Manufacturing
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Executives
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Technology
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Cutaways
Renault to manufacture minibus in ChinaStarting in 2010, Renault will once again build vehicles in China, sources say. The French carmaker plans to produce a new minibus at an existing facility in the eastern Hubei province. [SUB] May 12 06:01 CET |
Bosch-Mahle: Turbo venture will happenMahle's pending 50-50 turbocharger joint venture with Robert Bosch will become a major building block of the company's future growth, Mahle CEO Heinz Junker said. Junker expects the joint venture, if approved by European antitrust authorities, to produce about 1.5 million turbochargers a year by 2015. [SUB] May 12 06:01 CET |
VW's China partners start to cooperate
Volkswagen has finally gotten its two partners in China to cooperate on something -- sort of. At the Beijing auto show, each of Volkswagen's joint ventures showed a new model designed in China for China. The two cars are built on the same platform. The joint ventures developed the two models together. But they only share some suppliers. [SUB] May 12 06:01 CET
Can electric cars save coachbuilders?Electric vehicles could be a savior for Europe's struggling coachbuilders. Pininfarina, Heuliez and Karmann are all working on EV projects. The trend of automakers doing more niche car production in-house has left coachbuilders and contract manufacturers with declining business and in desperate need of new sources of income. [SUB] May 12 06:01 CET |
Magna makes move into batteries
Europe's healthiest coachbuilder is getting involved in electric car projects. Austria's Magna Steyr now considers itself an expert in hybrid-electric vehicle energy-storage systems. In addition to supplying these systems to automakers, Magna Steyr is responsible for the entire development and production of the battery system and the battery management system, cooling system and housing. [SUB] May 12 06:01 CET
Fiat ponders Mexico plant
Fiat is considering Mexico as the location for a plant that would supply North and South America, sources told Automotive News Europe last week. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 12
LaSorda reaffirms axle plant plan
Chrysler LLC's Marysville, Mich., axle plant, under construction and scheduled for completion in 2010, is not for sale, but the company is looking for potential partners. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 12
Ford touts 6-speed transmissions
Ford Motor Co. plans to make a shift under the hood by 2012, equipping nearly all its vehicles with six-speed automatic transmissions that will improve fuel efficiency. Ford said it will more than double the number of North American vehicles with the transmissions, which boost fuel economy 4 to 6 percent. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 12
BorgWarner adds turbo capacity
BorgWarner Inc. is building plants in Mexico and Thailand and expanding plants in Hungary and Poland over the next few years to increase turbocharger capacity by more than 3 million units. The turbochargers will be built for diesel and gasoline engines. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 12
Kia supplier builds Ga. plant
Sewon America Inc., a unit of the South Korea-based Sewon Group, broke ground here this month on a plant that will make components for Kia Motors America. The plant, which is expected to provide 700 jobs, will produce stamped chassis and body components and decorative trim pieces for Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia in West Point, Ga. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 12
GKN Driveline to grow in China
GKN Driveline plans to open a production plant during the first half of 2009 in the central China city of Wuhan in Hubei province. The 474,000-square-foot plant will supply driveshafts for Dongfeng Motor Co. and its joint venture programs with Honda and Citroen. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 12
Fiat eyes Mexico to serve North and South America
TURIN -- Fiat is eyeing Mexico as the location for a plant that would supply vehicles to both North and South America, people familiar to the matter told Automotive News Europe this week. To cope with the weak dollar, Fiat needs production in North America after its Alfa Romeo brand returns in the U.S. in late 2009. [REG] 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 9
Metaldyne closes 2 factories and an office
DETROIT -- Automotive supplier Metaldyne Corp. said today that it closed two U.S. manufacturing plants and an office in suburban Detroit. The supplier of metal-formed engine, chassis and transmission components and assemblies said it completed the closing of its plants in Greenville, N.C., and the Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills, Mich. Both were part of Metaldyne's North American Chassis Group, which machines metal suspension components. [REG] 2:18 pm U.S. ET | May 9
Change of plan: No Kia or Hyundai pickup for U.S.
Neither Hyundai nor Kia will sell a pickup in the United States in the near future. Hyundai Motor Co. CEO Kim Dong-Jin said the board in “a recent decision” scrapped plans for a unibody pickup in the United States. Kim said the original plan was to build a mid-sized truck for Kia and Hyundai at Kia's new plant in West Point, Ga. “But we are forced to give up production of the pickup at the North America plant,” he said. [REG] 9:49 am U.S. ET | May 8
Nader on NHTSA: 'Shut it down and start over'WASHINGTON -- Consumer advocate Ralph Nader says that cozy ties between automakers and the Bush administration reflect the “corporate fascism” his presidential candidacy seeks to overturn. Nader blasted the industry and its regulators during a brief protest here today outside the U.S. Department of Transportation. [REG] 4:24 pm U.S. ET | May 8 |
Fiat sets up central sourcing center in IndiaFiat is setting up a group purchasing office in India, the Italian carmaker said today, as part of its strategy to cut costs by buying more components from low-cost centers such as India and China. Fiat, which has a joint venture with India's Tata Motors for manufacture and distribution of cars, engines and commercial vehicles, said the move would help ensure greater competitiveness and better margins. [REG] May 8 09:35 CET |
Noble nearly doubles Q1 revenue, still has net loss
Automotive supplier Noble International Inc. nearly doubled its first-quarter revenue compared to the same period last year, but it still chalked up a net loss. Noble had a net loss of $2 million on revenue of $314 million, compared with a loss of $186,000 on revenue of $160 million in the first quarter of 2007. [REG] 12:52 pm U.S. ET | May 8
Manufacturing technology group names new president
Robert K. Simpson, a longtime manufacturing executive, was named president of the Association for Manufacturing Technology. Simpson, 48, is taking over from John B. Byrd III, who will retire after five years with the group. AMT represents American suppliers of manufacturing machinery and equipment. AMT coordinates the International Manufacturing Technology Show, held this year from Sept. 8-13 in Chicago. [REG] 11:16 am U.S. ET | May 8
Jointly made PSA engines for BMW brandsBMW will use the four-cylinder engines it has jointly developed with French carmaker PSA in BMW brand cars, chief executive Norbert Reithofer said in a pre-release of his interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He said the future generation of the BMW 1 Series will be fitted with these four-cylinder engines. [REG] May 7 07:46 CET |
