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Volvo to build first electric car in China

At the Shanghai Motorshow, Volvo announced that it will be building its first all-electric vehicle in China. It will be based on the automaker’s Compact Modular Architecture (CMA), which is catered to smaller cars. The car is slated for release sometime in 2019 and will be exported to countries around the world.

Volvo’s decision to produce its new electric vehicle is China indicates that the automaker’s intentions to capitalize on the countries hunger for electric vehicles and those of neighboring countries. Volvo already has three manufacturing facilities in China, which are Daqing (manufactures 90 Series models), Chengdu (manufactures 60 Series models) and Luqiao (manufacturers 40 Series models).

“Volvo Cars fully supports the Chinese government’s call for cleaner air as outlined in the latest five-year plan. It is fully in-line with our own core values of environmental care, quality and safety,” said Håkan Samuelsson, chief executive of Volvo Cars. “We believe that electrification is the answer to sustainable mobility.”

At the moment, China is the world’s biggest market for electric vehicles and it might get a lot bigger due the government’s ambitious initiatives to tackle congestion and air quality issues in its cities. This might work out in Volvo’s favour as the automaker targets to sell a total of 1 million electrified vehicle which include electric and hybrid offerings by 2025.

The Swedish automaker is also developing a fully-electric car on its Scalable Product Architecture, which is a platform that is used to build a range of Volvo models. Besides this, in the near future, Volvo also plans on offering plug-in hybrid versions of every model that it makes. This might seem like a tall order for some, but Volvo has already established a beachhead in China, which should make things a little easier for it.

Porsche and Microsoft sign gaming partnership

Porsche is starting to take the virtual world more seriously as its marketing tool. The sportscar maker has signed a six year deal with Microsoft at the New York International Motorshow, which will see both companies collaborating in projects that cover racing games and electronic gaming competitions. As such, in future games from Microsoft’s Forza franchise, Porsche vehicles will receive more prominence than if ever did before. This will especially be evident in the gaming series Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon.

This partnership will allow Porsche to delve deeper into the eSports arena, which are competitions designed for gamers to compete against each other in their preferred gaming genre. This is especially true with Forza Racing Championship (ForzaRC), which is the leading eSport racing series backed by the world’s largest racing community.

ForzaRC, Porsche’s prime focus for now, is based on the current Xbox racing game Forza Motorsport 6 which already includes more than 20 Porsche vehicles since 2016. For 2017, ForzaRC will feature a motorsport championship too, where gamers from around the world can compete on the world stage. If you are interested, registration opened on 12th April 2017 at http://www.forzarc.gfinity.net/ and qualification will take place online beginning May 1st.

“By having Microsoft as our partner, we have the opportunity to take the pleasure of driving a Porsche and making it an experience in the virtual world”, says Detlev von Platen, Member of the Executive Board responsible for Sales and Marketing at Porsche AG. “Racing games and eSports connect the real and virtual worlds and enable us to gain further access to the young target group. It means that they can develop a passion for Porsche even before buying their first sports car.”

As icing on the cake for the newly signed partnership, a new Porsche package can now be downloaded for Forza Horizon 3. It contains a total of seven current and historical Porsche vehicles,that are the 550A Spyder, 718 RS 60 Spyder from 1960, 911 Carrera RS 2.7 from 1973, 911 GT2 (type 993), Cayman GT4 and the 911 GT3 RS as well as the new Panamera Turbo.

So, if you own an Xbox, are into the Forza franchise and a die hard Porsche fan, you should be very happy with this partnership. You can expect to see a number of interesting projects from both companies in the near future.

Bridgestone wins GM’s Supplier of the Year Award

Bridgetone Corporation, the world renowned tyre maker has bagged an award from General Motors for Supplier of the Year during the 25th annual Supplier of the Year awards ceremony in Florida. This is the second time in a row that Bridgetone has received this award but its the company’s 15th such award overall.

Winners of this award are chosen based on performance criteria in Product Purchasing, Indirect Purchasing, Customer Care and Aftersales and Logistics. The judges are from the global team of GM’s purchasing, engineering, quality, manufacturing and logistics executives.

“I am proud of the effort and dedication that earned Bridgestone this honor for the 15th time,” said Mike Martini, president, original equipment, U.S. and Canada, Bridgestone Americas Tyre Operations. “This award is a testament to our product, engineering and manufacturing performance at Bridgestone, and belongs to the dedicated teammates across our global organization who bring value and innovation to partners like GM.”

Bridgestone Corporation’s headquarters is in Tokyo, Japan. And it is one of the world’s largest tyre and rubber company. Besides manufacturing tyres, it is also involved in manufacturing a broad range of products which include industrial rubber, chemical products and sporting goods. Bridgestone products are sold in over 150 countries across the globe including our own.

StreetDrone unveil platform for developing autonomous transporation

Owning an electric car has become trendy over the past few years. These are environmentally conscious car buyers who are looking for vehicles that are able to help them fulfill their daily activities but are considerably green and don’t leave a massive carbon footprint.

Now however, there is an overflowing interest in autonomous vehicles. Contemporary cars and SUVs that are able to traverse city streets unaided by a human driver, maneuver past obstacles, slow down and speed up as well as anticipate an impending emergency situation and apply brakes where necessary -all on its own.

These systems are expensive to develop and deploy. That is why only more established vehicle manufacturers with huge budgets, are able delve into the murky waters of autonomous transportation of the future. Now, thanks to a company named StreetDrone, any manufacturer, big or small, has access to such technology.

StreetDrone, a UK based company, has teamed up with Renault to develop an autonomous vehicles that is affordable enough for small automotive firms to use as a platform for developing autonomous technology. The base car is a Renault Twizy EV, and with it, the company fits their latest hardware to govern the movements of the car. The OS that runs on the hardware is the company’s StreetDrone OS which allows the car to talk to connected and autonomous software.The finished vehicle is called the StreetDrone One.

Developers, can develop coding that can can be installed in this vehicle, to test and improve new autonomous functionality. This will provide small firms the head start they need in their R&D programmes aimed at developing sustainable future autonomous transport.

Mark Preston, CEO of StreetDrone says “We know that the greatest innovations in self-driving technology need to come from a wide-base of companies and developers, not from the privileged few that are wealthy enough to be able to test innovation in the real world. StreetDrone ONE means that everyone can become a part of the autonomous revolution.”

If the programme does become a success, it would mean that companies like Apple, Google and Intel, no longer have the advantage of their bank accounts to develop the best autonomous vehicles for the average car buyer. That’s good news for us consumers because this would mean that in the not so distant future, we will have a variety of vehicle manufacturers that are able to provide cutting edge technology for the autonomous transportation market.

Perodua posts records sales for 2017

This year is shaping up to be a great one for Malaysia’s second largest local automaker. Perodua has recorded decent sales figures this quarter by registering nearly 50,300 vehicles so far which is an increase of 6.5% compared with last year’s 47,200 units. The company now commands a 35.9% market share with a total of 140,000 vehicle being sold so far this year.

In March alone, Perodua sold 19,500 vehicles compared with 17,300 vehicles it sold last March, which is a 13% increase. The company attributes its sales success this year to the launch of the face-lifted Axia and a number of aggressive sales promotions for various Perodua models.

“On our after sales business, with both service intakes and parts and accessories sales seen growth in the first quarter. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, we expect sustained growth in our after sales business,” Perodua President & CEO Datuk (Dr) Aminar Rashid Salleh said.

The Malaysian automaker’s parts and accessories division has also posted a rise in revenue. It said that revenue rose to a notable 5% in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the same period last year by raking in RM65 million. It’s body and paint business on the other hand, saw a much higher increase in revenue at 17% compared to the same period last year. This has led to the automaker’s CEO acknowledging that the decision to delve into the body repair and paint business 7 years ago, was a savvy business decision on the part of Perodua.

In the first three months of this year, Perodua has produced 49,218 vehicles which is slightly higher than that recorded last year with 48,300 vehicle rolling of the production line. The slight increase was said to be due to the high-demand for the automaker’s B-segment sedan, the Perodua Bezza and the face-lifted Axia.

Things weren’t all rosy for Perodua though, it recorded a decrease in exported vehicles for the first quarter of 2017 with 941 vehicles shipped to six countries compared to 1,600 vehicles in 2016. Despite this, Perodua’s CEO is still confident that the company will hit the 5,000 units export mark in 2017, which was the same target set last year.

“We aim to steadily grow our regional reach as we further improve our operations to become globally competitive. Overall, we are cautiously optimistic of achieving our sales target of 202,000 units for the year. We also foresee that despite the challenges in the automotive industry, there will be modest growth for the industry this year,” said Datuk (Dr) Aminar Rashid Salleh.

Despite the current economic situation, Perodua has defied the odds by posting better and better sales each year. It has launched a number of value added vehicles recently, which have enticed many Malaysian car buyers to flock to Perodua dealerships around the country.

Audi E-Tron Sportback Concept revealed

At the ongoing Shanghai Motorshow, Audi has unveiled its design study, the all-electric E-Tron Sportback Concept. Sporting futuristic design elements, this vehicle provides a glimpse into what the actual car might look like when it hits the road next year.

This vehicle measures 4,900mm long, 1,980mm wide and 1,530mm high. It has a wheelbase of 2,930mm and according to Audi is positioned in the C segment which is close to the Audi A7. The front end features an octogonal single frame grille with a wide horizontal cut but unlike conventional models, it forgoes the large opening at the front due to the fact that electric motors require far less cooling than petrol engines.

The edges of the central surface are drawn back which help channel airflow. The sharp creases, angular headlights and blacked-out grille provide for a futuristic yet menacing stance.

The contours are angular yet simple and provide the vehicle with a coupe-like look. The wing mirrors have been replaced with cameras that provide a better field of view and almost eliminating blind spots that come with conventional mirrors. The LED lighting features digital matrix projectors that help illuminate the road ahead during the day or night. Below the DRLs are 250 LEDs that display engaging graphics and communicate signs while on the move.

Inside, the E-Tron features a signature white Audi interior with a digital instrument cluster and switchgear that wouldn’t look our of place on a commercial airliner. Unlike conventional Audis, this one has two rear seats instead of the stretched three seat set up. The dash up front features a sports steering wheel that resembles that of the R8 but overall, has a very minimalistic look as opposed to its competitors that feel very busy and complicated.

The E-Tron also has 23-inch wheels that feature a 6-spoke design and add to the sporty look but also give the car a wider track. But Audi may choose drop the rim size for the production version in the name of power conservation later on.

Since this is an all-electric vehicle, it features three motors, one on the front axle and two on the rear one. Working in tandem they provide it with an-all-wheel-drive system. Power is rated at 320kW (429bhp) which increases to 370kW (496bhp) when in boost mode. The 0-100km/h sprint is accomplished in 4.5 seconds, which isn’t supercar quick but impressive considering this Audi’s dimensions. Juice is supplied via a 95kWh lithium-ion battery pack that also provides the vehicle with a range of 450km.

The liquid cooled Lithium-ion battery pack is positioned between the front and rear axles and placed below the passenger compartment. Due to this, the vehicle has a lower centre of gravity and a balanced axle load distribution of 52:48 (front/rear). The battery can be charged by the Combined Charging System which accepts Alternating or Direct Current (AC or DC) charging outlets.

Regarding the reveal, Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, said, “Our Audi e‑tron will be starting out in 2018 – the first electric car in its competitive field that is fit for everyday use. With a range of over 450km and the special electric driving experience, we will make this sporty SUV the must-have product of the next decade. Following close on its heels, in 2019, comes the production version of the Audi e‑tron Sportback – an emotional coupe version that is thrillingly identifiable as an electric car at the very first glance.”

Though it has been labeled as a design study, the production ready car is slated for launch in 2018, which means several elements will be carried over from the concept vehicle.