Latest News & Features – Page 171
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ArticleTitan celebrates 40th anniversary
UK – Having developed out of Charles Lucas Engineering, a racing team from the 1960s, Titan has grown to become a supplier of components and engineering solutions to motorsport teams, niche car manufacturers and international automotive OEMs. The company reached its 40th anniversary earlier this month.“This was quite a gradual ...
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ArticleAudi progresses smart factory concept
Germany – The OEM says it has already implemented some intelligent production processes but will introduce further innovations in the coming years. Audi’s vision for the future, discussed at its recent annual shareholders meeting, encompasses collaborative robots, 3D printing and cars driven from the assembly line in piloted mode.An increasing ...
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ArticleKumho and Yokohama expand partnership
China/Japan – Discussions are underway about a start date for Kumho Tires to supply Yokohama with OE product later this year, plus the specifications and volumes required. The two companies already signed a memorandum of understanding in November 2013 for joint R&D of next-generation products.Kumho says the new deal will ...
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ArticleKWSP's 3D printing makes 1920s car parts
UK – Engineers from KW Special Projects (KWSP) in Brackley used their additive manufacturing capabilities and high-performance engineering experience to design and manufacture missing parts for the restoration of a 1927 Amilcar C6, based on a black-and-white photograph.The car had featured an extended selector housing, adapted from the original. Using ...
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ArticlePentastar V-6 output reaches 5m units
US – Available in three displacements, the engine is regarded as a workhorse for FCA; since the start of the year, 47% of the company’s vehicles have been sold with a Pentastar V-6. The milestone unit was produced earlier this month.The 3.6-litre and 3.2-litre displacements power the Jeep Cherokee, while ...
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ArticleGM to spend $1.2 billion at Fort Wayne
US – The funds will go towards upgrades and technology to improve the Indiana plant’s competitiveness in the assembly of light- and heavy-duty trucks. Beginning in June, the improvements are expected to take several years to complete.A new pre-treatment, electro-coating paint and sealing facility will be constructed, while the bodyshop ...
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ArticleMazda’s CX-5 surpasses 1m mark
Japan – The milestone vehicle rolled off the assembly line at the end of April, less than three years after the start of production. According to its maker, only the Mazda3 has reached the 1m figure faster.Mazda’s first-ever compact crossover was also the first production model with the complete range ...
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ArticleA new dimension
Additive manufacturing is seeing wider use across automotive production, from prototyping to toolingDespite all the efforts of the automotive industry to develop more economical engines or aerodynamic body shapes, one of the most basic determinants of the efficiency of vehicle performance remains the consistency with which lubricant fluids are distributed ...
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ArticleChina's road to sustainability
As the government steps up its efforts to ease the country's serious pollution problems, automotive OEMs are turning their operations 'greener' to improve their environmental footprints but also to help profitsThe severe pollution problems in China are well documented, with research from Tsinghua University in Beijing suggesting that an estimated ...
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ArticleNissan’s Mexican output hits 10m mark
Mexico – The milestone comes almost five decades after the Japanese OEM started producing vehicles in the country and represents the efforts of three manufacturing facilities with a combined annual capacity of 800,000 units. The 10 millionth unit was a Nissan Sentra SR built at Aguascalientes A1 Plant for sale ...
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ArticleVW opens Changsha plant
China – The Shanghai-Volkswagen (SVW) factory in the south of the country has the capacity to produce 300,000 Volkswagen (VW) and Skoda vehicles per year, beginning with VW’s New Lavida. Changsha is the VW Group’s 119th facility worldwide and 20th in China.“China is not only the Volkswagen Group’s largest and ...
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ArticleScania Tucumán's $43m raises exports
Argentina – The truck-maker's investment over the past two years to boost the efficiency and output of its plant in the north of the country has resulted in component exports to Europe increasing by 600%.“Scania uses a global production system, so it's essential for us to keep the Tucumán facility ...
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ArticleChina's big chill
As the world’s largest CV market cools down, OEMs are finding themselves burdened with excess capacityIn this article:Economic slowdownCollaborationsDeutz and FAWMAN and SinotruckDaimler and Beiqi FotonVolvo and DongfengIveco and SAICHyundai and Nanjun AutoAnhui Jianghuai AutomobileAnhui Hualing AutomobileShaanxi Automobile GroupOvercapacity problemsDomestic investmentsCommercial vehicle (CV) makers in China are feeling the pressure ...
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ArticleHonda launches new SIMCenter in Ohio
US – The Simulation Innovation and Modeling Center (SIMCenter) is located in the Smith Laboratory at the College of Engineering, Ohio State University, and was funded by $5m from Honda R&D. The facility is focused on the R&D of new and improved computational engineering tools for vehicle design and manufacturing.Using ...
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ArticleGM to grow Bowling Green with $439m
US – The investment will be used to build a new 450,000 sq.m paintshop almost half the size of the existing plant in Kentucky. A groundbreaking event has already taken place and construction is scheduled to last two years from this summer. Chevrolet says the building work will not affect ...
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Article2016 Honda Pilot production begins
US – The vehicle is being made exclusively at Honda Manufacturing of Alabama (HMA). The eight-passenger SUV is fitted with a direct-injection i-VTEC V-6 engine.The new Pilot joins a refreshed Honda light-truck line-up which includes the CR-V and the newly launched HR-V crossover, the gateway model in Honda’s SUV/CUV offering. ...
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ArticlePorsche extends Blume’s contract
Germany – Although the OEM’s member of the executive board – Production and Logistics only joined the company in January 2013, he will start a new, five-year deal in January 2016.A mechanical engineer by training, Oliver Blume has 20 years of experience within the Volkswagen Group. At Audi, he was ...
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ArticleKia cee’d passes 1m milestone
Slovakia – The achievement by Kia Motors Europe comes eight years after the start of production. The cee’d GT five-door hatchback and its 201hp, 1.6-litre T-GDI engine were both made at the company’s Slovakian facilities and are destined for export to the Netherlands.The cee’d is manufactured exclusively for the European ...
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ArticleBenecke-Changshun celebrates tenth anniversary
China – The joint venture between Benecke-Kaliko and Jiangsu-Changshun supplies vehicle interior materials to the Chinese market, operating two production and development locations within the country.Benecke-Changshun Auto Trim was founded in Zhangjiagang, where it now employs 450 personnel in the manufacture of foils for automotive interiors, exclusively for China. At ...
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ArticleLaser World's 'toolmakers of light'
The best and the brightest developments in laser technology will be on display in Munich this JuneLaser World of Photonics has established itself as a key event for those involved in the use of imaging processes and optical technologies in manufacturing. A combination of rapidly developing technology and an increasing ...