+++ AUDI has opened its new Vehicle Safety Centre at its technology park in Ingolstadt. The facility will allow the automaker to perform numerous types of crash tests before it launches a new model. The facility, which took 3 years to build, cost about €100 million and approximately 100 employees work there. Audi designed the facility with the future in mind, ensuring the center can perform tests that go beyond today’s crash standards the company must meet in various markets. The building will also allow Audi to conduct a great number and variety of crash tests compared to its previous facility. The new building has a large, integrated, support-free crash test floor with state-of-the-art high-speed cameras and LED lighting. The test arena features several crisscrossing crash lanes, allowing Audi to perform 90-degree crashes between 2 vehicles. It also allows the company to crash cars sideways against obstacles. The building also houses a dummy lab, component test stands, offices, and workshops. Audi will use more than 60 Thor crash test dummies in its evaluations, which range in size from an 18 month old child to a 100 kilogram adult. The dummies have up to 150 sensors and are just one piece of a bigger data puzzle. 3-dimensional scans help process post-test deformations in the vehicles, while motion tracking helps capture the sequence of events. Computer simulations play a large role in crash tests, with Audi performing tens of thousands of virtual crashes before it even builds a prototype. The company’s IT Centre, located in the same technology park, assists with these tests. Audi’s focus on safety dates back more than 80 years. The company opened its first crash hall in Ingolstadt in 1970, which it used for the next 50 years. In 1972, Audi introduced crash test dummies to the facility. The company’s effort to make safer vehicles has earned it top safety ratings from around the world. Audi’s endeavors to make safe cars are paying off in the US. This year, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has awarded 7 Audi models with its Top Safety Pick Award. 5 have earned the Top Safety Pick+ designation, like the Audi A5. A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration video showed how the Audi Q8 earned its 5-star side-impact safety rating. +++
+++ The second-generation BMW M2 is available with a 6-speed manual transmission but interestingly, it is an option that costs €500 extra. This is rather unusual as automatics have traditionally been more expensive than stick shifts. During a recent interview, BMW M chief executive Frank van Meel revealed the main reason why the manual costs more comes down to volumes. The vast majority of the brand’s models are sold exclusively with automatic transmissions and just a handful, like the M2, even offer a manual. “For us, it’s quite an effort”, van Meel told. “The manual is slower and results in a higher fuel consumption and sometimes has also a lower top speed, so the manual actually from an engineering standpoint made no real sense anymore”. Van Meel then referred to the manual transmission as “more like a heritage thing”, adding that it is only offered because some customers demanded it. “We had a lot of customers that said, well, I want to ride the beast and I want to show that I can do that and I need a manual transmission”, he described. Unfortunately, BMW’s manual won’t be around forever. In June, the head of development for BMW M, Dirk Hacker, revealed that the current M2 will likely be the company’s last model offered with a stick shift, suggesting that it will die out when the current M2 is axed around 2030. “It’s not only a decision of BMW, it’s also a decision of the suppliers”, Hacker said. “If you take a look around, you will see the future for manual gearbox suppliers will decrease. So I’m not sure we will have the possibility in the future, but in the future means 6 to 7 years in forecast”. +++
+++ BYD is adopting a similar approach to Japanese car manufacturers decades ago in rapidly expanding its presence through Southeast Asia, quickly establishing itself as the EV leader in the region. The Chinese car manufacturer has established distribution partnerships with large conglomerates in various nations in Southeast Asia. This approach has allowed it to expand its reach, navigate complex government regulations, and test consumer preferences. The strategy, combined with low prices, has made BYD a hit. In fact, 26% of all EVs sold in Southeast Asia in the second quarter of 2023 were BYD models. The Atto 3 was the region’s bestseller and the proliferation of new BYD models saw EVs account for 6.4% of all new passenger vehicle sales in Southeast Asia in the second quarter, a dramatic increase from the 3.8% of the first quarter. According to Counterpoint Research senior analyst Soumen Mandal, “BYD’s primary focus is on brand proliferation rather than optimizing profit margins”. BYD is currently investing $500 million in Thailand to build a factory capable of producing up to 150.000 EVs every year from 2024 to be exported to other markets in Southeast Asia, as well as Europe. It has partnered with distributors including Sime Darby in Malaysia, Ayala Corp in the Philippines, Rever Automotive in Thailand, and Bakrie & Brothers in Indonesia. “If buyers are unsure or have any concerns, partnering with established players like Sime Darby, Bakrie & Brothers or Ayala Corp will give them the peace of mind, especially for aftersales support”, managing director from auto sales consultancy Urban Science, Chee-Kiang Lim said. BYD’s vehicles are proving particularly popular in Thailand. In fact, the country accounted for 24% of BYD’s overseas sales in the second quarter. BYD is also pursuing a particularly intriguing strategy in Singapore, launching 5 ‘BYD by 1826’ showrooms that double as restaurants.+++
+++ Germany hoped to use the Munich Auto Show to drum up support for the future of E-FUELS . Instead, the transport ministry dropped a proposed declaration, with less than a handful of countries lending signatures to the paper. Germany’s transport minister, Volker Wissing, has been advocating the use of synthetically produced fuels to open up options for reducing carbon emissions produced by passenger cars. Germany and Italy have been quite vocal about the need to support such alternatives, with both countries lobbying for the European Union to include a loophole in its proposed ban on the sale of internal combustion engine cars, set to be enforced from 2035. E-fuels have been touted as another alternative to reducing carbon emissions from passenger vehicles. Those who support their further study often warn of the dangers that come about from relying on a single energy source, such as battery power. But only the Czech Republic, Japan and Morocco showed support for the endorsement. It’s noted that both Japan and the Czech Republic have sizeable automotive industries, while Morocco is hopeful of capitalizing on its potential to use green energy to generate hydrogen. The report cites 2 industry officials with knowledge of the declaration. They claim that the lack of support prompted Berlin to drop its plans. The proposed declaration asked signatory nations to commit to investing in new e-fuel plants, share knowledge, and defend “technological neutrality” in the development of clean vehicle technology. That could be interpreted as a request for countries to refrain from relying solely on EVs. The German contingent also argued that by backing e-fuels, unspecified nations in the Global South would benefit from industrial opportunities in places with low wind and solar electricity production costs. There still remains a very real challenge over the added cost of synthetic fuels. Currently, e-fuels are only being produced in small quantities. The EU is looking to use e-fuels to help transition other large polluting industries such as aviation. However, a question mark remains over the viability of their use in passenger vehicles. +++
+++ In the United States, the United Auto Workers union and big automotive brands like FORD are throwing big punches in the media. That continued yesterday, less than 24 hours away from what could be a historic strike with Ford’s boss Jim Farley saying that accepting the current proposal from the UAW would bankrupt the company. That’s a bold statement considering that Ford is the only legacy American brand to never file for bankruptcy. Farley laid out his position regarding the ongoing talks between the UAW and automakers. “Everyone imagines we’re in some room squirreled away doing this final negotiation and that’s what we’d love… but nothing is going on”, he says. “We’ve received no counter-offer from Shawn Fain and the UAW”, he continued. Farley claims to not understand what is going on over on the UAW side: “In 80 years we’ve always been able to work through these differences because we’re always on the side of labor at Ford. We have the highest UAW headcount, we have more people than anyone, we build more vehicles, and we’ve never seen anything like this”. In fact, he presents the issue as “You want us to choose bankruptcy over supporting our workers”. Farley then said that the average pay under the unions’ proposal would be nearly $300.000 and compared that to the much lower figure that teachers, military members or firefighters can sometimes make. Perhaps that’s a bigger indictment of how little those other professions make or how much more they need a union themselves. In any case, Farley’s comments came mere hours away from what could be a major shutdown of production for Ford, General Motors and Stellantis in the Motor City. “I’ll tell you this, I’m at peace with a decision to strike if we have to because I know that we’re on the right side of this battle”, Fain told. “It’s a battle of the working class against the rich; the haves versus the have-nots; the billionaire class against everybody else”. The union is working to re-introduce cost-of-living adjustments, enhance profit sharing, and get closer to the kind of increases (percentage-wise) that executives at these companies enjoy on a regular basis. +++
+++ Crossovers and SUVs can be a lot of things. Spacious, convenient and even powerful. But can they ever truly be sporty? HYUNDAI designer Nicola Danza doesn’t think that his company’s SUVs are, and that’s why he is working to remove “sporty” design language from its unsporty vehicles. Danza is reacting to a rise in SUVs and large crossovers that have coupe-like rooflines, blistered wheel arches and all of the other trappings of sports cars, despite possessing none of their performance characteristics. “In this segment we realized that all the cars tended to look the same”, Danza told. “They’re all slanted and trying somehow to be a sporty SUV that they’re not. They’re big, they’re huge. How many blisters can you put on the body side to pretend that you’re sporty?” So, when he and his team were working on the new Santa Fe, they challenged themselves to “make an anti-design car”. They wanted the car to be more practical and that meant making it boxier, “so let’s make boxy cool again”. “We forced the designers to really think whether they needed each line and each blister”, said Danza. “It was kind of like a Giugiaro way of designing cars from the 1970s. As a provocation to our management, we showed them the first model of this car with square wheels. It’s a box, so let’s make everything boxy. Actually, it’s been one of the most fun projects I’ve worked on”. Danza admits that the team took inspiration from others in the automotive world, including Jeep, which is also engaged in its own mission to make boxy design work in an industry increasingly obsessed with electrification. “There’s a lot of companies around the world that are going into the crossover world, but Jeep will remain more… boxy world”, Daniele Calonaci, who designed the Avenger, told. “Right now, people ask to have high ground clearance, or a commanding position. A lot of people require electrification”. While a boxy design is less aerodynamic than, say, the Hyundai Ioniq 6’s streamlined shape, Calonaci said he was willing to give up a few miles to create a vehicle that works better for Jeep customers. He argued that crossover-coupes have no real headroom, “so when you are on the highway during the summer, you have a lot of crossovers with a roof box because they don’t have space in the trunk. Jeep will remain boxy. Maybe we will lose 2 kilometers in the range, but in the end we will make our customer happy”. He claims that the by making practical, boxy designs that look good, Jeep can help ease customers into the EV transition. Meanwhile, Danza said that the boxy shape of the Santa Fe will likely open it up to customization. “You can personalize it too”, continues Danza on the Santa Fe. “In Korea there will be a Calligraphy version which is lowered with big wheels, whereas in America I’m 99 percent sure that they’re all going to lift them, put bigger wheels on and go off-road”. It’s part of their mission to make vehicles that live up to customer expectations, and maybe even earn a place in their hearts. +++
+++ Production of the current MERCEDES G-Class is set to cease in early 2024 but fear not as a facelifted model is just around the corner. An internal letter within Mercedes-Benz from September 12 states that production of the current G-Class will end in the first quarter of 2024 but fails to specify a date. Nevertheless, this will mark the end of an era as the upcoming facelifted G-Class will be the first iteration that is electrified. Not only that but the facelifted G-Class will also spawn the all-electric EQG. The current-generation Mercedes-Benz G-Class was first unveiled in early 2018 and is currently built at Magna Steyr’s production facility in Graz, Austria. It benefited from a series of improvements over its predecessor, including the implementation of a variable-ratio rack-and-pinion steering system as opposed to the old model’s recirculating ball steering system. It also comes loaded with many more active and passive safety systems. The facelifted G-Class will look quite similar to the current model but Mercedes-Benz has confirmed that it will have greatly improved aerodynamics, a change it was forced to make to boost the range of the EQG. “When you really go into the details of the car, we have changed things”, the boss of the G-Class business unit Emerich Schiller told recently. “Most customers won’t see it, even if they stand in front of the car, but the change in some cases had a really dramatic improvement to the aerodynamics. We really improved the aerodynamics without changing the shape, and what we’ve learned with the electric version we will put to the combustion engine car. So when the facelift comes next year, the cars will have most of the aerodynamic improvements as well, with a tremendous reduction in fuel consumption”. +++
+++ Earlier this week, TESLA announced that it had just built its 5 millionth car, a massive achievement for the company that has quickly become the EV leader and is now the envy of much of the industry. The popularity of Tesla vehicles has soared over the past 3 years thanks to the brand’s ever-growing lineup. In fact, it took Tesla twelve long years to build its first 1 million vehicles, a mark that it hit in March 2020. Production has soared since then, passing the 2 million mark less than 18 months later, reaching 3 million within 11 months, and then topping 4 million vehicles built just seven months later. It has since taken 6.5 months for Tesla to build its 5 millionth vehicle. It was less than 2 weeks ago that Tesla’s Chinese factory celebrated building its 2 millionth vehicle, a staggering figure considering that production at the site only started in late 2019. Tesla officially lists the Chinese factory as having an annual capacity of over 750.000 vehicles but in reality, it is thought to be closer to 1 million units, making it Tesla’s biggest production site. Tesla’s next most important factory is its home in Fremont, California. The site currently builds the Model 3, Model Y, Model S and Model X and has a combined annual production capacity of 650.000 units. The Berlin factory is rated at 375.000 units annually while the Texas factory can produce around 250.000 vehicles annually. The car manufacturer has indicated that production will fall slightly in Q3 due to various factory upgrades, such as those made in China to build the new Model 3. However, once production of the Cybertruck ramps up in Texas, Tesla’s production figures are likely to cross the 6 million mark in early 2024. +++
+++ Much has been made of Tesla’s adoption of so-called “gigapresses” that can create larger pieces, and make cars with fewer parts. TOYOTA recently called the Model Y, which uses this technology, a “work of art,” and has now shown off its own gigapresses in Japan. Toyota has been slow to adopt electric vehicles, but recently announced that it is looking to build 3.5 million per year by 2030. Although its existing internal combustion vehicles are made with platforms designed for efficiency, it doesn’t believe it can use them to make a profitable electric vehicle, where batteries and novel technology drive up costs. During a demonstration at its Myochi plant in Japan, the automaker showcased the process of pouring molten aluminum into a mold, resulting in a single piece that constituted the entire rear third of a vehicle chassis. In its current vehicle manufacturing process, achieving the same portion of a car requires 86 parts, 33 steps and several hours. However, with this new gigacasting machinery, it would take just about 3 minutes. Toyota built its first gigacast prototype in September 2022, and has been continually refining it since. Now, it’s more efficient and quicker to adapt for various vehicle models. The company still aims to achieve 20 percent higher productivity than its competitors using this new technology. This innovation will be employed in manufacturing the front and rear sections of a forthcoming electric vehicle, slated for release in 2026. In addition to the new casting technology, Toyota is also looking to make the rest of its factory more efficient. Since EVs require more factory space to manufacturer than internal combustion vehicles, it is also looking to minimize its use of conveyor belts. To do that, it will utilize its advanced technology and the fact that EVs can run indoors. Partially built vehicles will move at 0.1 meters per second to meet an autonomous robot that can lift the vehicle and take to other areas of the factory. While smaller companies like Tesla have the benefit of being able to produce just a few models, Toyota’s chief production officer, Kazuaki Shingo, said that it is “learning new options from specialized EV makers to take on the challenge” of producing the vehicles. +++
