Adaptive cruise control, emergency brake assist and blind-spot monitoring were the stuff of science fiction just a decade ago, but today these features are available on many reasonably priced, mass-market vehicles. Pushing driver assistance even further, Continental is developing a suite of advanced technologies with some pretty amazing capabilities.
Traffic, inclement weather and road construction add up to headaches and frustration for motorists. According to automotive supplier company Continental the typical driver spends an average 50 minutes per day commuting to work. Add it up and that’s roughly 300 hours per year that could be spent doing more productive things.
Aston-Martin is considering moving to smaller engines down the road and some reports say the company may tap its ally, Toyota as an engine supplier. Continue Reading…
Chevrolet‘s Cruze conundrum is causing collateral damage for Buick and continuing longer than expected.
General Motors halted production at the Lordstown, Ohio plant of the globally distributed sedan, citing problems with a parts supplier, though the company didn’t disclose specifics.
“A further process review shows General Motors is not ready to resume production of the Chevrolet Cruze at the Lordstown Complex as announced earlier,” said the company in a statement.
The Cruze isn’t the only car being affected by the shortage: the Buick Verano (pictured above), which uses many of the same parts and shares its platform with the Cruze is also being stalled. The Verano is manufactured at a different plant near Detroit, but is suffering the same production delays.
GM remains tight-lipped about what is causing the delay, but according to Automotive News sources close to the situation say struts shared by both car’s suspensions are a likely culprit.
Production will resume at the Lordstown plant at 10:30 p.m. today after production of the popular car sat stagnant for four days.
There is no information so far on when the Michigan plan will resume production.
[Source: Automotive News]
General Motors halted production of their popular Cruze sedan yesterday after a supplier issue hampered production.
Chevrolet says they plan to resume production as soon as possible, though they declined to disclose what the issue was. Production officially stopped around 1 p.m. EST according to a spokesperson for the Lordstown, Ohio, factory where the Cruze is produced.
Currently the Cruze is the second-best selling small car in the U.S. and the 10th-best overall. Chevrolet has been able to capitalize on consumer demand for more fuel efficient cars, given that the Cruze can achieve up to 42 mpg.
Expect whatever issue is postponing production to be addressed soon, after all the car is a hot seller and one that GM hopes to push beyond current sales to be a market leader. At the moment, it outsells the Honda Civic, though the Toyota Corolla still boasts better numbers.
[Source: Reuters]
The long-anticipated replacement for the Aveo, the Chevrolet Sonic, is set to drop in August. But a strike at the Sonic’s plant could delay this—thanks to a pay discrepancy among assembly workers.
The Sonic is being built by workers at the Orion assembly plant in Michigan, under the supervision of supplier LINC Logistics Co. Workers here make $10 per hour as opposed to the $14 to $28 they would make if they were UAW members at a GM plant. And today, workers at the Orion plant voted in overwhelming favor to authorize a strike, with 98% of workers voting yes.
Negotiations for a pay increase are set to increase soon, and with this authorization, union leaders could call for a work stoppage anytime. Despite this, GM spokespeople believe that the Sonic will still be released on time, as scheduled. Good luck, folks.
[Source: Autoblog]
With Saab parent company Spyker Cars having secured a 30 million euro short-term loan, Saab vehicles will now resume production after a payment dispute with suppliers forced them to suspend their operations.
Saab CEO Victor Muller released a statement to the media, remarking ”I would like to apologize to our dedicated employees, suppliers, dealers and customers for the disruptions of the past weeks. We will do everything in our power to restore the confidence in our company as soon as practically possible.”
Saab is also exploring other avenues for funding, including partnerships with Chinese automakers and a land deal with controversial Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov, that would involve Antonov buying Saab’s Swedish production facility and then leasing it back to the automaker as a means of giving Saab some liquidity. European investment outlets previously expressed significant reservations regarding Antonov and his alleged connections to Russian criminal networks.
[Source: Automotive News]
Mere days after the world’s largest automotive microchip producer struggled to avert a production crisis due to their factory being disabled by the March 11th earthquake in Japan, the second largest producer of automotive microchips is now said to be abandoning their own factory in the area and is looking to add capacity at other plants.
Freescale Semiconductor Inc had prior plans to close their plant, located near the epicenter of the earthquake in Sendai, but decided to forgo repairing the damage sustained by the plant due to its severity. Since the target for the closing was December of this year, Freescale had already begun preparations for closing the plant, including stockpiling parts, but the disruption will still have significant repercussions for the industry. Freescale controls about 20 percent of the market for microchips. A Chandler, Arizona plant operated by Freescale will help the company fill demand in the interim.
[Source: Automotive News]
While much of the automotive industry is watching what car manufacturers have to say about production shortages in Japan, a key supplier of microchips is transferring production from their battered facility in Japan’s earthquake zone, to seperate facilities in Japan and Singapore – but the move could cause months long delays of crucial components, halting production for a number of vehicles in the process.
Renesas Electronics Corp controls 41 percent of the marketplace, and their chips are used in everything from engine control units, parking brake systems, stability control programs, in-car entertainment and power steering systems. Even one missing part can cause production lines to shut down, and these crucial parts may not ship for as long as 4 months from now. Replacing these components is especially difficult, since they are often designed to work with specific vehicles from the outset. Furthermore, bureaucracy and other administrative processes involved with changing suppliers adds even more time and complexity to the task, wasting precious time.
Automotive News cited the Lexus LS460, a technology intensive vehicle, as one of Renesas’ biggest projects, with 80 percent of its microchips coming from the firm. A shortage of these chips would cripple production of the car, and this phenomenon is not isolated to Toyota alone. While Toyota refused to comment specifically, it is known that they have compiled an inventory, and found 150 crucial parts that did not have a guaranteed supply.
The result of this situation, as well as other manufacturers and suppliers facing similar problems could spell chaos for an industry already prone to feeling the effects of secondary events like rising gas prices or a lack of consumer credit. In the same way that these factors torpedoed the American car industry on the demand side in 2008, these issues could pose a similar problem on the supply side for Japan’s own auto industry.
[Source: Automotive News]
Toyota is the latest automaker to adjust their North American production schedules, with plants idling on April 15, 18, 21, 22, and 25. Toyota’s engine and component factories will follow a similar schedule, while their Georgetown, Kentucky facility will remain open on April 21.
Employees at the plants will have the option of report to work for training programs, use vacation time or take unpaid days off. While Toyota claims that 85 percent of their parts are sourced from North America, the fact is that one missing part, no matter how inconsequential, can halt an entire production line for indefinite periods of time, and this phenomenon is something that will be a common occurrence during these next few months.
General Motors will idle their Arlington, Texas plant due to a parts shortage, although details were not given as to what the specific issue was.
The factory builds vehicles like the Chevrolet Tahoe and Cadillac Escalade. A UAW representative told Automotive News that two 10-hour overtime shifts would be cancelled. So far, the standard 10-hour shifts from Monday to Thursday appear unaffected, although the overtime hours have been a constant at the plant for over a year.
A GM spokesman said that the shifts would be “rescheduled” although further details were not provided.
[Source: Automotive News]
Honda plants in North America could be operating at well below capacity as a shortage of parts from Japan threatens to cripple the automaker’s output for as long as 90 days.
Speaking with Automotive News, Honda’s executive Vice-President John Mendel estimated a 60 to 90 day slowdown, with 30 days being an optimistic forecast. Honda has already cut production in half at 5 of its 6 North American plants due to a parts shortage, and 90 percent of Hondas sold in North America are assembled here. While 600 of its 710 suppliers are based in North America, a single missing part can result in a production stoppage.
Mendel highlighted the dire situation in Japan, stating ”In some places, they are still recovering bodies. And even if you have a warehouse full of finished microchips, the roads are ruined, and you are in the radiation zone. What are you going to do?” Honda is estimated to have a 47 day supply of vehicles, and the company is also monitoring parts order by dealers to make sure that hoarding and other shady practices do not occur.
Honda currently imports the Fit and CR-Z from Japan.
[Source: Automotive News]
Saab parent company Spyker held talks with parts suppliers Thursday, in a bid to restart production that has been halted over a dispute regarding unpaid bills.
The scandal has been a blight on Saab’s efforts to re-structure after a tumultuous year of teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. “We’re expecting that we could resume normal production early next week,” Saab spokeswoman Gunilla Gustavs told Automotive News. “A lot of work is going into strengthening the financial position of the company.”
The head of Sweden’s parts suppliers organization could not put an exact figure on the debt but said it was in the “millions” of Swedish kronor. In the mean time, Saab’s plant remained deserted as workers expressed hope that they could return to their jobs starting next week.
[Source: Automotive News]
While Ford and General Motors have both seen plants shut down due to the natural disasters in Japan, and the resulting impact on the country’s auto parts industry, Chrysler‘s vehicle production has remained unaffected by these events.
“We have not experienced any disruptions to regularly scheduled production as a result of the issues in Japan,” said Chrysler spokeswoman Katie Helper.
While some overtime shifts have been cancelled to preserve parts, and a work stoppage occurred at Chrysler’s minivan plant (unrelated to the Japanese disasters), the company claims that everything is on schedule and is not suffering from any disruptions due to the earthquake and tsunami. We’re glad to know that consumers will be able to enjoy an uninterrupted supply of Chrysler 200 cars even if the rest of the industry goes belly-up.
[Source: KickingTires]
Saab has halted production yet again amid another dispute with suppliers. Saab representatives declined to say how long the production stoppage would last, but said that they were in discussions with their suppliers to resolve the matter. Saab’s parent company Spyker said that last week’s production stoppage was related to unpaid bills.
In an interview with Reuters, the head of Sweden’s suppliers organization said that Saab cannot pay its suppliers. Meanwhile, Saab CEO Victor Muller defended his company, stating that they were not on the verge of collapse, but that more stoppages were inevitable. “This is an ongoing thing,” he said. “It will take some time to get everyone back in line properly. We will get it under control.”
[Source: Automotive News]
A Japanese factory that makes batteries for the Chevrolet Volt is back online today after being temporarily shut down since the March 11th earthquake.
Hitachi Automotive operates the three plants, one of which produces batteries for the Volt. GM has apparently ordered 100,000 battery packs for the Volt. The other two produce various vehicle components, including Tokico-brand suspension parts, engine computers and fuel systems.
A Hitachi spokesman in Japan told Automotive News that the plants were running at about 70 percent capacity. The plant is expected to reach full capacity by next week.
[Source: Automotive News]
Saab and German parts manufacturer ZF will establish a new facility in Saab’s hometown of Trolhattan, Sweden, that will build suspension components for their upcoming Phoenix platform cars, one of which will be the next 9-3 sedan.
The plant, which will employ 50 people, will produce front subframes and rear axles for the new cars. The Phoenix platform will likely underpin Saab’s entire new car range, and takes its roots from the competent GM Epsilon platform, which underpins most of their mid-size front-drive vehicles sold today.
[Source: Saab]
Press release below the jump
