Vehicle Manufacturers
[Due to the increasing size of the archives, each topic page now contains only the prior 365 days of content. Access to older stories is now solely through the Monthly Archive pages or the site search function.]
Volvo Cars Introduces Three Efficient DRIVe Cars; Roadmap for Reducing CO2 Emissions
October 02, 2008
Together with the introduction of three fuel-efficient diesel DRIVe cars (C30, S40 and V50 1.6D DRIVe) with CO2 emissions below 120 g/km at the Paris Motor Show (earlier post), Volvo Cars outlined its roadmap for cutting CO2 emissions.
The company plans DRIVe models with emissions of about 100 g/km (representing fuel consumption of about 3.8 L/100 km, or 62 mpg US) within a few years. Further steps include introducing a new generation of turbocharged gasoline direct injection engines in 2009; the introduction of a new micro-hybrid system in 2011; and a diesel hybrid in 2012 followed by a plug-in hybrid sometime after that.
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Toyota Releases “Sustainability Report 2008”, Looks to “Liquid Peak”
September 02, 2008
By Jack Rosebro
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| Blueprint of Toyota propulsion and fuel technology development, 2008-2030+. Click to enlarge. |
Concurrent with the release of its annual financial report, Toyota has published Sustainability Report 2008: Towards a New Future for People, Society, and the Planet. The report, which is the third since Toyota switched from environmental to sustainability reports in 2006, is structured around three themes: sustainable mobility (products), sustainable plant initiatives (manufacturing), and contributing to the development of a sustainable society—also referred to as “nurturing society.”
The themes constitute the foundation of Toyota’s vision of the global corporate image that it wants to achieve by 2020. Global Vision 2020 was developed last year on the occasion of the company’s 70th anniversary, and envisions a society in which “cycles of nature” operate in harmony with “cycles of industry”, leading to, in the words of Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe, a “prosperous, low-carbon society”.
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Toyota to Accelerate Development of HEVs, PHEVs and EVs; Downgrades Sales Target for FY2009
August 28, 2008
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| Watanabe characterized the rapid change is the US market toward more fuel-efficient vehicles as structural. Click to enlarge. |
Outlining Toyota’s response to rapidly changing global market conditions, growing environmental issues and increasing material costs, President Katsuaki Watanabe said that the company was accelerating its development of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and all electric vehicles. Watanabe said that Toyota would advance its delivery of plug-ins for fleet deployment to 2009 from 2010, and was planning series production of a next-generation electric vehicle in the early 2010s.
Watanabe also said that Toyota had dropped its global sales target for fiscal 2009 to 9.7 million vehicles from the earlier target of 10.4 million. Toyota is expecting flat sales in North America for FY 2009 (approximately 2.70 million units) and Japan (approximately 2.25 million units). The company expects growth in Europe (1.3 million units, up from 1.25 million); Asia (1.75 million units, up from 1.65 million) and Central and South America, Africa and the Middle East (1.7 million, up from 1.65).
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GM Dedicates New $400M Global Powertrain Engineering Development Center
July 25, 2008
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| The Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle range extender engine being readied for testing at the new global Powertrain Engineering Development Center. Click to enlarge. |
General Motors officially opened its new US$400-million, 450,000 ft2 global Powertrain Engineering Development Center adjacent to Powertrain headquarters in Pontiac, Mich. Combined with other global powertrain development and testing efficiencies under way, including aggressive use of math modeling, the new center will help cut 10 weeks from the GM powertrain development process. The company will save more than $200 million cumulatively in development and testing costs by the end of this year.
The center is where GM will develop and test the Chevrolet Volt’s electric drive unit, motors, power electronics and engine; electric motors for fuel cell and hybrid powertrains; and other advanced gasoline, biofuel and clean diesel engines and transmissions. It is the model for 11 additional GM powertrain laboratories around the globe.
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Ford Accelerates Small Car Transition in North America
July 24, 2008
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| Second quarter operating results. In contrast to the losses in North America, Ford operations in Europe and South America were strong. Click to enlarge. |
In the context of a just-announced $1.3-billion second-quarter operating loss for its North America operations, Ford Motor Company announced a significant acceleration of its transformation plan with the addition of new fuel-efficient small vehicles in North America and a realignment of its North American manufacturing away from trucks and SUVs to smaller cars and crossovers.
Under the “One Ford” plan, more than 40% of Ford’s North American entries in global segments (B, C, C/D and Commercial Van) will be shared with Ford of Europe by 2010, with 100% alignment achieved by 2013, according to Mark Fields, Ford Executive Vice President and President of the Americas.
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GM Acts to Add $15 Billion in Cash through 2009, Protect Against “Prolonged” US Downturn
July 15, 2008
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| The US market SAAR is trending down. Click to enlarge. |
GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner announced a set of further actions by the company to generate approximately $15 billion in cash through 2009 to protect against its dropping US auto sales and the lowest overall US industry sales volumes in a decade; the weak US economy; record-high fuel prices; and shifts in consumer vehicle preferences.
For liquidity planning purposes, GM is assuming US light-duty vehicle industry volumes of 14.0 million units in 2008-2009. According to Autodata, the US light-duty vehicle SAAR (seasonally adjusted annual rate) dropped from 15.69 million units in June 2007 to 13.64 million units in June 2008. Actual US LDV sales in 2007 were 16.1 million units, down from 16.5 million in 2006. Other GM planning assumptions include a lower GM US market share of approximately 21% and continued average oil prices ranging from $130 to $150 per barrel through 2009.
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Toyota Outlines Technology Strategy for Alternative Powertrains: Right Vehicle, Right Place, Right Time
July 01, 2008
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| Toyota says it is pursuing all of these energy and powertrain pathways. The brick walls in the diagram represent barriers to be overcome. Click to enlarge. |
In a presentation at the recent Toyota Environmental Forum held in June in Japan, Masatami Takimoto, Executive Vice President, outlined the company’s technology strategy for meeting the needs of a “sustainable mobility society”. (Earlier post.)
Hybrid—and plug-in hybrid—technology is core to Toyota’s plans, but Takimoto described a range of efforts across conventional powertrain development, alternative fuels, biofuels, electricity, and hydrogen pathways that Toyota believes will be required.
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Ghosn: Nissan Can Lead in Mass-Marketing EVs
June 25, 2008
Nissan will focus on battery electric vehicles (EVs) as a core product and will offer a range of high-quality products that are reliable, well-engineered, attractive and fun to drive, said Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn in a speech at the company’s annual general shareholders meeting in Japan.
Ghosn said that zero-emissions vehicles were the best solution to address the on-going growth in global demand for vehicles coupled with “the demand for a cleaner planet.” Nissan, along with Renault, said Ghosn, “has an opportunity to be a world leader in mass-marketing them.”
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Mazda Targeting Average 30% Cut in Fuel Consumption of All its Cars by 2015
June 23, 2008
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| The operating principle of Mazda’s Smart Idle Stop System (SISS). Click to enlarge. |
Mazda Motor Corporation is targeting an average 30% reduction in the fuel consumption of its new vehicles worldwide by 2015. To achieve the reduction, Mazda will apply lightweight technologies, upgrade almost all of its gasoline engines, introduce the Smart Idle Stop System worldwide, and introduce a new gasoline rotary engine and new diesel engines worldwide.
By 2015, Mazda says it will have renewed almost its entire powertrain lineup and, from 2011, aims to reduce the weight of its new vehicles by 100 kilograms or more.
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Caterpillar Exiting On-Road Engine Business; Entering Strategic Alliance with Navistar
June 12, 2008
Caterpillar Inc. is entering a strategic alliance with Navistar International and will exit the on-road engine business. The two companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to pursue global on-highway truck business opportunities and cooperate on a variety of engine platforms. The two companies intend to focus on global truck opportunities, including North American severe service construction trucks, as well as technology development for engines worldwide.
Through this alliance, Caterpillar plans to target a 2010 introduction of a North American Cat branded heavy-duty truck. Concurrent with this new strategic direction, Caterpillar has determined independently that it will not supply EPA 2010 compliant engines to truck and other on-highway original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
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Toyota President Outlines Action Plans for Automotive Energy Diversity and Lowering Carbon Footprint
June 11, 2008
Toyota Motor Company (TMC) President Katsuaki Watanabe outlined the company’s new action plans in the areas of research and development, manufacturing and social contribution for promoting energy diversity in automobiles and reducing its carbon footprint.
Hybrid drive technology remains a core strategic element for Toyota, but Watanabe briefly touched on a number of other powertrain and fuel initiatives that Toyota is undertaking, ranging from short-term efficiency gains in gasoline engines to the longer-term focus in areas such as hydrogen and successors to lithium-ion battery technology. These initiatives include:
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GM Responds to Changing Market in US: New Fuel-Efficient Products, Production Funding for Volt, Shutting SUV Production, Re-assessing HUMMER
June 03, 2008
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| GM’s new 1.4L direct-injection turbocharged gasoline engine will have a US market variant. Click to enlarge. |
GM announced a range of strategic initiatives in response to growing demand for fuel-efficient vehicles and to economic and market challenges in North America. Rick Wagoner, GM chairman and CEO, made the announcements as part of the GM annual meeting of stockholders today in Wilmington, DE.
"We are making a number of important announcements today, covering everything from product and technology investments to capacity adjustments to a strategic review of our Hummer brand. These moves are all in response to the rapid rise in oil prices and the resulting changes in the US, changes that we believe are more structural than cyclical. While some of the actions, especially the capacity reductions, are very difficult, they are necessary to adjust to changing market and economic conditions and to keep GM’s US turnaround on track and moving forward.
—Rick Wagoner
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Ford Cuts North American Production of Large Trucks and SUVs, Increases Production of Cars and Crossovers
May 23, 2008
Ford Motor Company announced that it is cutting planned North American production and revising downward its near-term North American Automotive profit outlook, while planning further manufacturing capacity realignments, additional cost reductions and changes to its product mix to respond to the rapidly changing business environment in the US.
The company is increasing 2008 North American production of its better selling, more fuel-efficient cars and trucks—Ford Focus, Fusion, Edge and Escape; Mercury Milan and Mariner; and Lincoln MKZ and MKX. At the same time, Ford is reducing 2008 production of large trucks and SUVs, as gas prices soar and customers move more quickly to smaller and more fuel-efficient cars and crossovers.
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Nissan to Introduce Electric Vehicle in US and Japan in 2010; New Business Plan Focuses on Zero-Emission Vehicle Leadership
May 13, 2008
Nissan will introduce an all-electric vehicle in the US and Japan in 2010 and then mass-market vehicles to consumers globally in 2012, according to President and CEO Carlos Ghosn. (Earlier post.) The accelerated introduction of EVs reflects Nissan’s goal of establishing leadership in zero-emission vehicles as part of its new five-year business plan called “Nissan GT 2012” (“G” for growth and “T” for trust), covering the period from 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2013.
In addition to establishing zero-emission vehicle leadership, the other main commitments of the GT 2012 plan are to establish quality leadership and to deliver 5% revenue growth on average over five years (FY2008 to FY2012). Nissan will support the revenue growth target by a product plan that will launch 60 all-new models in the next five years and more than 15 new technologies every year from 2009.
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Mitsubishi Motors Unveils New Mid-Term Business Plan; i MiEV Goes Global
February 29, 2008
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| Mitsubishi Motors will emphasize its environmental strategies primarily in mature markets. Click to enlarge. |
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has unveiled its new mid-term business plan—Step Up 2010—for fiscal years 2008 through 2010 (ending March 31, 2011). Target FY 2010 sales is 1,422,000 units, a 6.4% increase over the fiscal 2007 forecast of 1,337,000 units. For new product planning, Mitsubishi draws a distinction between financial responsibility and environmental responsibility.
In the area of financial responsibility, the company plans to expand the number of its mid-sized platform models, and to add a new SUV based on its one-ton pickup. In the area of environmental responsibility, the company will add a smaller, “lower impact” SUV, adapt its minicars for overseas markets and add a global model, and bring its i MiEV electric vehicle to mature world markets.
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Continental Consolidating its Siemens VDO Acquisition; Focused on Safety, Sustainability and Information
December 05, 2007
Hanover, Germany-based Continental AG has closed the acquisition of Siemens VDO Automotive AG and is now beginning the integration of the two automotive suppliers. Continental is consolidating its automotive electronics division and the former VDO to form three new divisions: Chassis & Safety, Powertrain, and Interior.
Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann, Executive Board member in charge of corporatewide technological development and the new Chassis & Safety and Powertrain divisions, stressed that the new Continental will focus on three future key auto industry trends: safety, sustainability and information.
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Ford CEO Outlines Blueprint for More Fuel-Efficient Vehicles and Reduced Emissions
November 15, 2007
At the Los Angeles Auto Show, Ford president and CEO Alan Mulally outlined the company’s plan for a range of near-, medium- and long-term global environmental technologies to provide customers more fuel-efficient vehicles that emit fewer greenhouse gases “without compromising their expectations of Ford vehicles’ safety, quality, interior room or performance.”
Key to the Ford plan in the near-term is a new generation of smaller displacement turbocharged gasoline direct injection engines that will be offered in high volumes on Ford vehicles. The new family of engines will provide customers with a fuel savings of between 10-20% without compromising performance.
