VW to build Tiguan SUV in Mexico

Volkswagen of Mexico is to invest US$1 billion to prepare its plant in Puebla, Mexico, to assemble a new three-row Tiguan sport utility vehicle (SUV).

Atlas Copco swallows Henrob of SPR fame

 Atlas Copco has now acquired the shareholding of self-piercing rivet (SPR) specialists Henrob Ltd of Flint in the UK.

The Prof. who teamed JLR with Tata

Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, who has created a business out of education and industrial R&D, was the “kingpin” in the deal to persuade Indian carmaker Tata to purchase JaguarLandRover from Ford, according to a magazine just published.

JLR to make 130,000 cars a year in China by 2016

By 2016, JaguarLandRover (JLR) expects its new facility in China to be building three JLR models with total production capacity of 130,000 units a year.

Those vehicles will be manufactured in highly-automated press shops - including cutting-edge aluminium and steel technologies - along with a steel body shop comprising 306 ABB robots, an energy-efficient paint shop and an ergonomically-friendly final assembly line.  

Volkswagen to boost its robot numbers

Volkswagen is about to place an order for a large number of industrial robots offering a lucrative prize to the successful robot vendor.  Increasingly, these robots will be used for assembly work and one robot builder may not be able to cope with all of VW's needs.

The move is likely to be repeated several times over the coming 15 years as 32,000 people are expected to leave the German vehicle builder.

ABB robots power Mini output at VDL Nedcar

Just as ABB robots provide the backbone of automation at BMW’s Plant Oxford in the UK, which has just started to build the Mini 5-door Hatch, so it is at VDL Nedcar in Born, Holland where ABB robots form the backbone of automation in the body-in-white shop.

According to sources, VDL Nedcar has nearly 1,000 robots on site, with most of them provided by the Swedish robot maker ABB. However, some robots have been shipped in by German automation specialist KUKA of Augsburg.

BMW makes three millionth Mini

BMW has celebrated the production of its three millionth Mini car since 2001, and its two millionth international export.

Relaunched in 2001 under the stewardship of the BMW Group, the Mini brand has become one of the most popular in the automotive world.

US robot experts win again

A curious trend appears to have evolved in the world of robotics.

For the seventh time in 37 years, three US citizens in a single year have won the Engelberger Robotics Award, named after the worldwide “father of robotics”, Joseph F. Engelberger, the founder in 1956 of Unimation Inc.

. . . As KUKA spreads its wings in China

KUKA, the Augsburg-based robotics and automation company and long-time supplier to the automotive industry, is expanding its footprint in China – the world’s second-largest robot market. Following the opening of its new production facility in Shangkai earlier this year with an annual robot capacity of 5,000 from a workforce of 350, Reis GmbH & Co. KG Maschinenfabrik, a subsidiary of KUKA AG has concluded a joint venture with Jiangsu Yawei Machine Tool Co., Ltd. in China.

Disco Sport demands 250 new jobs

Over 250 new jobs have been created as Land Rover’s Discovery Sport is the latest model to be produced at JaguarLandRover's Halewood plant.

The additional jobs announced to support Jaguar Land Rover's newest model will see the Halewood workforce reach 4,750 - more than treble the number employed there in 2010.

Solihull revs up for 2015 aluminium Jaguar

 This year, JaguarLandRover’s UK Solihull manufacturing site will be the scene of much activity as advances are introduced in the aluminium process of building body-in-white (BIW).

Up until now, JLR’s two main centres of excellence for aluminium vehicle BIW manufacture have centred primarily on the company’s Castle Bromwich site and Solihull. Castle Bromwich, in particular, has seen a previously substantial investment (by Ford Motor Company) in equipment to stamp and handle aluminium body panels, primarily using a line of Schuler presses, provided the bedrock for the technology.

New blanking press feeds JLR shops

A new blanking press shop erected at JaguarLandRover’s Chester Road facility in Castle Bromwich will produce parts for future models.

The blanking process involves the making of blank panels which is the first stage of creating automotive body panels. This takes rolled coils of steel or aluminium and cuts (using a hydraulic press) outline body panel shapes ready for second pressing to create finished body panels for assembly.

This process is currently only undertaken at Halewood for JLR and the purpose of the new line is to produce panels for Castle Bromwich and Solihull. The new blanker line was required to support JLR’s projected production volumes at the site.

ABB wins prestige Mini robot contract

Swedish robotics vendor ABB has won a contract to supply robots and factory automation equipment to produce the next generation of Mini at the car maker’s UK plant.

The UK plant at Oxford, which is the company’s main stay for the production of the Mini range of cars, is set to install 1,000 robots as part of its next phase of expansion to raise output from 200,000 to 280,000 in the near term.