Auto News 5

There was more automaker consolidation in the news this week as Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Motors agreed a strategic alliance that will see the former take a 34% stake in the latter and become the biggest shareholder with nominating dibs on the new board chairman. MMC has been struggling with yet another major product quality cover-up scandal in recent weeks, this time because it has overstated the fuel-efficiency of its vehicles for over two decades. Many of those were built on an OEM basis for Nissan. The company's share price has fallen by around 50% since the scandal first came to light last month and orders for new vehicles have dropped sharply since it admitted falsifying fuel-efficiency tests.

Fuji Heavy Industries will officially change its name to Subaru Corporation on 1 April, 2017, as part of a plan to increase the recognition of the Subaru brand.

BMW, Mini and BMW Motorrad (motorcycles) all achieved new sales records in April as 179,285 group automobiles were delivered to customers around the world, up 1.9% year on year.

In the first four months of the year Volkswagen commercial vehicles delivered 154,600 vehicles to customers worldwide - growth of 4.7%. With 41,500 vehicles, the brand's deliveries in April also exceeded the previous year's level (+5.8%).

With the roll-out of its Push to Pass growth plan and the upcoming expiry of the New Social Contract, PSA Group's management acted early to launch a new round of negotiations with employee representatives.

The Latin and Global New Car Assessment Programmes have welcomed the Mexican government's publication of new vehicle safety standards but said they were "very disappointed" by the long delay in full implementation of new crash test regulations which will not be fully applied to all new cars sold in Mexico until 2020.

Kia Motors America said the 2017 Sportage and 2016 Optima, when equipped with a compatible navigation system or UVO3, will be offered with Apple CarPlay compatibility during this second quarter of 2016.

Novelis has reported net income of US$29m for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2016.

BMW's Chennai plant has assembled its 50,000th car - a 7 Series.

Features 14 May, 2016

How far has the Mercedes E-Class come in seventy years? We compare the latest model with six previous generations

BMW's Araquari assembly plant in the state of Santa Catarina will begin exports of 10,000 units of the X1 small SUV to the US in July.

BMW CEO Harald Krueger said it's too early to plan for possible changes that could affect the automaker if Britons vote to leave the EU. BMW builds Mini and Rolls-Royce cars in the UK.

ZF Friedrichshafen CEO, Stefan Sommer is lauding the acquisition as TRW Automotive as "a milestone in our Group's strategy," one year after its purchase.

News 13 May, 2016

Scientific study reveals human "autopilot" is shut down when reading or sending text messages at the wheel

Honda posted a surprise net loss for its most recent quarter as its quality-related costs -- mostly to recall Takata-made airbag inflators -- nearly quadrupled for the full business year.

National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) has formally signed the contract to acquire a stake in the New Long Ma manufacturing company in Fujian.

News 13 May, 2016

A new Government report lays out the future of learning to drive in the UK with wide reaching reforms planned

Nissan Motor confirmed this week that it has signed an agreement to acquire a 34% stake in Mitsubishi Motors, in a deal worth JPY247bn (US$2.17bn).

Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said restoring Mitsubishi's credibility with consumers will be his top challenge after the company announced plans to take a controlling stake in the smaller automaker.

China Automotive Systems (CAAS) has unveiled first quarter net income down from US$8.5m to US$5.7m, while net sales fell 5.5% to US$116.9m.