BEIJING: Ford Motor is planning to launch more than 30 new models in China over the next three years, the U.S. automaker said on Wednesday.

Ford had earlier said it would launch 50 new or significantly redesigned vehicles in China starting in 2018 and through 2025.

However, today’s announcement provided more clarity on the timeline.

Anning Chen, the automaker’s China operations chief said they are committing themselves to improving their relationships with Chinese joint-venture partners. (Agencies)

MOSCOW: Ford is closing three factories in Russia citing low customer demand. Ford says that it will close vehicle assembly plants in St. Petersburg and Naberezhnye Chelny, as well as an engine plant in Yelabug, claiming it will stop making passenger cars in Russia by the end of June.

The U.S. carmaker blames a slow recovery in the Russian car market after an economic slowdown in recent years, and moves toward cheaper cars.Ford will now focus solely on commercial Transit vans in Russia through its Ford Sollers joint venture.

(Agencies)

LONDON: New cars, vans, lorries and buses that are being sold in Europe must have the technology that prompts  speed limit from 2022.  Intelligent speed assistance (ISA) uses a speed sign recognition camera and GPS-linked speed limit data to automatically limit the speed of the vehicle.

The system limits engine power, although drivers can override it by pushing hard on the accelerator, an action that will prompt an alert from the system.

The measures were first announced by the European Commission last year but after talks in Strasbourg on Monday night, they look set to be given the go-ahead by EU member states in September.

New cars in Britain will also have the safety features from 2022. Safety features include automated emergency braking which can detect pedestrians and cyclists, technology that senses when drivers are falling asleep or losing concentration, a system that keeps vehicles in the center of the lane and a vehicle data recorder enabling deeper understanding of the causes of a collision.

CALIFORNIA: Tesla has launched its Model Y range in California. The car was shown off at an event by chief executive, Elon Musk as the company continues to face serious questions over its manufacturing capacity after failing to meet demand for its Model 3. The company has claimed that its latest all-electric car will be the “safest mid-size SUV (sport utility vehicle) in the world.”

LONDON : Japanese carmaker Nissan is cancelling plans to make the next model of its X-Trail sports utility vehicle in Britain, less than two months before the country is due to leave the European Union, broadcaster Sky News said on Saturday.

Nissan first said four months after Britain voted in June 2016 to leave the EU that it would manufacture a new model of the SUV in Britain, which was seen as a major vote of confidence in the country’s manufacturing future.

The main production plant for the current X-Trail is in Japan, while Nissan’s plant in Sunderland, northeast England, makes the smaller Qashqai SUV and other models. “Precise details of Nissan’s impending announcement were unclear this weekend, but sources said it was likely to initially involve abandoning the X-Trail production plans which had been announced in the autumn of 2016,” Sky reported.

A UK-based spokesman for Nissan declined to comment. Sky said the announcement due on Monday was not expected to lead to immediate job losses at the Sunderland plant, as the X-Trail is not currently made there, but would raise doubts about further Nissan investment in Britain.

As well as the X-Trail, Nissan said in 2016 it would build the next generation Qashqai SUV in Britain after receiving government assurances over Brexit, in what was seen at the time as a boost for Prime Minister Theresa May.

Tesla to sell cheaper Model 3 in China
However, the failure of Britain’s government so far to negotiate a smooth exit plan from the European Union has made car manufacturers less willing to use Britain as a European manufacturing center. Investment in Britain’s car industry halved last year, data showed on Thursday, and car production by Nissan in Britain fell by more than 10 percent.

Industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said leaving the EU on March 29 without a transition deal to preserve the smooth flow of parts and finished vehicles across EU borders would cause “permanent devastation” to the British car industry.

(Reuters)

General Motors Co said on Saturday it is negotiating “feasibility conditions” to invest 10 billion reais ($2.73 billion) in Brazil from 2020 to 2024, after having warned last month that new investments would depend on returning to profit. The automaker also said it is completing an investment plan of 13 billion reais between 2014 and 2019.

“As market leaders, we are taking on the responsibility of facing the challenges of competitiveness that the industry.

Valor reported that GM would invest in its product line until 2022, and then the following year, the company would start to enjoy tax rebates. Valor, which also reported that GM’s losses in Brazil last year totaled 1 billion reais despite being the country’s market leader, did not specify the exact amount GM would expect to generate in tax incentives. 

(REUTERS)

BEIJING, Jan. 30: Japanese automaker Toyota Tuesday began a recall of 4,682 Lexus sedans imported into China due to defective airbags, according to China’s market regulator.
Filed by Toyota Motor (China) Investment Co., the recall will involve one Lexus IS 250C manufactured on Jan. 15, 2014, and 4,681 Lexus GX 400 manufactured between Jan. 6, 2014 and Feb. 13, 2017, the State Administration of Market Regulation said in a statement.
The front passenger airbags, produced by Japanese manufacturer Takata, have defective inflators that could fracture and send potentially fatal shrapnel into passengers when airbags are activated, the administration said.
Defective Takata airbags have been linked to a number of deaths and injuries worldwide, prompting massive recalls of affected vehicles throughout the world.
The company will replace the defective airbags free of charge. (Xinhua/RSS)