Auto News 5

Great news this week for the Vauxhall vans operation at Luton here in England this week. Despite Brexit, new Opel/Vauxhall owner PSA is to raise manufacturing capacity and add the production of Peugeot- and Citroen-badged panel vans at the factory. The plant, which started building Vauxhall badged Isuzu and Suzuki designed LCVs, more recently has been a JV with the Renault-Nissan alliance and built models for four brands but the technical agreement with Renault for the current Opel/Vauxhall Vivaro panel van - based on the Renault Trafic - will end and production will shift to right-hand drive versions of Peugeot and Citroen panel vans plus future Vitaro models on a PSA platform. Nice to hear, too, the decision was a major vote of confidence in a UK plant and reflected its core competitive strengths. Not to mention giving PSA a handy LCV plant inside a hefty UK market whose future trading relationship with the EU is still not clear.

Chinese start-up company Singulato Motors plans to invest CNY15bn (US$2.38bn) over the next five years to establish a new-energy vehicle (NEV) R&D centre and manufacturing base in Suzhou city in China's south-eastern province of Jiangsu.

News 6 Apr, 2018

The new Volvo XC40 styling pack brings bigger wheels, a tougher bodykit and a subtle spoiler

The White House said President Trump intends to nominate NHTSA's deputy chief Heidi King to run the agency as regulators debate reducing planned fuel efficiency increases through 2025.

Western Europe's car market slipped in March as the UK market's decline dragged the region down.

Senior ministers from the three NAFTA countries are gathering in Washington amid growing signs of optimism that they could find common ground on the toughest issues.

Features 6 Apr, 2018

Big names Rob Huff and Gordon Shedden predict thrills as WTCR replaces WTCC for 2018

Geely-owned Volvo Cars has reported a global year-on-year sales increase of 14.1% for the first quarter of 2018, as sales in all main markets increased compared with the same period last year

VW Group-owned Seat's global sales grew in the first quarter of 2018 to reach the highest volume in the 68-year history of the brand.

Mahindra and Mahindra, a part of the US$19bn Mahindra Group based in India, entered into a joint venture with Ideal Motors, a fully owned subsidiary of the Ideal Group, to assemble automotive vehicles in Sri Lanka.

Aston Martin's first SUV will only be available as a gasoline model, despite being previewed by an electric concept.

American Axle and Manufacturing (AAM) and Liuzhou Wuling Automobile Industry, a subsidiary of Guangxi Automobile Group, have entered into a joint venture agreement to manufacture driveline systems, the companies announced.

Ford won approval from the European Central Bank to set up a bank in Germany as part of its strategy to mitigate any risk from Britain leaving the EU.

News 14 Nov, 2018

Local authorities handed out 888,760 bus lane penalties in 2017, with one road alone generating £1.4million in fines

News 6 Apr, 2018

Drivers paying £68 million a year in bus lane fines, with five per cent increase in tickets since 2015

The new vehicle distribution model is changing for Toyota and its dealer network. Toyota New Zealand will sell new vehicles to customers under an agency structure, with dealers being an agent for the Kiwi importer and distributor. This company blog interviewed CEO Alistair Davis about the changes, what the drive has been behind this shift for the brand in New Zealand, and what the changes mean for its customers.

VW has canceled its contracts with Prevent Group, the supplier that forced the automaker to idle six factories when it stopped delivering components.

VW has canceled its contracts with Prevent Group, the supplier that forced the automaker to idle six factories after it stopped parts deliveries. VW says the action is aimed at avoiding future production disruptions.

Toyota New Zealand (TNZ) is in the early days of a new Drive Happy project that has completely changed how it retails cars and how its dealers operate.