Porsche Announces Entry to Vietnam
Porsche, the popular German auto maker, proudly announced its way into the broad auto market of Vietnam through the induction ceremony recently held in Ho Chi Minh City.
"We have closely watched the positive development of Viet Nam for the last couple of years, and now we are convinced, is exactly the right time to set up a Porsche business here," said General Director of the official Porsche importer in Viet Nam Prestige Sports Cars Co Ltd Andreas Klingler.
The German auto company launched some of its premier models in the ceremony. The launching covered the two-seat roadster Boxter, a five-seater Cayenne, and SUV the two-seater coupe Cayman. Porsche was very proud to announce that the automobiles they manufacture in Germany are now in Vietnam.
By 2008, Porsche intends to put up for sale about 30 automobiles in Vietnam.
Porsche has begun the construction of the Porsche Center Sai Gon in District 7. This facility will start its operation in July 2008.
Many critics say that the institution of a Porsche center in Vietnam, the Vietnamese market will enjoy better services in terms of accessories and design driver’s selection after sales, and sales. With that, the auto maker is pondering on creating another Porsche center in Ha Noi.
Japanese Auto Makers to produce Environment-friendly Vehicles in Thailand
A recent report from The Nikkei showed that two big-time automotive companies from Japan have opted to generate environment-friendly vehicles in Thailand.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp and Toyota Motor Corp are intending to spread out its production faculty by establishing one in Thailand. The two auto makers will start to produce around 100,000 units of ec0-convenient automobiles each year starting 2010.
According to a business daily in Japan, Toyota aims to invest approximately 17 billion yen, which is 151.83 million dollars. The ideal total investment it foresees is around 20 billon yen.
The government of Thailand has made a decision of offering tax breaks to automotive companies that are able to generate eco-convenient automobiles that have 1.3L or even smaller gas engines. Moreover, the tax breaks are applicable to vehicles that possess a fuel efficiency of 20 kilometers per liter.
Other auto makers such as Nissan Motor Co, Suzuki Motor Corp, and Honda Motor Co have already been allowed to implement their production efforts in Thailand. They intend to start the production in 2010.
Volkswagen’s Plan to Expand in US
Volkswagen AG intends to expand its market by capturing customers from the United States. Reports from media in Germany show that Volkswagen is actually eyeing US as a site where it can build a new facility. The construction of a new Volkswagen facility is something that would be beneficial not only the state in which the facility will be established, but also to many dealers of Volkswagen automobiles all over the country.
Since Volkswagen has not been very successful in marketing its products to the American market since the first Beetle was launched there, the automotive company is now serious with its plan to establish a strong assembly force in one of the states. If the plan to set up a Volkswagen facility in the US will push through, the automotive company will have to essentially do the design, engineering, and marketing of its vehicles.
Another part of the grand plan of Volkswagen is to absorb the large Japanese auto maker Toyota. On the other hand, before Volkswagen can actually accomplish such a big endeavor, it has to be open to certain adjustments to revolutionize its line-up.
The Battery of a Hybrid
In order to contribute in the preservation of the environment and to limit fuel consumption, some motorists choose to utilize hybrid vehicles. Automotive companies all over the world have been very successful in working out hybrid bugs. On the other hand, these hybrid bugs have a downside. Most hybrid motorists, especially those who own a Prius, complain of starter batteries that fail to function properly.
A Prius Hybrid is equipped with huge battery cells. However, this kind of automobile greatly depends on a little starter battery to start operating. If the Prius Hybrid is not used for even just a few days, this small battery will certainly be drained. This is because even if the vehicle is not in motion, the electronic monitoring feature of the Prius continues to function. Nonstop monitoring will definitely consume a significant amount of the battery’s power. This explains why vehicle owners who leave their automobiles at the airport parking lot for a week end up complaining that, upon their arrival, the engines of their vehicles no longer respond.
What must be done when the battery of a hybrid vehicle does not respond? There is one great solution – to press on the Go button of the vehicle. This can be done by making use of a battery switch. A battery switch has been one of the stuff considered vital by many race hybrid owners. This switch is helpful in executing an emergency power interruption.
Source: autorepair.com
Ford’s Contribution in the Development of the Auto Industry
Ford Motor Company is one of the internationally acclaimed auto companies that greatly take part in enhancing the state of the automotive industry. It established academic unions in the Nanjing University of Aeronautics (SJTU) and Shanghai Jiaotong University to increase the quality of research and development programs that initiate the innovation in various sorts of vehicles. The automotive company aims to help further the condition of the automotive sphere by supporting the academic courses that serve as a strong foundation of the automotive sector.
“NUAA and SJTU are widely renowned for their leading scientific research programs and academic reputations. The alliances with Ford will allow for high-level collaboration that will enhance mutual scientific and educational capacities, and leverage each other’s strengths and resources in the co-development of automotive technologies,” said Vice president of Research & Advanced Engineering at Ford Motor Company Gerhard Schmidt.
The two academic unions, which are the first associations to be established by Ford with universities in the Mainland China, each selected a Ford Motor Company Professor’s Chair. This official is responsible in helping make the beginning of the partnership between the university and Ford a lot easier. It is the duty of this Chair to help out in designing and carrying out various research programs that will significantly improve the automotive industry.
Toyota Negotiates with Indian Government on Import of Hybrid Vehicles
Toyota has been discussing with the government of India a proposal of bringing in completely built units of Toyota vehicles that are designed to promote the safety of the environment.
According to a Toyota Kirloskar Motor Company representative, the main point of Toyota in its negotiation dwells on lightening up the standards of the Indian government in order to attain permission to import completely built units like Prius.
On the other hand, officials from Toyota confirm the slow process of negotiation between Toyota and the Indian government. They said that it is very difficult to bring Prius to the Indian auto market since the government has always been strict with imports.
The international sales of hybrid vehicles produced by Toyota have in fact gone beyond a million units. According to Toyota Motor Corporation Project General Manager for Management Division Yutaka Matsumoto, Toyota intends to put on the market the same quantity of hybrid automobiles annually starting 2010. “For us, hybrid is our core technology. We have to see that we are able to adapt most of our models to hybrid technology,” Matsumoto said.
At the moment, there are eight models of Toyota hybrid automobiles. The first hybrid vehicle, Prius was introduced in the market in 1997. Eventually, hybrid vehicles broadened its market scope. These Toyota automobiles were promoted in Europe, North America, and other parts of the globe in 2000.
The Hybrid Automobiles of Toyota
The hybrid system works by merging various sources of power in order to get the most out of the strength of every source. The hybrid system that Prius uses puts together the high speed capability of its internal combustion engine and its electric motors’ low speed torque.
In 2003, the second production of Toyota Prius that is equipped with hybrid system II, started on. It boasted of both high road performance and environmental safety. The first production of these hybrid vehicles out of the country happened in in China in the year 2005. This was soon followed by the 2006 production of automobiles in in the United States.
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