| | | | |
 Honda’s U.S. team goes on product offense
Honda America will take the lead in a growing list of global vehicle development projects to help the automaker fend off competitive challenges in North America and hedge against a strong yen. The organization will engineer and develop the new-generation Acura NSX sports car, the redesign of the current Civic at the end of this year, the next-generation Accord wagon and Accord coupe and "a few ...  story
|  Toyota considers moving some Lexus production to U.S.
Toyota is considering moving some production of its Lexus luxury brand to the United States because of the strength of the Japanese yen, the automaker's top sales executive in the country said today. ... story
| Why auto quality ratings don't mean as much
Telling a good car from a bad one is not as easy as it used to be. But that does not mean each one is necessarily as good as the rest. “None of them are really awful anymore,” Jim Hall, managing director of the consulting firm 2953 Analytics, said here at the 2012 Management Briefing Seminars on Wednesday. “It's not like you're going to get it and the fender's going to fall off ... story
|
| TC BUZZ | JASON STEIN
The bottom line on alternatives
What was that old joke about fuel cell vehicles? Wait 20 years, and you'll be only 20 more from driving one.
This week Toyota shot a hole through that cathode.
The Japanese automaker has ambitious plans, announcing Wednesday that it plans to sell a fuel cell vehicle in 2015, or about two light years ahead of the competition.
The news sent automakers and suppliers scrambling to rip up their plans for internal combustion engines - or not.
Wind the clock back three years here and electrics were on fire, so to speak. Range anxiety was only a passing thought because the world would be saved, one plug at a time.
Today we know the world is a more realistic place. Alternative powertrains, for the most part, are too alternative (and expensive) for most people's wallets - especially with gasoline at about $4 a gallon.
"This is a business we're in," said Erik Berkman, president of Honda R&D Americas, the automaker's U.S.product-development unit. "And all deals don't contribute to the bottom line. Some (projects) take away from it."
Berkman talked about the "reality" of electrics. That's another way of saying that very few people can figure out how to make electrics work.
"I can't believe how anyone makes money on them," he said.
The truth is they don't. And few automakers have the luxury of spending money on products that won't ever make a profit.
Published: Aug 8 12:01 am U.S. Eastern time
|
|
Four governors form caucus for automotive collaboration
 Four state governors today announced the formation of a bipartisan caucus to create initiatives and policies to aid growth in the nation's largest manufacturing industry. ... story
| Chrysler's Busse: Interiors now have soul
 Chrysler Group's head of interior design said the automaker's bankruptcy helped transform its autos' new interiors. ... story
| GM turns to MTV to reach new employees
 As it tries to attract new employees for the years to come, General Motors has gone to one of the youth market's biggest global watering holes -- MTV. ... story
| Canadian official chides auto execs on stalled bridge
 The Canadian government is expressing increasing frustration with politics on the American side of the Detroit River that are stalling plans to build a new bridge for auto trade between Canada and... ... story
| Engines' new sweet spot: 4 cylinders
Researchers: 3-bangers are expected to gain a toehold in U.S.
 The North American auto industry's migration to four-cylinder engines is picking up speed. Over the next five years, automakers in North America are expected to produce 8. ... story
| Decades-old manufacturing process gets new life
3-D technique can cut costs of some complex parts
A 26-year-old manufacturing process is gaining traction around the world as a cheaper alternative to traditional machining. ... story
| Supplier: Plastic body panels are coming back
 The future looks brighter for plastic exterior vehicle parts as automakers intensify their search for weight-saving ideas. ... story
| Suppliers to the 2013 Acura ILX
 Suppliers to the 2013 Acura ILX includes Takata, Sika, Weastec, Clarion, TS Tech, Dow Automotive, Cooper- Standard, Nissin Brake, F&P America, Weastec, Delfingen, Van-Rob/Kirchhoff Automotive,... ... story
| Suppliers to the 2013 Mercedes-Benz GL
 Suppliers to the 2013 Mercedes-Benz GL includes Kiekert, Fisher Dynamics, Autoliv, Dow Automotive, Marquardt, Valeo, Federal-Mogul, ElringKlinger, Dana, Pentosin, ZF Lenksysteme, Van-Rob/ Kirchhoff... ... story
| Vehicle-to-vehicle 'talk' may cut crashes
 Automakers and suppliers believe vehicle-to-vehicle communications systems someday will radically reduce the frequency of accidents. ... story
| Gamers are key to CAD's comeback
 Despite the 1990s hoopla over 3-D computer-aided design systems that could help engineers see factory lines that hadn't yet been constructed or catch chassis design flaws before prototypes were... ... story
|
| |
| | |  | | |
Auto suppliers have until Sept. 7, 2012, to apply for the 2013 Automotive News PACE Awards. The awards, which are co-sponsored by Ernst & Young and the Transportation Research Center Inc., recognize suppliers for innovations in four categories: Product, Manufacturing Process and Capital Equipment, Information Technology and Open.
Winners will be announced at a gala awards ceremony on April 15, 2013, in Detroit.
The Automotive News PACE Awards program is open to all automotive suppliers. The application fee is $1,500. To apply, visit www.autonews.com/pace. Questions? Call 313-446-6039. | | | | | |
Video
U.S. sales outlook -- Cloudy, with a chance of sunshine
Forecasts for U.S. auto sales remain clouded by global economic uncertainty and a fragile housing market. Still, analysts say the industry eventually will climb back to the 16 million annual mark that was once the norm. As for rising to the historic peak of 17 million? That may be a stretch. Watch the video | Sponsored by  |
|
 |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment