Tag: VW

Mexican motor city ‘getting desperate’ as GM’s U.S. strike takes heavy toll

SILAO, Mexico, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Half a continent away from the auto plants of Detroit, U.S. strikes at General Motors (GM) have sent shivers through the central Mexican city of Silao, where the local GM factory furloughed 6,000 workers last week when parts from the United States ran out.
Rich or poor, residents are anxiously hoping the labor dispute will end so the company reopens the plant, which has been an anchor of the local economy since GM arrived a generation ago, transforming the landscape forever.
“General Motors is the biggest source of income here. When General Motors stops, everything stops,” said Silao resident Francisco Vazquez. “Before General Motors, there was nothing.”
Once a provincial backwater with a handful of colorful old churches, Silao is now enveloped in a thick cordon of factories and warehouses serving automotive companies from all over the world.
In the years after GM opened the Silao plant in 1995, dozens of other firms followed, such as Volkswagen, Conti..

Volkswagen mulling sale or stock listing for Lamborghini -Bloomberg

FILE PHOTO: A Lamborghini logo is displayed at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland March 5, 2019. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy (Reuters) – Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) is looking at options for its luxury brand Lamborghini, including a sale or stock listing, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Chief Executive Herbert Diess… Continue reading Volkswagen mulling sale or stock listing for Lamborghini -Bloomberg

Porsche and Boeing developing “premium urban air mobility vehicle”

Porsche and Boeing signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the developing of flying cars, the companies announced Thursday.

The notion of a “premium personal urban air mobility vehicle” may sound vague, the new joint venture, Aurora Flight Sciences, is tasked with building a “fully electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle,” which would put them in the running with other firms that are working toward similar offerings intended for urban ride-sharing.

What sets Aurora apart is the premium angle. While the announcement is thick with mentions of urban mobility, there's no suggestion that the final product would be intended for sharing or taxi services. It seems clear that Porsche and Boeing are exploring the mobility market from a private-ownership perspective, or, at the very least, exclusivity.

Porsche Boeing premium urban air mobility vehicle

Porsche has experience in both developing fast-charging EV systems—some of the most tech-advanced ones, with the Taycan electric sport sedan's 800-volt system—and operating higher-end concierge services. Boeing's expertise is aerospace, and the company has already built prototype VTOL drones capable of autonomous cargo delivery.

The future of urban mobility may rely on solutions outside of the traditional automotive space. As a recent study suggests, electrification alone may not be enough to meet future energy consumption and emissions goals. Even in cities with 100 percent electric vehicle traffic, the gridlock from increased rides could potentially result in an overall increase in energy consumption.

With that specter on the horizon, adding a third dimension to urban transportation makes a great deal of sense. While there are still technological barriers to opening up city skies to fleets of drones, the more significant hurdles may actually be regulatory.

Even small drone fleets are only now starting to obtain certification for flights operating outside of line-of-sight, and the regulations governing drone flights over populated areas don't even exist yet.

Dyson done, Mirai remake, RAV4 plug-in hybrid, flying Porsche: Today’s Car News

After several years of promising news from Dyson, the UK company best known for its vacuums is cutting electric cars from its plans. Porsche and Boeing are among the companies working together on a personal aircraft. A Toyota RAV4 plug-in hybrid will bow at LA next month and arrive sometime next year. And Toyota’s radical remake of the Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell car is a stunner. This and more, today at Green Car Reports.

Toyota has revealed the next-generation version of its Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell car, in concept form. And at first glimpse, the 2021 Toyota Mirai couldn’t be a more radical turnaround. What was a gawky green machine is now a sexy sport sedan, flaunting a tech that Toyota still sees as a big part of the future.

The future that looks increasingly likely of including short-distance mobility options that take off and land like drones. But not all of these vehicles might be shared air taxis. Porsche and Boeing are together helping develop what looks a little more alluring: an all-electric VTOL craft geared at premium personal transportation.

There will be a plug-in version of the 2021 Toyota RAV4 hybrid, the carmaker has confirmed—although there are plenty of details yet to be confirmed, like its battery size, electric range, and whether it can match or top the RAV4 Hybrid’s 40-mpg EPA combined rating. And we don’t yet know if it’s officially the RAV4 Plug-In Hybrid or the RAV4 Prime. That’s all to come—likely except for the mileage and range—at this model’s LA auto show reveal in November.

Dyson has completely canceled its electric car, based on a decision coming from the company’s board. Due as soon as 2021, it had been widely anticipated as a potential game-changer with a solid-state battery pack, new motor tech, and a newfound attention to lightweighting. The company says that it will keep working on some of the technology pieces, though.

And if some days it doesn’t seem like every segment of American motorists are on board with electric and electrified powertrains as the future, consider this: Even NASCAR is planning to go hybrid—potentially as soon as 2022.

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Mexican motor city ‘getting desperate’ as GM’s U.S. strike takes heavy toll

SILAO, Mexico (Reuters) – Half a continent away from the auto plants of Detroit, U.S. strikes at General Motors (GM) have sent shivers through the central Mexican city of Silao, where the local GM factory furloughed 6,000 workers last week when parts from the United States ran out. FILE PHOTO: General Motors workers are seen… Continue reading Mexican motor city ‘getting desperate’ as GM’s U.S. strike takes heavy toll