Auto News 5

Opinion 24 Jul, 2016

Mike Rutherford's been talking to Gerry McGovern, design director at Land Rover, about the future of the brand

The auto industry's current roster of infamous, recall-related scandals remained in the just-auto news this week as further revelations unfolded. Example: this article, confirming an aspect of the saga already well scrutinised by both regulators and media - air bag supplier Takata routinely manipulated results of inflator tests supplied to Honda. Just today, we learned US regulators, aka NHTSA, want GM to recall another 4.3m Takata inflator-equipped vehicles. To use an old media biz term, this story 'has legs' and it sure will run awhile yet.

'Special items' totalling EUR2.2bn on Volkswagen AG's first half 2016 books, due to costs associated with the diesel emissions scandal, would have a "negative effect" on fully year group results for Porsche SE, the Stuttgart-based sports car and luxury SUV maker said, adding its full year, group profit after tax forecast nonetheless remained unchanged.

GM and Isuzu have agreed to stop working together on developing midsize pickup trucks made in Asia, as the U.S. automaker focuses on the higher end of the market while the Japanese firm sticks to selling vehicles for everyday commercial purposes.

China is the largest passenger vehicle market in the world in terms of both production and sales volumes and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are looking to harness the potential of this vast market by rolling out new and improved powertrains, according to a new report.

Volvo plans to sell a model able to pilot itself down the highway by 2021. The carmaker needs expertise in software and cloud services and is looking into various partnerships, CEO Hakan Samuelsson said.

Daimler named Britta Seeger as global sales and marketing head of Mercedes cars. Seeger currently serves as head of Mercedes in Turkey and will succeed Ola Kaellenius who will take over as development head when Thomas Weber retires.

News 22 Jul, 2016

First spyshots of Alpina's performance version of next BMW 5 Series on the road, B5 set to get around 580bhp

PSA Group and SAIPA, Citroen's historic partner in Iran since 1966, have signed a framework agreement to create a joint-venture to produce and sell Citroen vehicles in Iran.

Johnson Controls (JCI) announced third fiscal quarter revenues of US$9.5bn (down from $9.6bn a year ago) and operating profit of $383m, including several non-recurring items. Earnings per share were $0.59.

Volkswagen will suspend sales of most of its vehicle models in South Korea, as pressure builds on the automaker over its falsified emissions tests.

DuPont and the Dow Chemical Company announced that, at their respective special meetings of stockholders held on 20 July 2016, stockholders of both companies have voted to approve all stockholder proposals necessary to complete the merger of equals transaction - a key milestone in the process to merge the two companies and subsequently pursue the intended spins of three highly focused, independent companies. The companies expect the merger transaction to close in the second half of 2016, subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals.

PSA blamed the UK's referendum vote to leave the EU for a decision to suspend production for two days at its Poissy plant near Paris. The automaker said the measure was "just in case" the June decision significantly affects its sales.

PSA has unveiled an Iranian deal to build three Citroen models through a new joint venture. The framework deal follows a production agreement last month between sibling brand Peugeot and state-owned Iran Khodro.

BMW Group is considering building a factory to produce batteries for plug-in hybrid vehicles in Thailand, the country's industry minister said.

Features 23 Jul, 2016

We join trainers at the RMI Academy of Automotive Skills to see what it takes to issue an annual MoT, and find out how the test has changed

Daimler has accelerated development of Mercedes electric cars, CEO Dieter Zetsche said, adding that he saw the vehicle segment gaining market share.

General Motors reportedly has said US regulators may force it to recall another 4.3m vehicles due to potentially defective Takata air bag inflators, at a cost of US $550m.