Auto News 5

Hitachi has announced that it had concluded an agreement with INCJ and Maxell Holdings to restructure the capital affiliation of Hitachi Vehicle Energy, Hitachi's wholly owned subsidiaries in the automotive lithium-ion battery business, to form a joint-stock partnership structure with these companies, and had concluded both a basic agreement and share transfer agreement with them.

News 27 Dec, 2018

Suzuki is bringing the Jimny Sierra pick-up and the Jimny Survive concepts to the 2019 Tokyo Auto Salon

Woodbridge and Yanfeng have announced a new joint venture taking effect on 24 December 2018.

Aisin Seiki, Advics, JTEKT and Denso have announced they have formally agreed to form a new company to develop integrated control software that will be used for automated driving, vehicle motion control, and other related functions.

Aisin Seiki (Aisin) and Denso Corporation (Denso) announced they have formally agreed to form a new company to develop and sell driving modules used for electric vehicles. The new company is named BluE Nexus and will be established in April 2019. In August 2018, Aisin and Denso first announced their basic agreement to establish a joint venture.

With the handover of the first fully electric Freightliner eM2, Daimler Trucks says it has begun operational testing of heavy-duty and medium-duty e-trucks in the US.

2018 was quite the year and threw up one or two surprises in the automotive business. Editor Dave Leggett's personal review picks out some highlights as seen through the prism of just-auto's industry coverage.

The end of the year is rapidly approaching and we will be taking a festive break - we're out of the office all of next week and back at our desks working normally on Wednesday, 2 January, 2019.

Hyundai Motor plans to start producing electric vehicles in Indonesia as part of a big investment plan for the country, according to a Reuters report citing remarks by a senior government minister.

Even though full-year numbers aren't yet in, it's fair to say Dongfeng didn't have the best 2018. As at 30 November, Chinese market deliveries numbered 401,346, ranking it below Roewe, but even with a 49% drop for that month, it was at least a stronger performer than either Beijing Auto or Chery Auto.

Unlike the previous Touareg, the new model won't ever be truly global, as Volkswagen will not offer it in North America. That means the major markets should be China, Russia and Europe. So is it the right size for Europeans and how will buyers respond to the brand's decision to boost rather than reduce the model's diesel engine choices?

British car production fell by a hefty 19.6% in November against last year's pace, according to SMMT data, as export demand slumped (down 23%).

Opinion 30 Dec, 2018

As EVs grow in popularity, Mike Rutherford thinks drivers without an off-street space would be wise to search for bays they can buy

French suppliers association, FIEV president, Jacques Mauge has announced his surprise resignation as well as head of union member, SFEPA after three years at the helm.

Traton - formerly Volkswagen Truck and Bus AG - says it has formally undertaken the transformation into a European company. It's the latest change in what can be interpreted as steps towards an eventual spin-off.

New vehicle sales in the Asia-Pacific region this year are expected to decline for the first time since the 1997-98 regional financial crisis, to a little more than 43 million units, and the outlook for 2019 is mixed at best. China clearly has a massive influence of the regional market these days and declining sales in the second half of the year was responsible for the region's overall negative performance in 2018.

Ineos Styrolution has announced the final investment decision to construct a new 100,000 ton capacity ASA plant at its site in Bayport, Texas.

Mahle has appointed Martin Wellhöffer as manager of Automotive Sales and Application Engineering from 1 April 1, 2019.

Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn has been re-arrested in Japan on new allegations.

2018 was quite the year and threw up one or two surprises in the automotive business. Editor Dave Leggett's personal review picks out some highlights as seen through the prism of just-auto's industry coverage.