Latest News & Features – Page 166
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ArticleSpecific lubricants to prevent unwanted vehicle noises
Klüber Lubrication offers a kit of 14 damping lubricants that match the individual requirements of its customers. These speciality lubricants reduce noises generated by vibration and friction as well as the creaking and squeaking of ventilation valves, sun visors, window lifters and other components, claims the company.The company says these ...
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ArticleIndividual solutions for cutting tool production
The Kyocera Unimerco Group says it will offer its customers a special service: Production of custom indexable inserts and tool holders, which it claims offer precise solutions for customers’ individual requirements.The company says it can also individually adapt the cutting edge, giving it a special profile for the respective application, ...
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Webinar
SSAB Webinar: Simultaneous engineering
Do you work with design or forming for BIW, seats or other structural details on cars and buses?This complimentary webinar looked at ways to improve your vehicle performance while lowering weight, and at a reasonable cost. Topics covered included:the importance of designstrength versus formabilitymaterial modellingvariation effects on performance and shapecan ...
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ArticleGM pours $245m into Orion factory
US – The investment will support a new vehicle programme described by the OEM as “unlike any in the plant’s 32-year history”. The facility in Michigan has received $962m since it reopened in 2010 after being idled. GM did not give details, except to say that 300 personnel will be ...
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ArticleAluminium's arrived
Lionel Chapis and Andreas Afseth, respectively Constellium's MD and R&D market manager for Automotive, explain how the lightweight alternative to steel is now fulfilling its potential – and not only in the USIt is an exciting time to be supplying aluminium to the automotive industry, according to Lionel Chapis, Constellium’s ...
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ArticleVW, Gestamp expand at Chattanooga
US – The further collaboration will involve an extension of Gestamp’s existing plant at Chattanooga and the construction of a stamping facility in Enterprise South for the production of Class-A parts including external metal skin for Volkswagen’s upcoming midsize SUV. The development will add 510 jobs at the site in ...
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ArticleLand Rover Defender hits 2m units
UK – The milestone vehicle, featuring unique design details, rolled off the line at the Jaguar Land Rover factory in Solihull. It will be sold at a charity auction in December, when the model will enter its final days of production.On its aluminium fender, the ‘Defender 2,000,000’ vehicle has an ...
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ArticleMercedes Buenos Aires to make Vito
Argentina – The midsize van will join the production line-up at the end of June and be made in several variants: panel van, Mixto and Tourer. Available in both rear-wheel or front-wheel drive, the vehicle will be powered by a diesel engine for the panel van and Mixto, and both ...
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ArticlePSA unveils plans for Moroccan factory
Morocco – With operations scheduled to begin in 2019, the new facility at Ameur Seflia, Kenitra, will form part of a broader strategy to provide capacity for the African and Middle-Eastern markets, where the OEM expects production volume to reach 8m vehicles by 2025.Costing €557m ($633m), PSA’s Morocco project will ...
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ArticleDodge Viper introduces metallic-matte finish
US – Beginning with the 2016 model, the brand will offer matte finishes in a range of hues, making the Viper available in more than 50m configurations, including over 16,000 colour and 48,000 stripe options.“The Anodized Carbon Viper was the first-ever use of this unique metallic-matte exterior colour by FCA ...
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ArticlePorsche takes over Kuka’s tool-making division
Germany – With locations in Schwarzenberg, Germany, and Dubnica, Slovakia, and a workforce of 600 individuals, the business will become a wholly owned subsidiary of the sports car manufacturer. Kuka Systems will soon be turned into ‘Porsche Werkzeugbau’, subject to approval under anti-trust law.“By taking over the tool-making division, Porsche ...
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ArticlePorsche ends 918 Spyder production
Germany – The final vehicle rolled off the assembly line at Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen according to schedule, says Porsche, after a production run of 21 months. The hybrid sports car has now reached its limited edition of 918 units.Production development began in 2010, after the go-ahead from Porsche’s supervisory board, and the ...
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ArticleThe overcapacity conundrum
The Automotive News Europe Congress in Birmingham, UK, this month brought together top-level industry executives to discuss manufacturing strategy in the region, and indeed other parts of the world. New Aston CEO, Andy Palmer, intimated strongly that the DBX crossover, which will draw heavily on Mercedes technology, might be made ...
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ArticleKonecranes supplies lifting systems to JLR
UK – The company has installed a range of hoist and crane lifting solutions at the OEM’s new Engine Manufacturing Centre (EMC) at Wolverhampton. Konecranes will also conduct on-site planned service and maintenance using its 40-strong technical team, based within 20 miles of the facility.Konecranes has supplied 150 systems with ...
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ArticleNissan Sunderland to install new press
UK – At a cost of £37m, the plant will be extended to accommodate a new, extra-large press line. Scheduled to become operational in 2017, the 2,500-tonne press will support production of the Qashqai and Juke crossovers, the Note and the all-electric Leaf. It will also make panels for the ...
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ArticleDaimler opens new Latin American plant
Colombia – The $2m factory at Funza, near Bogotá, covers 11,000 sq.m and has the capacity to make 4,000 units per year, supplementing the output of the company’s existing assembly facility in Bogotá, which launched in 2012. The new development will create around 220 jobs.The Funza plant will assemble vehicles ...
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ArticlePSA Rennes to make Bluesummer
France – The plant will make Bolloré's four-seat cabriolet from September this year, with an installed capacity of 15 vehicles per day for a maximum of 3,500 each year. PSA will also distribute the electric vehicle (EV).In a joint statement, the two companies said the strategic cooperation reflects their “shared ...
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ArticleFord's annual sustainability report
US – The OEM’s 16th such publication highlights environmental achievements at its manufacturing facilities plus mobility experiments to tackle transportation challenges and address future trends, in line with the Ford Smart Mobility plan.Ford is targeting a drop of 30% in CO2 emissions per vehicle produced by 2025 worldwide, and from ...
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ArticleSE Asian struggles
OEMs are reassessing their investments in the region amid a slowdown in car, CV and motorcycle salesIn this article:Non-Japanese brands struggleVast market potentialChinese brands push onMarket opportunitiesFree trade in futureMotorcycle market stallsPlummeting vehicle sales in Thailand and Indonesia are hurting manufacturers and causing some to rethink their plans in the ...
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ArticleBMW debuts street-light EV charging
UK – The OEM’s Light & Charge system is an LED street light combining energy-efficient lighting with cost-effective charging for electric vehicles (EVs). The innovation is being showcased at Mini Plant, Oxford, during the city’s Low Carbon Oxford Week.According to BMW, Light & Charge has an adaptable modular design and ...