Category Archives: manufacturing

Saudi’s to Finance Lucid EV

The deal claims to represent a major milestone for Lucid. It will provide it with the necessary funding to commercially launch its first electric vehicle, the Lucid Air in 2020. Continue reading

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Schuler and Porsche Start Joint Venture for Car Body Parts

The purpose of the joint venture between Schuler and Porsche is to build a Smart Press Shop. The intention is for the new, highly flexible press shop to produce complex body parts using pioneering technologies; the focus will be on aluminum outer skin panels, as well as the production of smaller batch sizes. Continue reading

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Ford Using Inspection Drones at Dagenham Engine Plant

Now, controlling drones equipped with GoPro cameras allow maintenance staff to inspect each area in just 12 minutes. The whole production facility can be covered in a day, looking at hard-to-reach areas to ensure they are well-maintained and comply to safety standards. Continue reading

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Canada Frozen Out of United States-Mexico Trade Agreement

According to the Center for Automotive Research’s (CAR’s) latest trade briefing, applying a Trump’s 25% tariff on all automobile and parts imports would result in 2 million fewer U.S. vehicle sales, 715,000 fewer U.S. jobs and nearly $60 billion in lower U.S. economic output. The policy would increase the price of the average vehicle sold in the United States an average of $4,400 (including both domestic and imported products). Continue reading

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Ford Reorganizes Again Under Product Line Management Flag

Ford Motor is traveling well-worn pothole ridden roads. The move comes as Ford stock continue to languish below $10 a share of common as Wall Street remains skeptical of it future earnings potential. Continue reading

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Ford Issues Two Safety Defect Recalls for Fires

Ford admits that it is aware of “some fire reports.” Continue reading

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Milestones – Production of 10 Millionth Mustang

The 10 millionth Ford Mustang is a, 460 horsepower 2019 Wimbledon White GT V8 six-speed manual convertible equipped with the latest driver assist technology and built at Ford’s Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Michigan where Mazda once built cars. Continue reading

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2019 Lexus ES 350 in Production at Georgetown Kentucky

Workers at the company’s U.S. facility spent more than 150,000 hours training to build the ES model that delivers Lexus claims of a “fundamentally higher level of performance than its predecessors.” That includes sensory training that teaches assemblers, for instance, to feel for an abnormality as minute as a thread of hair. Continue reading

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Repetitive Motion Injuries Cut by Exoskeletal Technology

Since 2005, Ford says incidents in global facilities that resulted in lost time fell 75%. The 2018 incident rate was one of the lowest on record. Ford is introducing wearable technology globally after a successful trial in two U.S. plants. Continue reading

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Lightweighting Avant-Garde – GM, BMW, Asahi Kasei, Mazda, Sika Automotive

The winner in the Full Vehicle category was the behemoth General Motors’ 2019 Chevrolet Silverado, which weighed in at 450 pounds (204.5 kilograms) lighter than its predecessor. GM was caught napping by Ford when it introduced its aluminum intensive F-Series –long the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. Continue reading

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Auto Workers Oppose Trump Tariffs that Would Destroy Jobs

The United States directly benefits from GM’s ability to maintain a competitive edge and maximize the effectiveness of our operations on a global scale. The majority of the profits we earn from our global production and sales come back to the United States to support jobs, investments in our plants, and advanced R&D. Continue reading

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Ford Expands Power Loss Recall on Edge, Fusion, Lincoln MKZ. Issues Two More Safety Recalls in North America

Ford announced today it is issuing two safety recalls and expanding one safety defect recall in North America. On 2018 Ford F-150, Expedition and Lincoln Navigator vehicles equipped with a 3.5-liter GTDI V6 engine have high-pressure fuel pumps with misaligned welds. … Continue reading

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Fire Sale – Ford Restarting F-150, Super Duty Production

Ford told reporters that is reaffirming 2018 adjusted EPS guidance range of $1.45 to $1.70 (non-gap) and expects adverse impact of -$0.12 to -$0.14 per share in second quarter due to lost production. Continue reading

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F-Series Supplier Fire – a Threat to Ford Motor Profitability

Ford accounts for less than a third of the volume of output from the affected Meridian plant, it said, but the F-Series is the foundation of the profitability of Ford in North America – a foundation that was already showing signs of cracks. (Failing Grade for Ford Motor Q1 Earnings, Failing Grade for Ford Motor Q1 Earnings) Ford claims that while the production shortage is expected to have an adverse impact on the company’s near term results, the company’s guidance of delivering an adjusted EPS in the range of $1.45 to $1.701 for the full year is unchanged. Continue reading

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April Fools – Aston Martin Project Sparta

Project Sparta, which has been engineered in parallel with the brand’s upcoming DBX SUV, is set to wreak havoc in the Monster Jam series starting in 2019, taking on some of the world’s biggest names including Grave Digger, Big Kahuna, Ice Cream Man and Jailbird. Continue reading

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