Automation – Page 294
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Article
GKN Driveline’s Russian expansion
Russia – The company is set to open a 5,000m2 plant in Togliatti, in the Volga region where a number of vehicle-makers are situated. Production of constant velocity jointed sideshafts for automotive customers is expected to commence in early 2015.Pointing to Russia’s growth market for car manufacturers, Andrew Smith, ...
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ArticleOpel starts new Meriva production, Zaragoza
Spain – The first vehicle which rolled off the line at the Figueruelas plant was a Casablanca White Meriva Excellence with a new-generation 1.6-litre CDTI engine offering 136hp.The model now includes options for a full range of Euro 6-certified engines (gasoline, LPG and diesel powertrains). Opel says the small monocab ...
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ArticleConstellium ploughs €200m into BIW
The Netherlands – The investment will be made over the next three years as the company seeks to grow its body-in-white (BIW) business in the region. Noting the increased use of aluminium flat-rolled products over the past few years in premium models, Constellium said it believes this growth “will continue ...
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ArticleLee takes powertrain and driveline responsibilities at Chrysler
US – In addition to his current role as head of Engine, Powertrain and Electrified Propulsion Systems Engineering, Robert Lee has been appointed interim head of Transmission Powertrain and Driveline Engineering. Lee has held his existing roles since 2011 and also continues to serve as powertrain co-ordination on the Group ...
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ArticleDaimler to invest €190m in Vitoria
Spain – In preparation for a new generation of medium-size commercial vehicles (CVs) to be launched later this year, the OEM will develop the bodyshop, paintshop and assembly units at its second-largest van plant. In addition to modernising and re-organising these areas of the 600,000m2 plant, Daimler will optimise the ...
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ArticleHill to lead US sales for GM
US – Steve Hill will move from his current position as North America VP, Customer Care and Aftersales, a role that will be filled by Tim Turvey, currently executive director, Customer Care and Aftersales sales and marketing. The appointments take place with immediate effect. Hill joined GM in 1983 and ...
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ArticleAlcoa completes $300m Iowa expansion
US – The facility in Davenport is dedicated to supplying aluminium sheet products to the automotive industry, from which Alcoa is seeing increasing demand. Klaus Kleinfeld, chairman and CEO of Alcoa, commented: “2014 marks the beginning of dramatic growth for aluminium in the auto sector”, adding that vehicle OEMs are ...
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ArticleVW Golf 7 production gets underway in Puebla
Mexico – The model will be exported to the US and Canada, and will be seen on North American roads from the middle of 2014. Derivatives such as the Golf station wagon for North and South America will also begin production this year.Volkswagen has invested $700m in the Puebla plant, ...
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ArticlePermanova celebrates Volvo award
Sweden – The Volvo Cars Quality Excellence (VQE) award was presented to Ulf Sandström, managing director of Permanova Lasersystem, at a ceremony in Gothenburg in mid-December. Sandström welcomed the award as “proof that our work is being appreciated by our customers”.www.permanova.com
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ArticleTata opens UK steel profiling centre
UK – The new development at Tata’s Steelpark plant amalgamates its plate cutting and machining capability into a single facility which can offer tailored processing services for specific customer requirements. The profiling centre, which is the result of a £3.1m investment, will boost Steelpark’s capacity to 47,000 tonnes per annum. ...
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ArticleNissan to establish engine plant in Rio
Brazil – The new 140m reais (£36m) facility will be part of the Resende Industrial Complex (RJ), where the OEM is constructing a vehicle plant. The engine unit will use an existing building next to the vehicle plant and will have the capacity to produce up to 200,000 engines per ...
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ArticleFAW Group made 2.9m vehicles in 2013
China – The 2,938,000 total represents an increase of 10.5% over the previous year and the combined output of the OEM’s various divisions and joint ventures.FAW-Volkswagen produced 1,539,000 units in 2013, a 14.1% increase year-on-year; medium and heavy-duty truck manufacturer FAW Jiefang made 190,000 units, up 23.7% on last year; ...
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ArticleEaton scoops GM quality award
Poland – The power management company’s automotive facility in Bielsko-Biala received the acknowledgement from General Motors’ Opel/Vauxhall unit in Europe for its services over the past 12 months. Eaton won the award for the second year in a row, after playing “a critical role in GM’s success in 2013”, according ...
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Article
GM sells Peugeot Citroen equity
US – The 7% stake, representing over 24 million shares, was sold through private placement to institutional investors and generated gross proceeds of €0.25 billion. General Motors announced that there would be no public offering of the securities in the US; the offer and sale of the shares will not ...
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ArticleFord sets outs plans for 2014
US – The vehicle-maker is due to launch 23 new models around the world, open three more manufacturing facilities and add 11,000 personnel to its workforce. In North America, 16 new vehicles will be launched, including: the Ford Mustang, the Ford Transit Connect, the Ford Transit and the Lincoln MKC. ...
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ArticleFiat to buy remainder of Chrysler
US – The Italian vehicle-maker’s North American subsidiary (FNA) will acquire the 41.4616% of Chrysler which it does not already own, after agreeing a deal with the VEBA Trust. The latter will receive aggregate consideration of $3.65 billion. This will consist of: a special distribution payable by Chrysler to its ...
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ArticleDENSO merges equipment subsidiaries
Japan – The developer of automatic data capture devices, industrial robots and other systems, DENSO WAVE, will be consolidated with DENSO ELECS, which manufactures products developed by DENSO WAVE. The united company will be known as DENSO WAVE. Japan-based DENSO Corporation decided on the move in order to increase its ...
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ArticleRenault sets up JV with Dongfeng
China – Final approval for the 50:50 joint venture was granted by the National Development and Reform Commission of China (NDRC) at the beginning of December 2013. Representing an investment of 7.76 billion yuan (€870m), Dongfeng Renault Automotive Company (DRAC) will establish a 95-hectare manufacturing plant in Wuhan which will ...
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ArticleGM invests nearly $1.3bn to upgrade five US plants
US – The investment will be split between facilities in Detroit, Flint and Romulus in Michigan, Toledo in Ohio and Bedford in Indiana. It is intended to support the production of a new V6 engine, a new 10-speed transmission and an existing 6-speed transmission, as well as funding assembly plant ...
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ArticleMichelin starts work on global innovation centre
France – The main building at the Ladoux site in Clermont-Ferrand, which will be known as the Campus RDI (Research, Development and Process Engineering) is due to be completed in 2018, when it will accommodate 1,600 personnel. Phase one will be finished in late 2015; 600 staff will begin work ...