<p>The automotive industry is motoring ahead of its peers in terms of smart factory adoption and is set to increase investment by over 60% in the next three years, resulting in productivity gains of more
European carmakers yesterday became the latest industry grouping to ask for support when they said they would approach the European Commission about a
GLOBAL AUTO MAKERS are nishing to challenge the dominance of Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius hybrid with a slew of eco-friendly vehicles. But Honda Motor Co. is likely to pose the most formidable threat to Toyota when it unveils its new Insight hybrid car Thursday at the Paris Auto Show.
Why US auto makers are seeing red over a new law on green cars
Rail travel produces more than a third less emissions than road transport
The hike in the price of oil means that new ways of fuelling transport are no longer fantasy. (Editorial)
Hero Electric is planning to launch high-end models of electric scooters with higher speed and bigger looks, once it receives approvals from the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI). On obtaining certification by ARAI, the company will launch these vehicles in the same month.
General Motors (GM) India has signed an agreement with the Gujarat government to train students of the Tarsali Industrial Training Institute (ITI). According to the agreement, GM India will develop and provide technical courses on automotive technology through Tarsali ITI. "There is considerable shortage of trained manpower in automotive sector. The first of its kind experiment will help develop skills in students,' said Karl Slym, president and managing director of General Motors India.
Global carmakers and others who fight a feverish technology battle to push hydrogen as affordable and clean fuel in their vehicles may soon have an Indian research team to thank. Scientists led by K. Vijayamohanan Pillai at the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) in Pune have tweaked a material that is at the heart of a hydrogen-based fuel cell in such a way that the electrochemical device is capable of delivering more power for the same set-up.
Sometimes, difficult though it is to believe, disasters herald miracles. Three years ago, a bad distribution and service network had led Fiat's brand charisma to take a bruising fall from grace. Production of its automobiles, the Uno, Siena, Palio and Adventure, had dwindled from 32,000 cars in 2002 to a dismal 1,732 in 2005. Even the Gods, it appeared, had conspired against the company, as the catastrophic Mumbai flood of July 2005 brought Fiat's Kurla plant to a total standstill, nearly drowning one of India's most enduring brands in its fury.
Bernard Simon Carmakers aim to improve margins with more pricing power on small models. General Motors' assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio, is a rarity these days. At a time when the carmaker is trimming capacity and chopping jobs across North America, Lordstown is about to hire 1,400 workers for a third shift. The plant owes its good fortune to building the sporty, fuel-efficient Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 cars. While demand for big sport-utility vehicles and pick-up trucks has plummeted, Cobalt sales jumped by 18 per cent in the first five months of 2008.
