Saturday 31 October 2015

VW reassures the US and China

In the wake of its diesel emissions scandal, Volkswagen has reaffirmed its planned investments at the Chattanooga location and production of an all-new SUV for the US market.

Thursday 29 October 2015

Honda launches ‘front-engine’ fuel cell

Honda claims its new Clarity Fuel Cell vehicle is the world’s first production hydrogen fuel cell vehicle sedan to house the fuel cell stack and drivetrain system under the bonnet.

New presses take shape at Lansing


The first consignment of components for new stamping presses has arrived General Motors’ for its new $174-million Lansing Grand River (LGR) stamping facility.

The 'first' fastest two-seat pure-electric sports car


The first production Detroit Electric SP:01, the lightest and fastest two-seat pure-electric sports car in the world, has rolled off the line at the company’s Leamington Spa, UK manufacturing facility.

VW: Five-point plan for recovery

Matthias Müller, Volkswagen, chairman of the board of management, has unveiled a five-point plan to reinvigorate the company; to focus on quality not “faster, higher, larger”.

Wednesday 28 October 2015

F&S predicts Volkswagen sales fall by 2020

At a time when scandal-hit Volkswagen Group has lost its sales crown to Toyota Motor Corporation, comes news from Frost & Sullivan (F&S) that VW sales are expected to fall by 2-4 per cent by 2020.

Monday 26 October 2015

It’s official: Zhongding is an investor in EcoMotors

EcoMotors has today broken its long silence to report that it has secured a lead investor for its largest customer, Zhongding Power, giving renewed emphasis for the opposed-piston two-stroke diesel engine (opoc) the two firms are engaged in bringing to market.

Sunday 25 October 2015

Profits fall off a cliff at Bentley

Profits at Bentley Motors, owned by Volkswagen AG, fell dramatically in the 12 months to 31 December 2014.

Ricardo steers AWD into Jaguar’s F-TYPE

Jaguar’s 2016 all-wheel-drive F-TYPE has paid dividends for Ricardo which has created the “most potent road-going sports car Jaguar has even made”.

Friday 23 October 2015

2016: Launch of next MINI Convertible

BMW’s MINI brand will launch the next generation MINI Convertible in March 2016.

VW: EA288 engines not affected

Volkswagen has now confirmed that no software constituting an improper defeat device as defined in law is installed in vehicles with EA 288 EU5 as well as EU6-engines in the European Union.

Thursday 22 October 2015

GM readies for Cadillac CT6

General Motors is to double its workforce at Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly by adding a second shift and more than 1,200 hourly and salaried jobs.

Daimler AG continues its growth

Daimler AG continued with its strategy and again set new records for unit sales and revenue in the third quarter. With sales of 720,000 cars and commercial vehicles, the company sold 13 per cent more vehicles between July and September than in the prior-year period.

Wednesday 21 October 2015

Monday 19 October 2015

VW passenger car sales remain resilient

Volkswagen Group claims its total sales from January to September remained almost stable compared with the prior-year level, with 7.43 million vehicles handed over to customers worldwide.

Sunday 18 October 2015

VW: 'Cheat devices' discovered by accident

According to The Mail on Sunday newspaper, university researchers in West Virginia University stumbled on the Volkswagen ‘cheat device’ by accident.

Friday 16 October 2015

VW bolsters integrity, legal, ahead of 'defeat' issues

Chairman of the supervisory board of Volkswagen AG, Hans Dieter Pötsch, has requested the chairman of the supervisory board of Daimler AG, Dr. Manfred Bischoff, to release Dr. Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt, Daimler’s legal specialist.

Thursday 15 October 2015

VW: Still no word as to the "technical solution"

Volkswagen is to recall about 8.5 million vehicles in Europe (EU28 markets), including some 2.4 million vehicles in Germany, according to KBA - the Federal Motor Transport Authority.

Wednesday 14 October 2015

Ford achieves 152 bhp/litre for new RS

Ford claims the "unique" 2.3-litre EcoBoost engine in the latest Focus RS will produce 350 bhp – far exceeding original estimates of 315 bhp – together with 350 lb.-ft. torque.

VW: Out with the old; bring in the new

The newly-formed Volkswagen brand board of management has realigned diesel strategy in the light of the company’s recent 'defeat device' scandal.

Cummins V8 wins plaudits in Texas

Cummins Inc. executives will be pleased that their first production application of the ISV5.0 has won plaudits on the back of 2016 Nissan Titan.

Jaguar: A journey from style to design


Nick Hull is to be congratulated for producing Jaguar Design: A Story of Style – a benchmark in authorship pulling together in sure-footed detail, the diverse strands of Jaguar design.

Tuesday 13 October 2015

Evidence of "widespread abuse by carmakers" - T&E


The average gap between real-world figures and drive cycle test results is growing across the industry. This may suggest that Volkswagen is not the only guilty party when it comes to fixing figures, says Transport & Environment (T&E).

Monday 12 October 2015

Volkswagen's loss is Bosch's gain


Paul Willis, managing director of Volkswagen UK, appeared today before the Transport Select Committee of the UK’s House of Commons in Parliament to answer questions from MPs in connection with the "defeat device" that VW fitted to its cars.

Thursday 8 October 2015

VW: More top boss changes

More changes at the top of VW in preparation for the tougher months ahead in the wake of the implications of its emissions scandal, as Frank Witter (56) is appointed member of the board of management of Volkswagen AG with responsibility for Finance and Controlling.

Grob wins big at BMW's Hams Hall

Grob-Werke of Mindelheim, Germany has been one of the big machine tool winners of the heavy investment BMW has made to develop its Hams Hall engine plant near Birmingham.

Wednesday 7 October 2015

VW: A "swift and relentless clarification"


The CEO of Volkswagen AG, Matthias Müller, has promised employees "swift and relentless clarification" of the emissions scandal.

Tuesday 6 October 2015

F&S: VW pushes back diesel technology "by years"


 Frost & Sullivan claims that Volkswagen's concession of corporate wrongdoing in circumventing EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) testing in the U.S. has sent the global automotive industry into a tail spin and substantially pushed back developments in clean diesel technology and internal combustion engines (ICE) by years.

Sunday 4 October 2015

UK study: VW not alone in flouting RDE


The Institute for Transport Studies in the UK has made road-side tests on cars with Euro VI diesel engines and found their emissions to be at least five time higher than the Euro tests demand.

Thursday 1 October 2015

Porsche man takes charge of VW's PR


Surprise, surprise, Porsche PR man Hans-Gerd Bode (54) has taken over as head of group communications, investor relations and external relations at Volkswagen AG with immediate effect. He succeeds Stephan Grühsem (53); he leaves the company "by amicable agreement".

GM and Navistar in new truck deal


Perhaps it was only expected that after falling out with an old girlfriend, i.e., Ford Motor Company, Navistar had to choose the only other girl on the US shelf, namely, General Motors.