India and specifically Tata have found in recent years just how difficult it is to run a car company - or race team, with several struggling financially or not able to get product to market. Recently Force India changed hands, the Formula 1 team was put into administration in August by the High Court in London. At the time I suspected that Lance Stroll, a junior F1 driver would be involved in a deal - sure enough his very wealthy father acquired the team. It was always clear that the younger Stroll was in F1 due to a sizeable pot of cash. Recently, Motoring Weekly wrote about FIAT Chrysler trying to stop Mahindra from selling a vehicle in the US, showing just how competitive this industry is. Tata has struggled in a different way. Remember the Nano? This was supposed to be the volkswagen of India - the "peoples car". However it was dogged from the beginning by politics, poor quality and poor strategy. What hurt it the most was that it was cheaper than any other vehicle in the … [Read More...]
Industry
FCA Attempts To Stop Mahindra Selling in US
FIAt Chrysler have sent a shot across the bow of Mahindra and Mahindra who are now assembling an evolution of an old AMC Jeep design in Detroit. They are worried that a Jeep buyer would settle for a clone.
Will Opel Shift Jobs Rather Than Redundancies?
The PSA Group is in talks with Segula Technologies to transfer up to 2,000 workers from Opel in Germany and then contract them back.
Mercedes-Benz EQC Range
Mercedes-Benz have launched their EQC range – fully electric vehicles starting with an SUV. Production will commence in January at a European factory first.
The Electrification of Europe
With more and more electric cars being manufactured in Europe, there is a growing demand for lithium-ion batteries. With new battery manufacturing plants opening up to satisfy demand, the world could run out of lithium quite quickly.
Technology
Ford Focus RS Drift Mode
Ford upset some of the media when they introduced a “drift” mode on the Focus RS, however all the grumbling missed the technology that made it happen!
Coventry Climax Racing Engines
Coventry Climax were a provider of racing engines during the 1950s and early 1960s including for Formula 1 and Formula 2. They dropped their support of Formula 1 when the series moved to a 3-litre class in the mid 60s.
Fast Charging with Fast Food
McDonalds and Nuon will install two fast charging stations at every restaurant in the Netherlands. It is part of the food chain’s corporate social responsibility plan and will help to use more green energy through wind power.
Public Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
A partnership has come up with a way to re-use existing infrastructure to provide electric charging points in urban environments.
