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Transportation RSS FeedsUNI-CUB: Honda looks beyond bikes, cars, robots & jets - Honda thinks it might have found itself another new revenue stream: personal mobility devices. The UNI-CUB, which the company has just unveiled in Japan as a working prototype, could soon be the right product at the right time. Vehicle sales might be booming just now but that's due to government incentives designed to reverse last year's collapse, so the market is expected to resume its long term decline later this year. In short, Japan has minimal immigration and is greying at a far quicker rate than equivalent rich countries, while people have been having fewer children for decades. The interesting thing about the video which demonstrates the UNI-CUB is the absence of what seems the obvious target audience: the less mobile and by implication, a large percentage of older people....Feed Source: www.just-auto.com Autonomous cars - Autonomous vehicles that have the ability to drive themselves are a big talking point right now. The potential implications are huge. We had some insight from GM in this interview published last week.
And here's a video from Google that is well worth a look and an indicator of just how advanced things have now got. Mind-boggling.
... Opel-Vauxhall's Project Junior gets a model name at last - The wait is over and there was truth in the rumour: both Opel and Vauxhall versions of the Junior small car project are to be called 'Adam'.
The Adam won't be seen in the metal until the Paris show in late September, with LHD cars reaching showroooms across Europe just in time for Christmas. The Vauxhall Adam plus Ireland's Opel model will follow in early 2013.
The announcement of this new model's name also sees us publishing our first list of cars making a global debut at Paris. You can find it here.... Labour costs in car manufacturing - just how important are they? - How do costs compare between a car manufacturing plant in the UK and a plant in Turkey? Earlier this week I got the opportunity to put that question to Tony Walker, Deputy Managing Director, Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK. His answer surprised me. He said that much of the cost of manufacturing is down to parts and logistics. Okay and labour at the assembly plant? He put that at just 6-8%. I must say I thought it would be a larger proportion than that. Making the C-segment sedan in Turkey for shipment to markets in southern/southeastern Europe therefore makes sense. And Burnaston serves as the manufacturing plant for the higher spec C-segment hatch that mainly sells in northern Europe; no big incentive to go for lower labour costs there on the basis of that kind of percentage.
There's an interesting difference between Toyota and Nissan in their respective UK plant strategies. Nissan uses Sunderland for nichey models like Qashqai and Juke (Leaf from next year). It now bri... Suzuki sidelined - I guess the corporate amalgamation that was DaimlerChrysler is a good example of an auto industry coming together that ultimately failed. On paper there was a rationale that made some sense. In practice, it just didn't work out. The two partners didn't share much in the end. The less they shared, the less they felt they needed to share. The synergies never materialised in the ways they should have and shareholder value gradually evaporated. One partner (Chrysler) felt aggrieved that it wasn't on an equal footing with the other and the other (Mercedes-Benz) arguably developed something of a superiority complex.
The Renault Nissan Alliance however, has worked well. The key there, perhaps, is that the relationship is an alliance, not a takeover or merger. Areas of cooperation – notably parts procurement and platform sharing – are well defined, corporate independence protected under limited cross shareholdings and politically comfortable board make-ups.
Volkswa... China Infographic - Infographic? As the name suggests, it's the graphic visual representation of information, data or knowledge. Cave paintings and maps are early examples of attempts to visualise info. 'Pictograms' in the signs we understand every day are another example. Anyway, 'infographics' today are also seen as a means to convey a story via the use of statistics and charts. We've been dipping our toes in the water. This infographic looks at China's booming auto industry and its constituents. I'd be interested to know what people think
China Infographic - Click to enlarge
... Opel Junior's model name revealed - Germany's Autobild says it has learned the name of Opel's forthcoming Mini rival: Adam.
Using the founder's first name to mark the company's 150th anniversary makes sense for Opel, but surely there will be a different model name for the Vauxhall variant? Dave Leggett, who's just read this blog, suggests 'Eve'.
Opel and Vauxhall were set to announce the car's name(s?) on 8th May - so far there has been no official confirmation or denial of Autobild's claim.... Codenames and platforms of future models for the Chinese market - The second press day of the Beijing motor show is under way and our round-up of new vehicle premieres now stretches to over 100. But what are their codenames, which ones will be built, and when, not to mention on what platforms, and in which plants?
I devote a large part of most working days to tracking down, checking and cross-checking information for future vehicle programmes. Then I update PLDB, just-auto's global database of current and future vehicles. There's currently over 1,500 models listed there, so if you're interested in what's ahead (out to 2025) for China-built cars and light trucks, you can take a free demo tour.
As well as spending lots of time updating all the future models coming for the Chinese market, I've also been adding ... The Beijing blog - Wednesday 25 April
13.30 (CST)
That's me sorted. Done all I need to do at the conference and heading back to the hotel to put my feet up. Ant should be in the air now, winging his way homewards. I have it all to do tomorrow. After yesterday's appalling weather it really is quite nice outside and you can actually see blue sky above. Maybe a walk then.
08.30 (CST)
Here I am back at the Automotive News China conference, feeling a lot better than I ought to after a few beers out with Ant last night. He arranged for us to meet at his favourite Italian restaurant - well, he's been there once before - and I set out into the night. First stop was the concierge to translate the address into Mandarin. I've done this before you know.
That done, a mile long queue for a cab and when it did arrive the driver hadn't got a clue re the address. The doorman had a go before disappearin... The Chinese arrive - Two minor firsts for me yesterday. A visit to the Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA) proving ground in north Warwickshire where a small off-road workout had been laid out for the new Great Wall Steed pickup - the first Chinese vehicle on sale here in the UK.
MIRA's been around a lot longer than Millbrook and is the less flashy version. No posh entertainment centre, just business. The drive to the offroad bit almost dislodged fillings - pickups being prone to a lousy ride unless a decent load of builders' mix is in the back - and I could have sworn we'd crossed at least two more counties before we got there.
The Steed looks and feels more late 90s than mid-2000s but it is a far better first-out-of-the-gate than some of the products Japan foisted on the west in its early export days. Sure, the motors were reliable but the bodies rusted, some models didn't like f... Opel-Vauxhall to reveal Mini rival's name - Its launch at the Paris motor show might be over five months away, but Opel and Vauxhall are set to announce the model name for Project GM4403.
A source at Vauxhall has told me that Tuesday 8th May is the date when all will be revealed. Will it be 'Junior'? Will it be 'Allegra'? Or might it even be 'TRIXX'?
I recently spoke to Rita Forst, Opel-Vauxhall's head of Engineering, and pressed her for details about the Junior project. If you missed the interview, you'll find it here.... Europe: Nissan overtakes Fiat - The combination of the ongoing economic downturn and a crippling truckers' strike in its home market saw Fiat outsold across Europe last month by Nissan.
The numbers, which were issued by ACEA earlier on 17th April, list combined sales for 25 EU and three EFTA markets. In a market down 6.6% year on year, Volkswagen Group saw its share rise by 1.7%, meaning that it finished the month with 23.7% of all passenger vehicle sales in Europe. That's more than double what the traditional number two, PSA, managed (11.9%, down 19.2%).
Volkswagen was of course greatly helped by the ongoing expansion of the German market. The BMW (73,899) and Mercedes-Benz (65,814) brands also saw their sales up last month at a regional level, to such an extent that they also surpassed the total for Fiat-badged vehicles (58,480). In March 2011, Fiat's total was 80,174, putting it 10,000 and 20,000 units ahead of BMW and Benz respectively. This time last year, Fiat was also some 20,000 units ahead o... The 'lost decade' is reality - I was talking to Jonathan Poskitt, analyst at LMC Automotive, earlier this week about the latest West European car sales numbers.
In essence, the car sales numbers are coming in as expected. Germany (and to a lesser extent the UK) is holding up, but France, Italy and Spain are either declining rapidly or in the doldrums (Spain). And there's not much joy in the smaller markets (Greece was down 43% last month).
If the economic picture is as it is, austerity budgets coming into play and national economies generally struggling, car sales will inevitably take a hit. The forecasters have got this one right.
The conversation turned to the longer-term outlook. There wasn't too much cheer there. A long adjustment is in prospect, the eurozone currency structural issues firmly on a long-term horizon. Household incomes will be under pressure for a while yet.
This brought me to a recent conversation with Honda Europe's Ken Keir. Several things stuck. One, he said that... Mixed recovery in the auto biz - The auto business, and indeed business generally, hasn't looked too bad lately. Sure, there are ongoing worries over the oil price and price inflation. That has the potential to nudge global interest rates up and cause nervous investors to worry, with all the usual adverse consequences for fragile confidence and the global economy. And the sizeable financial problems in Europe have not gone away – though the lid appears to be on that one for now.
However, stock markets around the world have been rallying so far this year, investors apparently optimistic on prospects for corporate earnings. Interest rates remain very low. Many firms are making money. Emerging markets are still peppy.
In the world of autos, the US market continues to surprise and show better than expected recovery. This recovery may be off a low base compared with where the market used to be, but this 'new normal' appears to be one that many firms can turn a profit on. And some are raising their fo... Ducati and Piech's 75th - I see Daimler has denied interest in purchasing Italian motorcycle firm Ducati.
There does seem to be some OEM interest in the respected premium Italian two-wheeler brand. The house of brands that is Volkswagen Group is also rumoured to be interested. I can imagine the mighty Piech getting a little excited about the prospect of Ducati being brought in under the wing of, say, Audi.
Somebody I was speaking to the other day had an interesting observation. April 17 is Ferdinand Piech's 75th birthday. That falls a few days before the VW Group AGM. The timing could be very good for an announcement.
'Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me ' GERMANY: Daimler denies Ducati reports... Not cut out to be an assembler -
I will not be called upon to assemble Nissans any time soon.
Having just spent the day at the company's Sunderland factory in north east England, I found that I couldn't pass the basic skills test, the first towards getting a job on the line. It involved screwing three plates onto a frame and, although I completed the task, it was not within the 'qualifying' time. This will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with my DIY efforts.
Time means everything on the Sunderland line where the tac time is 59 seconds as the plant churns out more than 420,000 cars a year - Qashqais, Jukes and Notes. And there's more to come with Leaf starting production there next year.
That is the next challenge along with bringing a new battery plant on stream which will supply both Nissan and Renault vehicles. We were visiting the factory for a progress report and all is going to plan.
Plant director Kevin Fitzpatrick said: "My ambition is to keep Sunderland as the nu... Star carriers - I arrived back from Brussels yesterday evening after attending this year's CLEPA Reception and seeing union bodies such as the European Metalworkers Federation.
The flight was booked through UK carrier BMI, but was branded as Brussels Airlines. However, Brussels Airlines sub-contracts the route to Tyrolean Airways, an Austrian Airlines Group subsidiary. But, the safety card on board says Austrian Arrows, part of that Austrian Airlines grouping. And the whole edifice is owned by German carrier, Lufthansa. And, you can't check-in online despite having an email from BMI the day before as it's a Brussels Airlines service. And BMI is itself the subject of a takeover.
I suppose its shows the interdependency of airlines these days and the power of alliances, but five different strands to one booking was interesting.... At home with the new GS 350 F Sport - A friend's new Lexus GS has proved to be a great car for Sydney's infamously awful roads. But the smooth ride isn't the thing that matters most about this vehicle.
The first new-shape GS I'd seen in Europe was a GS 450h making its global debut at the Geneva show earlier this month, but down here, the GS 350 is already on sale. Australia, incidentally, was no exception for the old car - it sold poorly here too. I think the local importer has a fair chance of success with the new model, though - the ride is first class and the handling is also pretty good. OK, it's no 5 Series, but unlike the former GS, this one isn't a long way behind.
The new GS might not be a true sports sedan but for me, what's far more important is a particular safety feature on this car. A tiny camera is mounted just below the instruments and it watches the driver's eyes. Should you shut them for a second or two, the result is a short and sharp automatic stab on the brakes - enough to jolt you awak... Getting into a Twizy - Some interesting conversations at just-auto Towers today on car companies' EV product strategies.
Cars like the Nissan Leaf are one way to go. With this product development strategy, the starting point is to create a conventional car but one that is electric battery powered. A laudable objective in principle. But it's quite a challenge for the engineers and ends up, inevitably, being a fairly expensive bit of kit that comes with a degree of range anxiety. In a sense, such EVs are hampered by fighting for customer attention on the same ground as very capable (and increasingly so) conventional IC engine B- and C-segment cars. Even customers who voice interest in EVs may have second thoughts due to price when it comes to actually signing up.
Another approach is to go ground up with something much more radical as a transportation concept – the Opel RAKe or the Renault Twizy for example. A 'glorified golf buggy' like the Twizy may be much cheaper to do and may also co... "Like 'snow globe of cash' " - Why does this never happen when I'm driving behind an armoured cash carrier?
And I wonder how much money was handed in by honest peeps in these hard times?
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