Category Archives: milestones

Parker Solar Probe – First Close Flyby of Our Sun Today

Parker Solar Probe’s four sets of scientific measurement instruments are on and collecting as it works under extreme conditions that no automotive engineer has ever faced. Continue reading

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Toyota to Start New Car Subscription Service in Japan

Toyota wants to change from an automobile manufacturing company into – what else – a mobility company that offers a range of services to society of the future. Until now, Toyota has strengthened alliances between Toyota Group companies and other automobile manufacturers and new companies offering mobility services to create partnerships. The next steps are murky. Continue reading

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Detroit’s Michigan Central Station Haunted for Halloween

Ford and its community partners today hosted a Halloween event at Michigan Central Station, one of Detroit’s most neglected landmarks, for 800 neighborhood residents and Ford employees. From 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., the interior of the long-vacant train station had spooky kids’ activities, trick-or-treating stations, live music, and decorations. Continue reading

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Nishitetsu, Toyota to Test Multi-modal Mobility Service

The so-called my route provides shop and event information while allowing users to search, book, and pay for transport, offering a single mobility-focused application with integrated functions, with the aim of supporting smooth movement in Fukuoka City, helping support “the city’s vibrancy.” Continue reading

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Walmart and Advance Auto Parts to Launch Specialty Store

The new specialty store will complement Walmart’s automotive offering of common parts and accessories online and in stores, including an extensive assortment of tire, lube and battery services in more than 2,500 Walmart Auto Care Centers across the country. Launching in phases over the coming year, the specialty store will also feature a variety of Advance’s “value-added content and product information.” Continue reading

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Governor Brown, Attorney General Becerra, CARB Chair Nichols to Demand Trump Administration Withdraw Proposal to Eliminate National Clean Car Standards Today

The state will also release its formal analysis and comments on the federal proposal, showing it is riddled with errors and based on faulty assumptions, incorrect modeling, cherry-picked data and a fundamental misunderstanding of consumer behavior. It will also note that the current, achievable standards save consumers money, prevent serious health issues and help curb harmful carbon emissions. Continue reading

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Roll by Goodyear Another Way to Buy and Install Tires

Roll by Goodyear was designed – it appears – as a defensive move to counter the onslaught of internet shopping and informed, mobile consumers. Goodyear said it conducted pre-market testing for Roll and the results were favorable across all demographics, particularly with millennials. Continue reading

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Volkswagen Group China Builds First Factory for EV Modules

The VW Group’s first factory specifically designed for the so-called MEB platform (it’s a modular EV drive adaptable to multiple models) is now under construction in Anting. The first vehicle that will be produced in the factory of SAIC Volkswagen is a Volkswagen Brand SUV in 2020. Together with the FAW-Volkswagen factory in Foshan, which opened this summer, SAIC Volkswagen’s plant will begin to produce e-cars on the MEB platform directly after the first worldwide MEB-production starts in Zwickau, Germany. Continue reading

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Ford Motor Creates Stand-Alone China Business to Stop Loses in Its Latest Asia Pacific Shakeup

The timing seems odd as Ford is entering a busy period of product renewal in China, including the current high-volume launches of the Ford Territory, Ford Focus and Ford Escort. It’s part of Ford China’s commitment to launch 50 new vehicles by 2025. Continue reading

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Foundation in at Hockenheimring Porsche Experience Center

The first Porsche Experience Center opened on the factory grounds in Leipzig in 2002. It was followed by Silverstone (UK, 2008), Atlanta (USA, 2015), Le Mans (France, 2015), and Los Angeles (USA, 2016). A new center in Shanghai (China) was added in April 2018. Continue reading

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Mercedes-Benz Construction for U.S. Battery Factory Underway

The new production site for batteries – along with the new Consolidation Center – is located seven miles from the Mercedes-Benz Cars vehicle production site in Tuscaloosa. The Consolidation Center, also part of a 2017 investment announcement, will consist of three major areas, including the body parts preparation area, the assembly parts preparation area and the empties storage. It is expected to be operational next year in 2019. Continue reading

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Thirteenth Guilty Plea Ends Parts Bid-Rigging Investigations

A Competition Bureau investigation determined that INOAC entered into illegal agreements with a competing Japanese parts manufacturer. The companies conspired to determine who would win certain calls for bids issued by Toyota in 2004 for the supply of plastic interior car parts. The parts were used in Toyota Corollas manufactured and sold in Canada between 2008 and 2014. Continue reading

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JAMA to Conduct Public Testing of Automated Driving

Ten JAMA member companies (Daihatsu Motor Co., Hino Motors, Honda Motor Co., Mazda Motor Corporation, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, Nissan Motor Co., Subaru Corporation, Suzuki Motor Corporation, Toyota Motor Corporation and Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd.) will participate in the testing of level 3 and Level 4 self-driving vehicles. Continue reading

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Watt? Pure EV Porsche Crossover Ready for Serial Production

German automakers whose entire reputations – especially in expensive segments – are built on technology and they are struggling to catch up with Toyota on hybrids and have few EV entries thus far. Add in the emerging threats of Apple and Google in the auto business and the Germans are playing defense. The well-known problems with initial German automaker forays into electronics – remember the BMW I-Drive fiasco – and even the defense needs bolstering in a business that centers on offense. Continue reading

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Chattanooga Choo Choo – 100,000 VW Atlas SUVs Made

Volkswagen Chattanooga has achieved a production milestone with the completion of the 100,000th Volkswagen Atlas. This comes as President Trump is – for the moment with his short attention span – targeting very profitable European automakers – such as VW Group Members Audi and Porsche for punitive import tariffs. Continue reading

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