Powertrain – Page 10
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Stamp of approval
Nissan’s Smyrna facility in Tennessee is home to the largest stamping plant in the Japanese OEM’s global network. Gareth Price reportsAny visitors to the Nissan plant at Smyrna, Tennessee, can’t fail to notice the proclamation above the door, The highest volume plant in North America. There’s a strong case. Plant ...
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Ford announces manufacturing lead
US - Bruce Hettle, Ford's group vice president of manufacturing and labor affairs, is due to retire on 1 October, and will be replaced by Gary Johnson. In this role, Johnson will manage the operations of 67 assembly, stamping and powertrain production plants across the world."Under Bruce’s leadership, Ford has ...
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Southern hospitality
Gareth Price visits Hyundai’s major manufacturing facility in Montgomery, Alabama, as it welcomes the return of an SUV to its production linesBack in 2005, Hyundai’s plans to open its first US manufacturing facility came to fruition and the $1.7 billion automotive assembly and manufacturing plant in Montgomery, Alabama, was up ...
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PSA – setting a new pace with Opel
Having bought the perennial loss-making Opel-Vauxhall operations from GM last year, PSA has lost no time in starting with the turnaround required. And the early signs are that it has already had a notable impact, something which may surprise many, myself included. When the acquisition was announced in early 2017, ...
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Centre of operations
Investment in new plants and expansion of existing facilities shows central Europe to be at the heart of vehicle manufacturers’ regional strategiesAt first glance, vehicle production in central Europe – essentially the former communist bloc countries west of the Russian border – appears to centre on Volkswagen with its Skoda ...
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Motoring on
Mike Farish reports on the development and manufacture of an innovative electric motorThe rise of electric vehicles and the need for new, efficient powertrain technologies has provided smaller companies with the opportunity to establish themselves as major players – particularly as component or sub-system suppliers – if they can offer ...
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Steel makes a strong case
With the push for powertrain electrification gaining strength producers of high-strength steel are preparing themselves to capitalise reports James Bakewell In 2017, global sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) reached 1.3m units, according to Frédéric Painchault, head of Global Automotive Marketing at steelmaker ...
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New VP to lead Nissan Canton
USA – Nissan has announced senior management changes at its Canton, Mississippi facility. Effective 1st September 2018, Philip Calhoun will take over as vice president Manufacturing at the plant. Calhoun will be based in Canton and report to Heath Holtz, senior vice president, Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management and Purchasing, Nissan ...
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Jack of all trades
Ford Otosan’s Inönü plant houses an unusual production mix, and is taking on more projects. Michael Nash investigatesInönü is a small, sleepy town in north-west Turkey. The nearest city, Eskisehir, is a 40-minute drive away and is populated by young students who attend its two universities. Aside from an array ...
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AAM builds new powertrain plant
Spain - American Axle & Manufacturing (AAM) has started construction of a new 15,000 sq.m facility in Viladecans - a town located 20km southwest of Barcelona. The company says it will house the production of powertrain components for several car makers, such as Renault, BMW, Daimler, Porsche, Audi and Ford.“As ...
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Mercedes employs 1,000 at engine plant
Poland - Two years after construction plans were announced, the plant in Jawor is nearing completion, and will become home to the production of four-cylinder diesel and petrol engines in 2019. These will be used in vehicles that have conventional powertrain structures as well as hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs).The OEM ...
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GAZ starts producing Vector variants
Russia - The company has started making three new variants of its Vector NEXT bus - one for ease of use by disabled people, one for intercity travelling and one with a compressed natural gas (CNG) powertrain for urban transport. It hopes to increase sales of the buses by 60% ...
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Volvo reveals Charleston plant manager
Jeff MooreUS - Jeff Moore has been named vice president, manufacturing, Americas and plant manager for the Volvo Car Charleston plant - the OEM's first car manufacturing facility in the country. He has 33 years of experience in automotive manufacturing operations, having recently served as senior vice president at ...
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Mercedes makes 1m heavy-duty engines
Germany - The company's plants in Mannheim, Germany and Detroit, Michigan have reached a joint milestone, producing 1m engines for heavy-duty vehicles. These have all been based on Daimler's heavy-duty truck engine platform that was introduced back in 2007."Global Powertrain stands not only for integrated drivetrains, but also for the ...
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JLR opts for EU over UK
Uncertainties surrounding Brexit are causing some OEMs to move car production from the UK to Europe. Michael Nash investigatesIn November 2016, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) said that it would make its all-new Discovery in the UK and Slovakia in order to meet soaring demand in the segment. But news that ...
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Bongwald takes the helm at Valmet
Olaf Bongwald becomes CEO at ValmetFinland - Valmet Automotive´s board of directors has appointed Olaf Bongwald as chief executive officer, effective from July, 2018.Olaf Bongwald joins the Uusikaupunki-based contract manufacturer from American Axle where he has acted as Driveline Europe president.Previously, Bongwald held held several senior business leadership positions ...
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Lissalde to lead at BorgWarner
BorgWarner's next CEO Frederic LissaldeUS – BorgWarner has announced that, from August 2018, Frederic Lissalde will become its president and chief executive officer.The powertrain solutions specialists reported that Lissalde will take over from James R. Verrier, who steps down as president and CEO to take up a non-executive advisory ...
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Mazda hits 50m production milestone
Japan - The company has recently announced that it has made over 50m units in the country, 86 years after it produced its first three-wheeled truck in October 1931."Even making 1m cars a year, it would take 50 years to reach this milestone, showing just how long Mazda’s history is," ...
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A global future
Now Chinese-owned Volvo enters its tenth decade looking stronger than ever. Ian Henry reportsFord had owned Swedish carmaker since 1999, but had never been able to integrate it into the rest of its operations. Nonetheless, when Geely bought Volvo it found a company full of new ideas and plans which ...
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Audi starts producing new engine
Hungary - Series production of the OEM's new three-cylinder 1-litre petrol engine has started at Audi Hungaria's plant in Győr. It will be fitted in various Volkswagen Group models, including the Audi A3, BW Golf, SEAT Leon and Ateca."Our engine production facility adapts flexibly to new trends in the automotive ...