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BYTON electric intelligent SUV makes global debut at CES

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — BYTON today debuted its first drivable concept car at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, U.S.A. With a unique digital design and innovative human-vehicle interaction, the premium SUV functions as a new generation smart device, built for the coming era of truly shared, smart mobility and… Continue reading BYTON electric intelligent SUV makes global debut at CES

Asset finance market reports further growth in May

6 July 2018
New figures released today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that asset finance new business (primarily leasing and hire purchase) grew by 10% in May, compared with the same month in 2017.
New finance for plant and machinery grew in May by 4% compared with the same month in 2017, while the commercial vehicle finance sector reported new business up by 13% over the same period.
Geraldine Kilkelly, Head of Research and Chief Economist, said:
“The asset finance market continued to improve in May after a relatively quiet first quarter. The industry provided further support to the construction, manufacturing and agricultural sectors, with new finance for equipment in these sectors up by 6%, 11% and 22% respectively, compared with May 2017.”
May 2018
% change on prev. year
3 months to May
2018
% change on prev. year
12 months to May
2018
% change on prev. year
Total FLA asset finance (£m)
2,921
+10
8,984
+3
31,926
+3
Total excluding high value (£m)
2,637
+4
8,421
+3
30,127
+4
Data Extracts:
By asset:
Plant and machinery finance (£m)
586
+4
1,813
+1
6,651
+7
Commercial vehicle finance (£m)
684
+13
2,182
+6
7,561
+1
IT equipment finance (£m)
174
+1
506
-8
2,336
+5
Business equipment finance (£m)
201
-13
666
+5
2,588
+4
Car finance (£m)
870
+6
2,802
+0
9,445
+2
Aircraft, ships and rolling stock finance (£m)
15
-85
63
-81
204
-72
By channel:
Direct finance (£m)
1,334
+5
4,245
+3
15,038
+1
Broker-introduced finance (£m)
526
+2
1,630
+6
5,831
+7
Sales finance (£m)
777
+5
2,546
+1
9,257
+6
By product:
Finance leasing (£m)
312
+3
1,038
+4
3,886
+6
Operating leasing (£m)
472
-14
1,663
-16
6,335
-7
Lease/Hire purchase (£m)
1,667
+13
5,113
+9
17,273
+5
Other finance (£m)
302
+9
802
-9
3,142
-9
Note to editors:
In 2017, FLA members provided £128 billion of new finance to UK businesses and households. £32 billion of finance was provided to businesses and the public sector. FLA members financed a third of UK investment in machinery, equipment and purchased software in the UK in 2017.For media enquiries, please contact the FLA press office on 020 7420 9656.

China’s Didi Rumored To Buy Failed Bike Sharing Firm Bluegogo As Didi-Ofo Relations Worsen

China’s largest ride sharing firm Didi Chuxing has reportedly acquired collapsed bike sharing firm Bluegogo and is incubating an internal bike sharing brand, as Didi’s relationship with Chinese bike sharing leader ofo worsens. The Didi-ofo alliance appears on the verge of collapsing, Chinese media reported citing insiders with knowledge of the situation. Didi, which reportedly… Continue reading China’s Didi Rumored To Buy Failed Bike Sharing Firm Bluegogo As Didi-Ofo Relations Worsen

Aptiv and Lyft to Bring Self-Driving Rides to Las Vegas in January 2018

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Aptiv (NYSE: APTV), a global technology company that provides leading automated driving solutions, and ride-hailing leader Lyft, today announced a partnership to demonstrate a first-of-its-kind fully automated point-to-point ride-hailing experience during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2018 in Las Vegas. “This partnership represents a real-life application of scalable, automated… Continue reading Aptiv and Lyft to Bring Self-Driving Rides to Las Vegas in January 2018

We’ve helped over 3,000 Captains in Pakistan become car owners……

Captains are the lifeblood of Careem. When we started Careem just over six years ago we did so with only 25 Captains in Dubai – soon we will have a million Captains in over 100 cities in 14 countries.

Careem relies on its Captains, but those Captains need to have a car, so in some of the markets where people want to work for us but can’t afford a car we help them. Pakistan is one such market.

A person may not have been credit-worthy before, but with the income that we are able offer them we can guarantee to a lender that they are credit worthy, and that the future Captains will be earning an income. We also work with government initiatives to help people become employed.

In Pakistan we also work with the FleetCo department. The FleetCo department was setup to ensure multiple streams to generate quality supply for Careem.

In the past year, the FleetCo team has established three partnerships with financial institutions – JS Bank, Telenor Bank and UBL.

The JS and UBL partnerships are..

Aston Martin V8 Cygnet: The Ultimate City Car

Published: Jul 12, 2018

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Neil Allison

One of the most exciting, outrageous and diminutive creations ever to wear the famous Aston Martin wings will be making its world debut at the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed. Dubbed the ‘The Ultimate City Car’, a one-off Aston Martin Cygnet has been built with a 4.7-litre, 430bhp V8 engine from the Vantage S and a very short torque tube.

Thursday 12 July 2018, Goodwood: One of the most exciting, outrageous and diminutive creations ever to wear the famous Aston Martin wings will be making its world debut at the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed. Dubbed the ‘The Ultimate City Car’, a one-off Aston Martin Cygnet has been built with a 4.7-litre, 430bhp V8 engine from the Vantage S and a very short torque tube.
The V8 Cygnet has been brought to life for a single customer through the ‘Q by Aston Martin – Commission’ service. This section of the British marque’s bespoke personalisation service allows the ultimate in freedom of expression when designing an Aston Martin and the V8 Cygnet continues to push these boundaries.
Aston Martin Vice President & Special Operations Officer, David King said: “The V8 Cygnet shows the fun side of both Aston Martin and its customers. It is also a fine example of the engineering talent within the company as it’s no small achievement to fit the Vantage’s V8 engine so harmoniously into the Cygnet’s compact body. I am sure that it will amaze and thrill people when they see and hear it on the hill at the Festival of Speed.”
Developed in-house by Aston Martin’s engineers, the starting point for the project was a right-hand drive Cygnet steel body shell and panels. A roll cage was welded to this, becoming an integral part of the chassis in the process, while a new front bulkhead and transmission tunnel were fabricated from sheet metal to accommodate the characterful 4.7-litre naturally aspirated V8 Vantage S powertrain. Subframes and suspension are also derived from the previous generation Vantage and a steel fuel tank housing has been mounted in the boot area, utilizing every inch of space.
Despite all this work, the car remains very recognisably a Cygnet from the outside. The face of the little Aston Martin remains largely untouched, with no extra bulges in the bonnet and just a subtle black mesh for the famous grille. However, there is no disguising the extra width of the wheel arches. In order to accommodate the significantly wider front and rear tracks, beautiful carbon composite flared extensions were made. These also house the new forged, five-spoke, diamond-turned wheels, which have grown from 16” to 19” in diameter.
At the rear of the car the distinguishing new feature of the V8 Cygnet is the central twin exhaust pipes. The exhaust is a bespoke system with twin underfloor mufflers and catalytic converters. With relatively short distances involved from manifold to tail pipe the V8 Cygnet has a voice that belies its compact size.
The engine itself is the 4.7-litre, naturally-aspirated V8 that is more usually found beneath the bonnet of the previous-generation Vantage S. Bespoke intake trunking had to be designed and there are twin conical air filters. There is no sense in which the engine has been neutered for the Cygnet, however, with power and torque figures remaining at 430bhp and 490NM (361lb ft) respectively.
The gearbox is also taken from the V8 Vantage S with a seven-speed Sportshift II transmission taking care of the shifting. Power is transferred via a miniature torque tube to the 9.5” rear wheels, which are complemented by 275/35 Bridgestone tyres.
Weighing just 1375kg when full of fluids, the V8 Cygnet has a power-to-weight ratio of 313bhp/tonne. As a result, the V8 Cygnet is capable of accelerating faster than the V8 Vantage S with 0-60mph taking just 4.2 seconds. With a top speed of 170mph it is over 60mph faster than the regular Cygnet.
Braking is taken care of by 380mm discs clamped by six-piston monoblock calipers at the front and 330mm discs gripped by four-piston mono block calipers at the rear. The calipers are painted yellow to contrast with the Buckinghamshire green of the bodywork. Most of the remaining parts of the braking system are taken from the V8 Vantage S with ABS and a fixed brake bias valve. Inside, there is a bespoke brake pedal housed in the V8 Vantage-derived pedal box.
The rest of the interior is largely indicative of the fact that this V8 Cygnet could easily be used for competition. In addition to the roll cage there is a fully FIA compliant fire extinguisher system and seating is taken care of by composite, fixed back Recaro bucket seats with four-point harnesses. The alcantara covered steering wheel is removable and behind this sits a bespoke carbon dash with the familiar Vantage instrument cluster. There are, of course, little touches of luxury inside as well, with leather pull straps on the unique carbon door cards and two USB ports alongside the bespoke controls for the air conditioning.
This very special one-off Cygnet is a timely reminder of what a ground-breaking car the original was, bringing luxury to the city car segment. What’s more, the market place shows that prices of Cygnets are rising as it looks set to become a future classic. Of course, classic status is already almost assured for this new V8 version of the Cygnet that epitomises the concept of a ‘pocket rocket’ and is sure to be a firm favourite of the crowds at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend as it joins a plethora of other Aston Martins on the hillclimb.

Aston Martin Lagonda completes Phase Two of new St Athan facility

Published: Jul 20, 2018

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by
Neil Allison

Aston Martin, the producer of highly desirable luxury handcrafted sports cars, today announced it has completed the second phase of its new car assembly plant at St Athan, in South Wales.

20 July 2018, St Athan, Wales: Aston Martin, the producer of highly desirable luxury handcrafted sports cars, today announced it has completed the second phase of its new car assembly plant at St Athan, in South Wales.
Aston Martin’s Board of Directors held their first meeting in St Athan to mark the completion of building work at the facility, which involves the conversion of three super hangars at the former Ministry of Defence site into a state-of-the-art vehicle assembly facility.
Directors and shareholder representatives of Aston Martin were briefed on the progress of the project, in which production of the company’s first sports utility vehicle (SUV) is due to begin in late 2019.
The St Athan plant is a demonstration of Aston Martin’s continued commitment to the UK and is set to bring up to 750 new employment opportunities to the South Wales region. Of the total workforce, 150 employees have been recruited as part of the pre-production preparations.
When the St Athan plant is complete, it will join Aston Martin’s Gaydon headquarters and Newport Pagnell site as centres of the highest quality of British craftmanship and engineering.
The fit-out of the super hangars, the third and final phase of the construction project, has already begun ahead of the inaugural production planned for next year as part of the company’s Second Century Plan.
Dr Andy Palmer, Aston Martin President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are delighted at the progress being made at the St Athan site. The team have done a fantastic job in advancing the facility and I was incredibly proud to chair our first Board meeting at the new plant. Wales has a long history of engineering excellence and the Board is delighted that it will play such an important part in Aston Martin’s development.”
Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport Ken Skates said: “I am delighted to see our partnership with Aston Martin, right in the heart of our Cardiff Airport and St Athan Enterprise Zone, coming to fruition.
“Progress to date continues to match the company’s aspiration for future growth and, when complete, the site will provide highly-skilled employment and world-class apprenticeship opportunities in the automotive sector for many generations to come. I wish them the same success with the next phase.”

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