Auto News 5

Nissan Motor senior executive, Jose Munoz, reportedly has taken leave of absence in what media described as a sudden management shake-up following the arrest of former chairman Carlos Ghosn.

This month in our Hands-On-Tech (HOT) reporting series*, we put the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV's system to the test. Taking you through the top-spec connectivity features offered by manufacturers in detail, this HOT report series looks to benchmark the connectivity functionality of each manufacturer based on various test criteria. Its hybridised powertrain has put the Outlander PHEV some five years ahead of its peers, yet elements of the in-cabin connectivity-awkwardly called Smartphone Link Display Audio (no acronym)-feel like a throwback to the eighties, much like its name. 

Takata airbag inflators are back in the news with Ford announcing a fourth round of recalls of vehicles fitted with the troubled and now dismembered supplier's products.

News 7 Jan, 2019

VW aims to sell one million MEB cars by 2025 and a new T-Cross-sized EV is part of that plan. Our exclusive images preview how it could look

Chinese automaker Foton Motor has sold a majority stake in German luxury carmaker Borgward Group, according to local reports citing a company filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange at the end of December.

Preliminary figures from the SMMT show that the UK car market in 2018 was down by 7% at 2.36m units.

The growing field of teleoperations enables humans in remote locations to take over the controls of an Autonomous Vehicle (AV) when necessary, such as when lane markings are missing or an unexpected detour. Ottopia, an Israeli technology startup focused on remote assistance for self-driving cars, uses a combination of Artificial Intelligence and old-fashioned human intelligence to work together for remote intervention. The company was founded last year by the former head of the AVs and Robotics branch of the Israeli Defense Forces, Leon Altarac, and the former head of Product Management for Microsoft's cyber-security unit, Amit Rosenzweig. They believe that this combination of AI and human remote drivers is what it will take to solve the "last mile" towards fully autonomous vehicles. To learn more, we spoke to Amit Rosenzweig, CEO and co-founder of Ottopia.

Visteon's cockpit domain controller, known as SmartCoreT aims to improve every aspect of the cockpit experience, including graphic display resolution and security, and provide a compelling value proposition to OEMs. Continuing just-auto/QUBE's series of interviews at CES this week, we spoke to Robert R. Vallance, Senior Vice President, Customer Groups, Marketing and Communications, Visteon to learn more about SmartCoreT , how its business is shaping up in China and addressing custmer demand for individualisation.

News 4 Jan, 2019

New figures show nearly 13,000 catalytic converters have been stolen from vehicle exhaust systems since 2013

Another annual US light vehicle market over 17m units has been posted, the fourth in a row. 2018's tally was pretty impressive in the end, but there are obviously a few question marks surrounding how things will pan out in 2019. The Chinese market data for December and full-year is awaited with considerable interest.

Volvo Group has made a provision of SEK 7bn (over GBP600m) relating to estimated costs to address a degrading emission control component issue. The company said last year that its truck and bus engines could be exceeding limits for Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions.

BorgWarner has agreed to sell its non-core thermostat business to Arlington Industries Group Ltd. 

Delphi Technologies has announced a collaboration with TomTom, a leader in navigation, traffic and map products. The two companies will collaborate on electronic and software applications designed to further optimise vehicle fuel efficiency and emissions through the use of real-time mapping data.

Volkswagen says it is offering a glimpse of the company's future mobile quick charging station. It can be set up flexibly and independent of the power supply wherever it is needed: for example, in public parking lots in the city, on company premises, or as a temporary charging point at large-scale events.

China's State Grid Corporation and China Southern Power Grid have partnered with two local private firms to establish the country's largest electric vehicle (EV) charging operator based in Xiongan New Area in China's Hebei province.

At this year's CES, Luxoft, a global IT service provider, together with LG Electronics, Amazon, HERE and The Qt Company unveiled an autonomous mobility concept. Continuing just-auto/QUBE's series of interviews at CES, we spoke to Mikael Söderberg, Senior Technical Director, Automotive at Luxoft to learn more.

Mov'InBlue, created by Valeo and Capgemini, which specialises in digital mobility services for corporate fleets and car rental companies, and car-sharing platform, Drivy, have launched a connected and interoperable shared mobility solution.

British Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt has warned Russia not to use its detention of BorgWarner employee, Paul Whelan as "diplomatic chess games."