Peugeot introduces diesel hybrid model

French automaker Peugeot is poised to enter the hybrid race with the introduction of the world’s first diesel-electric version of its 3008 series crossover Hybrid4 model. The 3008 Hybrid4 model will feature innovative technology, including its distinction as the first production light-duty diesel hybrid and the first using through-the-road hybrid technology.

The car is outfitted with a 163 brake horsepower (bhp) 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine that powers the front wheels and an electric motor powered by nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries that power the rear axle, with a total system output of 200 horsepower and 500 Newton meters (Nm) of torque. Like all standard hybrids and electric vehicles, the car also features four-wheel drive capabilities along with regenerative braking.

A turbocharged clean diesel engine is connected to an electronically-controlled six-speed transmission that can be operated in manual or full automatic mode. Shifting is done either by a console shifter or steering wheel paddles.

As with most hybrid vehicles, the car can operate in three driving modes: electric-only, diesel only or a combination of both. The car features impressive fuel efficiency with a rating of 69 miles per gallon and a carbon dioxide emission profile pegged at 109 grams per kilometer (177 grams per mile). As for performance, the car has a max speed of 130 mph and can go from zero to 60 mph in 8.8 seconds.

The car is expected to be introduced into the European market by spring 2011.http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=4375

Nissan to Create New Car Brand With Chinese Partner

Nissan Motor Co. plans to introduce a new passenger-car brand in Chinese market with its local partner to help meet demand for cheaper models.

The Japanese company and Wuhan, Hubei-based Dongfeng Motor Group Co. will jointly produce and sell cars under the new brand Qi Chen from early 2012, said Hideki Kimata, senior general manager of the companies’ joint venture unit.

Nissan, which makes the Teana and Sylphy sedans with Dongfeng, will be the second Japanese carmaker to introduce a new China-only brand with a local partner as carmakers rush to expand in the world’s largest vehicle market. Honda Motor Co. unit Guangqi Honda Automobile Co. will introduce the Everus sedan on the mainland in 2011, the first car made under its new Li Nian brand.

“What Nissan is aiming for is to come up with a smaller and cheaper model without sacrificing their brand image,” said Koji Endo, an auto analyst at Advanced Research Japan in Tokyo. Demand for lower priced cars will grow faster than for more expensive models, he said.

Qi Chen vehicles may be priced from 50,000 yuan ($7,356) to 100,000 yuan, Endo said. Nissan’s cheapest current model in China, the March compact, is priced from 69,900 yuan.

The new line has a logo similar to the five-stars on China’s national flag and will be known as Venucia when written in English, the joint venture partners said today.

Dongfeng’s Kimata declined to comment on the type of models likely to be introduced.

Shares in Yokohama, Japan-based Nissan declined 2.2 percent to 654 yen in Tokyo. Dongfeng rose 2.5 percent in Hong Kong to HK$13.72.

Electric Cars

Meanwhile, the Chinese automaker may consider using Nissan’s battery-technology in its own-brand cars, Kimata said in an interview in Beijing today.

The Chinese company plans to introduce hybrid and electric vehicles within two years and may invest 3 billion yuan in new- energy vehicle projects, President Zhu Fushou said in Hong Kong on August 30.

Dongfeng hopes hybrids and electric cars will account for 20 percent of its production within four to five years, Zhu said.

Separately, Nissan’s Chinese joint venture unit will begin pilot tests of its rechargeable Leaf hatchback in Wuhan next year, Kimata said.

Nissan’s Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn plans to boost Nissan’s production capacity in China to 900,000 vehicles a year by 2012.

The Japanese automaker, which sold 434,448 vehicles in China in the first eight months of this year, plans to begin production at a new plant in China this month to keep pace with rising demand, Mitsuru Yonekawa, a spokesman at the Yokohama, Japan-based company, said last month.

Nissan will start making multipurpose cars at a plant in Zhengzhou, eastern China, and will produce 120,000 units a year, he added. The new plant may ease capacity constraints at another factory in the Huadu district of Guangzhou, which builds the Dualis and X-Trail sport-utility vehicles, Yonekawa said.http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-09-08/nissan-to-create-new-car-brand-with-chinese-partner.html

Auto industry could get boost from Obama tax credits

While many businesses and economists are taking a wait-and-see approach to the Obama administration’s plan to pump up to $200 billion into business spending, the auto industry’s chief lobbying arm enthusiastically embraced one part of it.

President Barack Obama is expected to ask Congress to let businesses write off 100 percent of their spending on new equipment through 2011 at a speech in Cleveland today. The president also wants to make permanent the tax break for research and development to encourage more long-term spending.

While representatives of Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. say they want more details, Obama’s call to fix the R&D credit got an enthusiastic response from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents Detroit’s Big Three, Toyota Motor Corp. and other automakers. Globally, the industry spent more than $86 billion on R&D in 2008, said alliance spokeswoman Gloria Bergquist. “The auto industry is one of the leading centers of R&D in all industries — even higher than computers and pharmaceuticals,” Bergquist said. “Making a permanent R&D tax credit sends us a strong signal that we should invest in a lot of the technology. To the extent it can encourage R&D and generate investment, that translates into jobs.”

One effect of the tax credit, experts noted, is that it makes high-paying U.S. research jobs competitive against sending work offshore to lower-cost countries.

The idea behind the tax breaks is to encourage business owners to part with some of the $1.8 trillion sitting in corporate coffers — or to tap the millions in bank capital waiting to be lent — and spend it on everything from new computers to new factories. Companies have delayed spending because of economic uncertainty.

The boost in demand from spending ideally would prompt equipment manufacturers to hire more workers, while the R&D tax credit would encourage other businesses to hire more researchers and engineers.

The proposals come on top of Obama’s call Monday for an additional $50 billion in spending on infrastructure.

The tax write-off for capital spending could matter a great deal in Michigan’s manufacturing economy, said Mike Johnston, vice president of government affairs for the Michigan Manufacturers Association.

“The one thing that’s different in manufacturing, and why it’s good for the economy, is that it takes enormous amounts of capital investment,” Johnston said. “Think of a steel plant or auto plant or cement plant. There are billions of dollars in investment to make those products.”

The question is whether manufacturers need new plants and, even if they do, does a tax break now offset the risk of spending in such a weak economy?

Dozens of auto plants have closed during the industry’s restructuring, and more are scheduled to be shuttered in the next few years. And low consumer demand means manufacturers of other goods — from washing machines to toaster ovens — aren’t running their assembly lines day and night to meet the consumer demands that drives nearly 70 percent of the U.S. economy.

“The idea is that it would be cost-effective for a business to buy some of this stuff in advance of when you need it,” said Dana Johnson, chief economist for Comerica Bank. “But there’s a lot of spare capacity in our economy.”

Still, Johnson said, “We have a pretty sizeable segment in our manufacturing sector that would benefit from this.”

But accelerating spending by pulling future investments forward into today’s economy can have a see-saw effect, such as the big drop in sales that followed government incentives for new cars and homes, noted Peter Cohan, an economic analyst and professor at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass.

“The idea is that the economy needs help now, and the hope is that by the time it expires, regular old private-sector demand will take over and make the economy work,” Cohan said.

With the U.S. unemployment rate hovering near 10 percent, businesses won’t lay out money today and hope to get it back on taxes tomorrow, noted David Cole, chairman of the Center For Automotive Research.

“If we don’t see some potential for growth, I’m not sure how much impact this can have,” Cole said. “The economy is too uncertain right now, and cash is the one thing you can count on.”http://www.detnews.com/article/20100908/BIZ/9080374/1148/AUTO01/Auto-industry-could-get-boost-from-Obama-tax-credits-

US carmakers betting on fuel efficiency

Detroit automakers are hoping to finally persuade American car buyers to buy American. But instead of using patriotic messages to appeal to consumers, they are betting on a handful of higher-quality, more fuel-efficient cars — both old and new. That General Motors Corp., Chrysler Group LLC, and Ford Motor Co. have tried — and usually failed — to stunt the growth of import brands like Toyota and Honda is an old story.

As Chrysler repays interest on its $12.5 billion federal loan, though, and GM prepares for what may be one of the largest initial public offerings of stock of all time — possibly as high as $20 billion — US automakers are under increasing pressure to improve their products.

“Americans want to see these brands come back,’’ said Joel Ewanick, GM’s vice president of marketing. “Product is king, and you need to have good product to change people’s perceptions.’’

All three big US automakers have shuttered dealerships across the country, but they have slowly been stealing market share from foreign carmakers. That’s partly because Toyota Motor Corp. had to recall millions of vehicles, but it’s also because the US companies have improved their cars.

Chrysler and GM got government help, too: $85 billion in loans.

Market share for Toyota, Honda Motor Co., and Nissan Motor Co. was down 1.7 percentage points, year-over-year, through August, while the share for the three big US automakers rose 1.1 percentage points.

Chrysler, which is not expected to turn a profit this year, reported a 7 percent increase in August sales, compared with a year earlier, and Ford and GM posted second-quarter profit of $2.6 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively.

Still, only 10.5 million cars were sold in the United States last year — the fewest in 27 years — and 2010 sales through August were up just 8.4 percent from last year.

Rebecca Lindland, an analyst at IHS Automotive, is predicting a modest increase in US car sales to 11.4 million by the end of 2010, but said the Big Three have a huge opportunity.

“There’s a lot of market share up for grabs right now,’’ she said, adding that Detroit automakers recently “were actually able to meet customer expectations in the showroom.’’

US automakers have done this in part by scrapping names that have done poorly — and bringing back old favorites that once were top sellers.

GM’s Buick has revived Regal as a four-cylinder, European-tuned sedan, for instance, and Ford is hoping Taurus, once its best-selling sedan, will generate buzz.

Chrysler is focusing on brands it already has. It is growing again under Fiat Group ownership, with its new logo for Dodge, a separate Ram brand (instead of Dodge Ram) for the company’s pickups, and major improvements for interiors and engines.

These are all top priorities to “rejuvenate our portfolio,’’ said Ralph Gilles, Dodge’s chief executive and senior vice president of design for Chrysler Group.

Chrysler also introduced a new Jeep Grand Cherokee, based on the current Mercedes ML sport utility vehicle, in May.

While the outside looks familiar, the Jeep’s interior has moved upscale, with soft-touch dashboard surfaces and finer-grade leather.

It’s a sweeping change from the hard-edged, dull-looking plastic in most Chrysler products, which the company intends to fix on at least six more models next year, Gilles said.

Next year, Chrysler will also introduce revamped Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger sedans. In the next few years, it plans to begin importing a fuel-saving eight-speed transmission from Germany.

US automakers also are rolling out new cars to entice buyers.

GM’s Chevrolet brand is launching two models for 2011: Cruze and Volt. The compact $17,000 Cruze, on sale in Europe since last year, promises up to 40 miles per gallon on the highway and offers a six-speed automatic and knee air bags, features typically found on more expensive cars.

GM is so confident of this car’s appeal that it has encouraged some dealers to buy Honda Civics and Toyota Corollas for comparison test drives.

And the electric Volt will be the only plug-in hybrid of its kind when production starts in November. Initial sales will be limited to six states, including Connecticut and New York, but GM says it will sell 40,000 next year. The automaker is hoping a federal tax credit worth up to $7,500 will help to soothe the sting of the $41,000 price tag.

Fuel-economy numbers have not been announced, but GM says the Volt can go 40 miles without gas.

Toyota says it will sell a plug-in Prius in 2012, but its conventional drive train — unlike the Volt’s, which uses a gas engine as an electric generator — will limit the number of miles the car can travel on electricity.

(The plug-in Prius is expected to cost several thousand dollars more than the base price of $22,800.)

Ford is continuing its US push to sell smaller European-market vehicles like the Transit Connect van and the Fiesta subcompact. It’s also bringing out a new Focus hatchback and sedan next year.

George Pipas, a sales analyst for Ford, said these new compacts, which can be outfitted with Wi-Fi and custom Internet applications, will be more critical to Ford’s success than the best-selling F-Series pickups.

“We view the Focus and Fiesta as the linchpins of our sustainable growth,’’ Pipas said.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/09/08/us_carmakers_betting_on_fuel_efficiency_upgrades/

Electric Car Advocate Becomes Salesman For Nissan Leaf

Longtime electric vehicle advocate Paul Scott, vice president of California-based Plug-In America, likes the Nissan Leaf so much that he decided to start selling them. Wanna buy an electric car? Paul has a deal for you.

It’s pretty unusual for nonprofit environmental guys to actually put their money where their mouth is. They’re more likely to bash corporations than to go to work for one. But Scott, who’s been a major electric-vehicle advocate since taking delivery of a plug-in Toyota ( TM – news – people ) RAV4 in 2002 and was one of the leaders in trying to save the GM EV-1 from the crusher, is really sold on the Leaf, and Nissan’s ( NSANY – news – people ) mission in promoting it. In June Scott journeyed to Japan and met with Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn. “Carlos is a hardcore money guy,” says Scott. “He figured out that electric cars are going to be the future, and so as the price of oil escalates, Nissan will have a giant head-start on everyone else.”

After coming back, Scott started kicking around the idea of going to work for Nissan, and first thought of being a motivational speaker. “I can talk to 300 people, and by the end of the talk 90% of them will want to buy an electric car,” he says. “I’m good at motivating people.” Nissan didn’t have an opening for a motivational speaker, but Scott lives in Santa Monica, Calif., just down the street from Santa Monica Nissan.

A meeting was arranged with the owner of the dealership, and the two bonded. “I’ve never sold cars before, but I have sold solar and visual effects,” said Scott, who doubles as a salesman of photovoltaic systems for big residential retailer SolarCity. (What are visual effects? I didn’t know, but I don’t live in LA–apparently they’re computer enhancements movie companies use to make explosions look bigger.)

So the Leaf will go on sale in December, and the company announced just this week that it is starting the “order specification” phase. People with $99 reservations can now choose their color and trim level. That means Scott has to go through training so he can explain how all the little doodads, such as the electronic dashboard, work. He has to get a license to sell cars too.

“I came to the conclusion that I wanted to personally help Nissan get the car into drivers’ hands,” Scott said on his blog, prompting a “Way to go, Paul!” comment from “Who Killed the Electric Car?” director Chris Paine. Felix Kramer of CalCars.org (the father of the plug-in hybrid) added, “You’ve turned that oft-criticized occupation, ‘salesman,’ into a badge of honor.”

Now Scott just needs people to buy Leafs from him so he meets his quota. “We will deliver all over Southern California,” he says hopefully. And if you score a Leaf, he knows how to hook you up with a SolarCity PV system so the whole thing will be zero-emission. Way to go, Paul!

Jim Motavalli blogs about the auto industry for The New York Times and the Mother Nature Network.http://www.forbes.com/2010/09/07/electric-car-scott-technology-nissan-leaf.html?boxes=Homepagechannels

Nippon Avionics Begins Sales of New Hybrid Battery Tab Welding Machine – Suitable for Welding of Battery Tabs

Nippon Avionics Co., Ltd. (hereinafter Avio), NEC Corporation’s subsidiary, formally released the new hybrid battery tab welding machine NRW-PS300 suitable for battery tab welding on September 8, 2010. The NRW-PS300 is specifically designed for the assembly of lithium ion batteries. These types of batteries are widely used as a power source for automotive and electric equipment.

< Purpose of New Product >

In recent years, the automobile industry is shifting toward clean energy alternatives, such as electric vehicles. The electronics industry has seen enormous growth in the area of mobile devices. Consequently, worldwide demand is growing rapidly for rechargeable batteries. Among those most in demand is the lithium ion battery technology.

The Avio Hybrid Battery Tab Welding Machine is a new addition to our lineup of well respected resistance welding machines. An application for which this new machine is ideally suited is the welding of battery tabs to the electrode of a battery to form a battery pack.

By providing high reliability of welding quality, Avio will step up sales in the battery assembly market.

< Features of New Product >

This new model supplies welding power for battery tab welding, featuring Avio’s unique hybrid method combining high-speed rising time of a DC type and a high-speed polarity switch of an inverter type. It is equipped with functions suitable for battery tab welding as shown below.

*High-Quality Appearance and Consistent Welding Strength
— High-Speed Welding
High-speed rising time and high-speed polarity switching enable
extremely
high-quality appearance, with a minimum heat effect (burn).
— Polarity Switch Function

*By minimizing the Peltier effect, both welding spots will be of high-
quality
strength and appearance. Further, consistent heat balance results in
longer
electrode life.

*Stable Welding Quality
— 4-Channel Welding
The polarity switch for both pre-heating and main heating enables
stable
and well balanced welding quality.
— Welding Energy Monitoring
By monitoring and feeding back measured welding power, welds of
consistent
quality are achieved and this function reduces scrapped parts.

About Nippon Avionics Co., Ltd.
Head office: Tokyo, Japan
President: Mamoru Yamashita

Contact:
Noriyuki Suzuki, Manager
Welding Products Department
Nippon Avionics Co., Ltd.
Phone: +81-3-5436-0633
Fax: +81-3-5436-0639
product-mj@avio.co.jp

http://www.avio.co.jp/english/http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nippon-avionics-begins-sales-of-new-hybrid-battery-tab-welding-machine-suitable-for-welding-of-battery-tabs-2010-09-08?reflink=MW_news_stmp

Proton Planning to Bring EMAS to Indian Market

Proton had developed the Eco-Mobility Advance Solution or the EMAS concept vehicle to celebrate its 25th Anniversary, and had displayed the model at the 2010 Geneva Motors Show earlier this year. Now Proton owned Lotus brand is further testing the car.

According to Proton’s Group Managing Director, Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, the EMAS concept presented at the Geneva Motors show is a global concept and will be adopted from the new Proton model in the small car segment. The company will focus on markets like India, China, Asean and Middle East. It intends to have long term business plans for these markets.

The Malaysian and emerging market model will be a 5-door hatchback model while the European model being developed on similar platform by Lotus will be a 3-door model. The car has been designed by Italian car design firm Italdesign Giugaro.

Proton is expected to showcase the model at the upcoming Paris Auto show. Proton already sells its cars in Pakistan and China but it has yet to enter the Indian market. It has earlier failed to strike a deal with Hero Group but is supposedly in talks with Mahindra or Hindustan Motors to make a foray into the Indian market.

Audi Plans to Increase Production

Audi India is currently the third largest player in the luxury car segment in India trailing Mercedes Benz and BMW. The company is now planning to double its operations in India by 2015 for which is it planning to increase its production capacity at its Aurangabad plant. Its current production capacity is 2000 units annually which is slated to be increased up to 3000 units by next year.

“We would prefer to be the most aspired brand rather than a market leader in volumes. We were the last to enter India, but the growth has been faster than expectations,” said Michael Perschke, Head of Audi India operations. Audi aims to sell approximately 6000 units by 2015 as the premium car segment is poised to be growing towards annually sales of 20000 units in next five years.

Audi has already started assembling its small SUV Q5 in India from July this year which will enable it to price its products competitively in the market. It intends to assemble more units in India to market itself more aggressively and attract more customers.

Mahindra to Introduce Passenger Vehicle model in India based on Maxximo Platform

Mahindra and Mahindra is rumoured to be working on a passenger vehicle model based on its mini-truck platform – Maxximo. According to sources, the company is planning to introduce a passenger minivan in India in next one year looking at the success of Maruti Eeco and Tata Ace Magic. The new model will also compete with upcoming Tata Venture which was earlier showcased this year at the Delhi Auto Expo 2010.

Mahindra is already investing Rs. 300 crore at its Chakan plant where the new model will be developed. M&M Chief Executive (Automotive Division) Rajesh Jejurikar said that the company will also introduce a second variant which will soon follow the first one when launched in next 12 months.

The company has already launched Mahindra Maxximo in the country and it has garnered 23 per cent of market share in the mini-truck category. “We hope to grow at 20 per cent this year,” Jejurkar said.

There are no official pictures of the model released so far by the company but some of the auto websites have come up with their own artist imaginations of what the model can look like. At CTI, we shall keep you updated on the developments or any new information on the product.

New Hero Honda Splendour at Rs. 45,950

India’s largest two wheeler manufacturer Hero Honda has launched new variant of Hero Honda Splendour priced at Rs. 45,950 (ex-showroom, Delhi). “The 125cc segment has been stagnant or even declining in the past one year, but we believe that we can grow the market. Our own expectation is to grow our own sales by about 15-20 per cent in the 125cc segment,” said Anil Dua, Hero Honda Motors Senior Vice-President (Marketing and Sales).

The 125cc Super Splendor comes with a newly designed carburetor and ACG which the company promises will boost the performance of the engine. The bike has been fitted with Honda Intelligent Ignition System (HIIS) and features a 5-step adjustable rear shock-absorber for a smoother drive. There is also new carburetor and ACG for improved engine performance for the new variant.

The new Super Splendor’s look is enhanced by new body-art on the fuel tank, a new seat design, a new wind screen and tail light, uniquely styled front & rear fenders, and a contemporary rear grab-rail that integrates neatly with the rear side cowls in order to give the bike a fresher and slightly more sporty look. “The strategy of constantly updating the product portfolio has been key to the success of Hero Honda. Our Splendor range is the leading volume driver in the deluxe segment. And today, it is further bolstered by the introduction of the all-new Super Splendor,” Dua said.

Hero Honda has sold more than 4,00,000 units in the past consecutive months while in August 2010 it sold 4,24,617 units as against 4,15,137 units sold in August 2009 recording a growth of 2.28% in sales.