Industry
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Get ready for carbon fiber construction to become truly mainstream--BMW has announced plans to triple carbon fiber reinforced plastic output at its Moses Lake facility in Washington state. MORE: 2015 BMW i8 Production Mega Gallery Currently, the SGL Group plant, a joint venture partner of BMW Group, has the production capacity for around 3,000 tons of carbon fiber per annum. It operates two production lines, dedicated to BMW's i3 and i8 plug-in vehicles--each of which features strong, light-weight CFRP construction. SGL is already working on a third and fourth production line, set to double...
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Marchionne: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Will Be Headquartered In LondonFiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne has confirmed that the headquarters for the recently formed company will be based in London, England. The move means that many major decisions concerning Fiat and Chrysler, as well as their respective brands, will be made away from their traditional...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Maserati to launch Alfieri sports car, kill GranTurismo Convertible by 2018It’s a big day for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, with the roadmap for all group brands through 2018 being released in a series of presentations this morning. Among the news is Maserati’s future, which will see the addition of both coupe and convertible forms of the Alfieri sports car, the...
Nelson Ireson -
Dodge to become performance brand, integrate SRTFiat Chrysler Automobiles is currently in the process of announcing a new five-year strategy that will see much of its vehicle lineup renewed between now and 2018. There will also be some repositioning of brands, with SRT confirmed to be integrated with Dodge as its in-house tuner and Dodge to...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Former Audi quattro Boss Rumored To Be Headed To BMW MIt was revealed in January that the head of Audi’s quattro performance division, Franciscus van Meel, was being reassigned to an R&D role in China. No reason was stated but it was rumored at the time that more senior Audi managers were displeased with van Meel’s progress on the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Dodge To Be Performance Brand, Ferrari To Enter New Segments: USA Today’s Preview Of FCA StrategyFiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne is scheduled to announce a company-wide strategy tomorrow outlining the future plans for many popular brands including Alfa Romeo, Dodge, Chrysler, Ferrari, Fiat, Jeep and Maserati. USA Today appears to have gathered some early information regarding...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Lotus has been without a CEO since the ousting of Dany Bahar in 2012, but now the sports car company’s Malaysian parent, DRB-HICOM, has named a new CEO in the form of Jean-Marc Gales. A former president of French auto giant PSA Peugeot Citroën, Gales will be in charge of Lotus’ 3-year strategy to improve the company’s production processes and see it return to profitability. Unlike Bahar, Gales is a known industry player and has a background in both management and mechanical engineering, which should serve him well in his new role. Gales also has experience working with...
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GM Begins Work On New Performance And Racing CenterMoving race engineering to a new location will help centralize GM's development efforts.
Stephen Edelstein -
Mark Fields To Succeed Alan Mulally As Ford CEO: OfficialFord has finally confirmed what was already widely expected; that Mark Fields will replace Alan Mulally as president and CEO. Fields, who currently serves as COO, will take up the reins at the Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] on July 1. Mulally, 68, is stepping down from the top role after leading the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Alfa Romeo To Be Made A Standalone Firm: ReportOn May 6, Sergio Marchionne, the boss of Alfa Romeo parent company Fiat Chrysler, is scheduled to announce a five-year strategy for the group’s respective brands, with most in the industry eager to hear what’s in store for struggling Alfa Romeo. According to people familiar with the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Porsche U.S. Headquarters Reaches Construction Milestone, Track Due SoonIt's been nearly 18 months since Porsche broke ground on its future headquarters and driving experience center in Atlanta, Georgia, and construction is proceeding on schedule, having just reached the "topping out" phase, meaning the top of the seven-level structure has been put in place. MUST READ...
Nelson Ireson -
Peugeot Considering U.S. Return?French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroën is Europe’s second biggest after the Volkswagen Group, but it still doesn’t have a presence in many vital markets such as the U.S. With most of its cars sold in Europe, PSA has been hit particularly hard by the continent’s recent economic...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Volvo is in the final stages of developing its next-generation XC90, and soon production of the all-new SUV will get underway at the automaker’s Torslanda assembly plant in Gothenburg, Sweden. The plant, which turns 50 today, has just undergone a massive expansion program to help increase capacity from 200,000 to 300,000 vehicles annually. Volvo says that this was a necessary move to achieve its long-term goal of selling 800,000 vehicles worldwide. In 2013 Volvo managed to sell 427,840 vehicles. Most of the expansion at the Torslanda plant was in the body shop area. This is because the...
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Tesla Confirms Plans To Build Cars In ChinaTesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has confirmed something we've expected for some time--the American electric car brand will build cars in China. That isn't in lieu of building them in the United States, but in addition to American production. ALSO SEE: Hear The $3.4 Million Lykan Hypersport Start &...
Antony Ingram -
Chevrolet Corvette Is Most 'Made In America' Car, Study SaysThe Corvette and Ford F-150 tied for the title of most "American-made" car.
Stephen Edelstein -
Wolfgang Dürheimer Back At The Helm Of Bentley And BugattiThe game of musical chairs continues among the senior execs at the Volkswagen Group. Wolfgang Dürheimer has just been announced as CEO of both the Bentley and Bugatti brands, a role he relinquished at the end of 2012 to become the head of R&D at Audi. Dürheimer didn’t last long...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Lincoln Launches In ChinaIt may be a little late to the party, but Lincoln has finally launched in China, the world’s biggest market for new cars. Lincoln first announced its intention to launch in China in late 2012 and since then has been negotiating with potential dealers and developing a new ownership experience...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Makes Ward’s 2014 Best Interiors ListFor years the Corvette has been lambasted for its poor cabin design but the latest 2014 model has made it onto the annual list of 10 best interiors compiled by Ward’s Auto, joining some luxury heavyweights like the Rolls-Royce Wraith and Mercedes-Benz S-Class. As we noted in our first drive...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
When it comes to keeping customers happy, dealerships for General Motors Company [NYSE:GM] brands Buick and Cadillac take top honors, according to the latest findings of a study conducted by J.D. Power. In the annual U.S. Customer Service Index study, Cadillac ranked highest among luxury brands for dealer service, while Buick was highest among mass market brands. Last year the titles went to Lexus and GMC, respectively. MUST SEE: Dashcam Captures POV Crash With Cement Truck: Video On a 1,000 point scale of customer satisfaction, Cadillac scored 872 points to beat 11 other brands eligible for...
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NHTSA Requires New Cars To Have Backup Cameras, Automakers Push For Cameras To Replace Side MirrorsThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Monday proposed a rule requiring rear visibility camera technology in all new vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds, meaning all cars, SUVs and minivans as well as most small trucks and busses. The rule is expected to be finalized...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
BMW confirms new X7 SUV, to be built in SpartanburgThe BMW lineup was grown exponentially in the last few years, with new models popping up to fill in the numerical gaps in the lineup--or old models taking on new names. Soon, an all-new model will join the range, to be BMW's largest SUV yet: the X7. Confirmed as part of an expansion of BMW's...
Nelson Ireson -
Opel To Build New Buick For U.S., Pull Out Of ChinaIn its latest effort to bring together its Buick and Opel brands, General Motors has announced that Opel will start production of a new model for Buick in the second half of the decade. The news follows a recent announcement that Buick and Opel will have a single design boss, as well as comments...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Bertone Confirms Bankruptcy, Searches For BuyerBertone has designed some of history's most iconic supercars, but it may not survive much longer.
Stephen Edelstein -
Bentley Becomes VW Group’s Center Of Excellence For W-12 EnginesAt the end of this year, Bentley will become the center of excellence for all W-12 engines in the Volkswagen Group, meaning not only production of current units but future development too. In 2012, Mercedes-Benz employed a similar strategy by making its in-house tuner AMG the center of excellence...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran