#suppliers

Blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep assist and low-speed collision prevention are but a handful of the advanced driver-assistance systems that are flourishing in the new vehicle market today. Helping enable next-generation safety and convenience features is supplier company Continental.

Modern vehicles feature electrical systems that operate on 12 volts. This has pretty much been the industry standard since about the mid-1950s. But engineers at Continental are working to really step things up.

Toyota‘s rush to cut costs amid a rising yen is leading them towards a confrontation with parts suppliers, with the automaker demanding that Japanese parts makers slash costs or face being replaced with overseas companies.

Debt ridden Saab is to apply for court protection from its creditors in a bid to stave off bankruptcy get again. For months, the automaker has struggled to raise finances to pay off suppliers, and as a result, has halted production. Saab was rescued from bankruptcy last year by Dutch owner, Swedish Automobile (formerly Spyker), as former owner General Motors prepared to shut the company down

Swedish Automobile, owner of financially-stricken Saab, is being pressured by European suppliers to declare bankruptcy, hoping the threat will pressure the automaker to pay back debts.

The latest hiccup deriving from Japan’s earthquake may cause global automotive production to fall by as much as 30 percent, as parts suppliers remain crippled by the quake and subsequent tsunami that devastated Japan.

Honda‘s manufacturing plants will remain closed, while the heart of their company, the research & development facility in Tochigi, Japan, will undergo months of repairs after being severely damaged by the earthquake that devastated Japan earlier in March.