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Geely, local supplier Zhejiang Linmin and Faurecia are to form a joint venture and establish a global industrial zone in China. According to Global Times, they will construct factories across the manufacturing base of Geely Group,
A range of innovative advanced driver assistance systems are making their debut in compact cars. An emergency-brake assist is available for the first time ever. Continental also provides the PEPS remote locking and authorization system,
Volkswagen will take on an additional 50,000 workers worldwide, taking their global workforce to around 450,000 in the medium term, the company’s personnel director Horst Neumann told the German financial daily Handelsblatt.
After months of uncertainty, Porsche have been told by Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn that they will take the lead in developing sports cars and big luxury sedans for VW group. That was a blow to Audi,
Hyundai plan to unveil a global branding strategy under the concept “modern premium” in a bid to nudge its image upmarket and command higher prices more in line with the carmaker’s recent strides in quality and technology.
China’s passenger-car deliveries to dealers rose to a record in November as customers rushed to take advantage of government incentives supporting vehicle-buying that may expire at the end of the year.
Car sales in Western Europe fell by 9% in November according to JD Power Automotive Forecasting, but the firm says the pace of the fall has at least slowed from the previous month.
Uwe Kostanzer invited me two weeks ago to drive by night the Mercedes-Benz CLS car (See my report last week at www.DrivingVisionNews.com )
Before starting the drive, I had a long talk with him.
I met Uwe the first time in 2004 in a Valeo private flight from France to Spain for a meeting at Martos. He was starting in lighting but had already some knowledge. I discovered at Sindelfingen 6 years later a different manager who had a clear strategy and vision of the future of lighting, knowing very well his competitors and the strengths and weaknesses of his suppliers.
When questionned about his careful and cautious judgment, his answer was immediate: “I like to present what we have achieved with our team, and not what we will possibly do”.
About what was achieved by Mercedes on LEDs, he explains the good team job done in a close relation with AL and Philips on the CLS. The Mercedes-Benz philosophy “the best or nothing” means in lighting technology: constantly building on past achievements and only introducing innovations if they bring tangible benefits for the customers. And anybody who has a drive in a CLS with LED headlamps can realise what this philosophy means.
But Uwe Kostanzer is aware of the big 3 challenges still to be won:
– Lower complexity with the result of cost reduction will enable the chance of higher market penetration. The CLS has aprox. 350 pieces. This huge number has to be decreased. The system has to be simplified and more integration is a good lever.
– Less energy consumption. Today, we speak about 100Lm/W and sometimes 150Lm/W for the light source. In reality on the Mercedes CLS, there is less than 20Lm/W on the road – and this is absolute benchmark at the moment. That number is expected to double in the next 5 years. There is a potential of saving of 100W per car very soon in comparison with standard lighting devices.
– More styling differentiation. There are still huge possibilities working on the Mercedes signature without too much complexity and always with the optimum light performance.
However, Uwe is convinced that LED technology is the future of lighting thanks 3 main and great benefits:
The “Haus der Technik” congress has been held last week with the attendance of a board of experts and managers from car makers and lighting suppliers.
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