance sandwich panels at high efficiency and cost levels not achievable with conventional methods. We look forward to this new development and to continuing the partnership with Covestro. The polycarbonate-portfolio of our partner, combined with the composite solutions of Maezio™, provides us with the variety and quality of materials needed to meet the high technical requirements in mass-transportation markets. This journey is not only about making thermoplastic honeycomb cores. Imagine the potential benefits for the aerospace industry, if it had the option to thermoform sandwich panels into finished parts in a one-shot operation. The industry, already inclining to monolithic thermoplastic composites, has not seen such a change for decades.”

Covestro and EconCore will both exhibit at the upcoming JEC World 2019 exhibition.

Covestro is among the world’s largest polymer companies with EUR 14.1 billion sales reported in 2017 while EconCore, based in Leuven, Belgium, is the world leader in technologies for economic honeycomb sandwich material production.

SOURCE: Covestro

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China Joint Venture Engine Plant Name Changed toChangan Mazda Engine Co., Ltd.

2019/01/30 Company Information Mazda acquires Ford’s stake in Changan Ford Mazda Engine Co., Ltd. HIROSHIMA, Japan—Mazda Motor Corporation has purchased in full Ford Motor Company’s stake in Changan Ford Mazda Engine Co., Ltd. (located in Nanjing, China), a joint venture between the two companies and Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ltd. In line with the change… Continue reading China Joint Venture Engine Plant Name Changed toChangan Mazda Engine Co., Ltd.

Subaru Corporation Announces Production, Japan Sales and Export Resultsfor December 2018 and CY2018 (Flash Report)

January 30, 2019

Subaru Corporation Announces Production, Japan Sales and Export Results
for December 2018 and CY2018 (Flash Report)

December 2018

Units
2018 vs 2017

Domestic production *1

51,759

-15.9%
5th consecutive month of y/y decrease

Overseas Production *2

26,172

+27.2%
6th consecutive month of y/y increase

Global Production Total

77,931

-5.1%
First y/y decrease in 3 months

Passenger Vehicles
7,421
-22.5%
14th consecutive month of y/y decrease

Mini Vehicles
1,752
-24.5%
First y/y decrease in 3 months

Japan Sales Total
9,173
-22.9%
14th consecutive month of y/y decrease

Export Total *3

42,907

-8.4%
2nd consecutive month of y/y decrease


Domestic production decreased year-on-year due to changes in plant operation schedules.


Overseas production significantly increased year-on-year, boosted by production of Ascent which started in May 2018.


Passenger vehicle sales decreased year-on-year, as previous year’s momentum boosted by the new Impreza and the new Levorg declined, offsetting strong sales of the fully-redesigned Forester launched in July 2018.


Mini vehicle sales decreased year-on-year due to decreased sales of Sambar and other models.


Exports from Japan decreased year-on-year, as domestic production declined due to changes in plant operation schedules.

CY2018

Units
2018 vs 2017

Domestic production *1

659,965

-7.0%
2nd consecutive year of decrease

Overseas Production *2

359,399

-1.1%
First decrease in 5 years

Global Production Total

1,019,364

-5.0%
First decrease in 7 years

Passenger Vehicles
119,330
-17.2%
First decrease in 2 years

Mini Vehicles
29,123
-10.6%
12th consecutive year of decrease

Japan Sales Total
148,453
-16.0%
First decrease in 2 years

Export Total *3

533,001

-2.9%
2nd consecutive year of decrease


Domestic production decreased due to a decline in production of the Forester before the launch of its fully-redesigned version in overseas markets, offsetting increased production of Impreza and Subaru XV models.


While overseas production had the addition of the launch of the Ascent, the total volume decreased slightly because of decreased production of the Impreza as the momentum of its fully-redesigned version declined.


Passenger vehicle sales decreased, as previous year’s momentum boosted by the new Impreza and the new Levorg declined, offsetting strong sales of the fully-redesigned Forester launched in July 2018.


Mini vehicle sales decreased as sales of Chiffon and other models declined.


Exports from Japan decreased due mainly to decreased shipments of the Forester, offsetting an increase in shipments of Impreza and Subaru XV models.

*1 JAMA (Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association Inc.) report basis (CBU)
*2 Local line-off basis
*3 JAMA report basis

[PDF/183 KB]

Chinese EV carmaker NIO aims to raise $650 million via convertible bond

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Electric carmaker NIO Inc, among rivals to Tesla in China, launched a $650 million five-year convertible bond on Wednesday, aiming to use the proceeds to fund expansion. FILE PHOTO: A man is silhouetted in front of Nio cars at the auto show, in Shanghai, China April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Aly Song The… Continue reading Chinese EV carmaker NIO aims to raise $650 million via convertible bond

Renault-Nissan group sold most cars last year, but VW’s No.1 including trucks

FILE PHOTO: An attendee takes a photograph of Volkswagen cars at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., January 15, 2019. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook TOKYO (Reuters) – Volkswagen Group has held on to its position as the world’s top-selling automaker for the fifth year in a row, although the German group was edged… Continue reading Renault-Nissan group sold most cars last year, but VW’s No.1 including trucks