Duration : 0:8:40

Technorati Tags: autos, Bailout, committee, financial, hearing, industry, loans, mccotter, Services

The Asian country of China has been known to be a sleeping giant. However, it looks like the present state of the country is actually showing the world signs that the sleeping giant is already starting to stir and wake up. In the process, it would soon be considered as one of the largest manufacturers and powers in the entire world.

The country is known not only for its low cost labor but also for the products that it can actually send out to the world market and this does include vehicles and automotive parts. The entire automotive industry has been on the lookout for the Chinese entrants for they actually do know what kind of products the country could bring. However, it does seem like the country itself has already started to put a damper on things and would be putting a slow down sign for the Chinese auto makers. Although if you are a Mazda fanatic and you are on the lookout for those auto parts Mazda Navajo, you need not worry for Mazda products are primarily based in Japan, and not China.

Anyhow, this report has been given out by Reuters and the report does continue to say that such a damper has been brought about because the Chinese auto industry has quite gone into rapid development. If this does continue to happen, the mentioned industry could have overproduction problems in the near future. Even the country’s National Development and Reform Commission was reported to have said, “Signs of overcapacity have already appeared, and could worsen.” The NDRC is China’s top economic planner.

At present, it has been noted that China is currently the second largest in the world when it comes to production of automobiles and of auto products. Compared to a year earlier, the current year recorded an increase of twenty five per cent which equates to 6.45 million vehicles produced and this does not yet include the month of December.

A statement given out by the NDRC said that they would be asking auto companies in China to actually hit a given target when it comes to sales. The downside would be that if these companies do not hit the target. The commission could actually close the businesses down.

Kimberly Meyer
http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/auto-industry-in-china-to-slow-down-86684.html

The auto industry has always been known to be a dynamic industry. Year in and year out, car makers look for ways to improve their production vehicles. They focus not only on the performance of their car but also in the looks of these automobiles.

That is why car designers have always played a key role in the auto industry. In connection with this, car makers are always on the lookout for promising students. Lately, the industry has found a new spot where talented car design students thrive: South Korea.

While the country has only a short time of car making history compared to Japanese and Western countries, students from the country are touted to be one of the best in the world. Koreans have been employed by car manufacturers like Nissan and Mercedes-Benz. Some attributes that these South Korean designers have that impressed chief designers from the aforementioned car makers are their technical skills, work ethic, and creativity.

Shiro Nakamura, the chief Creative Officer and Head of Design for Nissan, said that: “When I first saw the sketches that Korean students were drawing, I was utterly shocked. Their design is very emotional and powerful. I hate to say it, but they are miles ahead of Japanese students, both in terms of design sense and technique. There’s no comparison”. He further said that Nissan will probably hire more Korean designers this year than Japanese ones.

The most known school where South Korean designers come from is the Hongik University which is located in the country’s capital. The university is the country’s top fine arts school. The Seoul-based school only offered the transportation design course in 1990, last year the number of students accommodated is doubled to 120.

Aside from homegrown talents, South Korea also produced some of the best young designers in the world. On of them is Jae Chung. He did not study in South Korea but out in the West. He graduated from the Art Center in California. Today he is now working for Dodge and the interesting fact is that he penned the Dodge Demon sports coupe currently on display at the 77th Geneva International Auto Show.

Ralph Gilles, the Vice President of Design for Chrysler, has this to say about Chung: “He was born in Korea and went to school in Pasadena. And it’s just like anything -you get exposed to the school, you get exposed to Chrysler and Dodge and out comes this new aesthetic.”

Another Korean, and also an alumnus of the Art Center, Han Seung Lee landed a job at Honda. Lee, in turn, penned the Sports 4 Concept shown to the public at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2005. This shows that Koreans have what it takes to take on the world of car designing as sure as a Mercedes H&K air filters are efficient when it comes to doing their job.

Another chief designer which expressed admiration toward Korean design students is Koichi Hayashi, Deputy General Manager of Design for Mazda. He said that: “There’s a real passion among Korean designers to advance and succeed that exceeds what you see in Japanese students.” Currently, he has four Korean designers working for him at their Hiroshima headquarters.

The emergence of South Korea as a source of talented car designers is a good news for Japanese car makers. Due to the similarities in language structure and working culture of Japan and South Korea, Korean designers have an edge over their Western counterparts when applying for a job in any Japanese car company. Furthermore, Koreans are more willing than Westerners to work for relatively low starting salaries offered by Japanese car companies.

According to Nakamura, “all the pieces are in place, right now, young Korean designers are most sought after by Japanese carmakers but they can make it in the West anytime.” But Korean students should not rest on their laurels since in the near future – other countries in the world will also be producing design students at par with them. Countries like China, Russia, and India have all invested in training their car design students to be competitive in the auto industry.

Mike Bartley
http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/korean-car-designers-set-to-conquer-auto-industry-115655.html

creates incentive for technological innovation, which will bring more industry into the country.

Duration : 0:9:26

Technorati Tags: ANPQP, apqp, automotive project management, chef de projet, formation chef de projet, formation gestion de projet, gestion de projet, gestion projet automobile, MS project, project management, projet automobile

auto body parts are a huge industry, since pretty much all car owners need them at least once in their lives. Cars that are damaged by accidents or wear and tear can leave owners trying to find the parts to replace them. Some parts such as rear view mirrors or steering wheels may seem easy to replace, but walking into one of the many stores that carry the parts will quickly change that opinion. There are so many to choose from and the price ranges vary so much, that you may not know which is the best one to get.

The sale of these parts are not limited to people who have had an accident or just want a nicer looking car seat. There are many hobbyists who rebuild cars from scratch, either to keep for themselves or to sell newly restored classic cars at a big profit. Trying to find parts for the older model cars is not easy unless you know where to look.

There are several options available when looking for auto body parts. One option of course is to go to a store that sells them, where you can find a huge array to select from. Another option is to go to a car dealer that sells the particular make of the car that you are trying to repair. A third option is to go to an auto salvage yard.

Auto salvage yards carry parts that you may not be able to get elsewhere and you can save a bundle by buying them there. These parts are salvaged from junked cars and since many of the cars are older models, their usually hard to replace parts are readily available in the salvage yards. People who restore cars want to get the original parts that were intended for them, right down to the ashtrays and car antennae. These are the people who most frequently come to auto salvage yards after experience has taught them that this is where they have the best chance to find the part that they want. These yards also have newer model cars that have been totaled in accidents, so you have a good chance of finding parts for these types of cars as well. You can get seats, mirrors, tires, and engine parts, such as starters or even belts. You can also get fenders, bumpers, side panels, hoods or any other part that you might need at a fraction of the cost that you would pay by purchasing them new.

Another way to get discount auto parts is from what’s known as the after market. These are parts that are made by manufacturers other than the original company, but are designed to fit a specific car. For example, if you own a Chevy and need a particular part, you can go to the aftermarket and get one without having to pay the expense of a part made by Chevrolet.

Gregg Hall
http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/a-look-at-different-segments-of-the-auto-parts-industry-58244.html

Duration : 0:6:32

Technorati Tags: brunswick, careers, cars, Dealers;, dealerships, nbada, new, training, trucks

Global recession has devastated the global auto industry with pinching effects on the Indian auto industry. India is a strong and growing economy but the hit of recession has put red marks on the entire balance sheet of the Indian economy.

Among the leading car manufacturers, General Motors and Ford were the first one to file for bankruptcy. GM is struggling to stay alive and claims that the company has just enough cash to continue its operations. Even the merger talks of GM and Chrysler have been officially brought to a halt because of the liquidity crunch.

U.S sales have fallen down by 32% which has directly affected the Indian car industry where GM has recorded a fall of 45%, Ford of 30% and Chrysler down by 35%. All the three major car manufacturers have reported declined growth after the hit of recession.

After the industry experienced a heavy fall in the month of August due to inflation, September proved to be a promising month with things setting out at the right place. Then again the market went in the negative terrain swayed by the wind of recession.

October usually is considered to be the best month for car sales because of the festive season. Unfortunately, this year it proved to be a curse for the Indian auto industry. At one end of the spectrum, car manufacturers like Tata Motors, GM, Hyundai, Ford, Renault, Mahindra, and Maruti Suzuki are investing huge amounts to establish new production plants and line up launch of car models. At the other end of the spectrum, SIAM has cut down the growth forecast of automotive sales from 12.5% to 9.5%.

This initiative taken by SIAM further forced few car manufacturers like Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki to cut down their production which further took away the job of almost 300 workers. Even Mahindra-Renault reduced the number of production units of their Logan.

In addition, the severe liquidity crunch in the U.S market has also forced many of the car buyers to cut upgrades to bigger cars and many are pushed back from buying new cars. With deteriorating car sales, even production has gone down to a great extent, which has eventually put a negative impact on the auto component industry.

In October, overall car sales declined to about 9.05% over October 2007 and the car production fell down to about 12.32%. Further to that even the month of November was not successful in bringing some charm to the industry. Infact, November recorded the steepest fall in car sales in the past five years.

Maruti Suzuki recorded a fall of 27%, Mahindra & Mahindra recorded a fall of about 40%, and Tata Motors showed 12% decline in the car sales.

It is also said that the recent Mumbai terror attack and the cyclonic rain in South India have added to the woes of Indian car manufacturers.

Carazoo.com
http://www.articlesbase.com/cars-articles/global-recession-hits-indian-auto-industry-671725.html

February may not be a lovely month for the auto industry. This is because of the remarkable auto parts supplier bankruptcies which are expected to begin this February. The information was divulged by Ford Motor Company’s global purchasing chief Tony Brown.

In a speech at the 2007 Automotive News World Congress, Brown said, “Industry experts and others at restructuring firms working with financially troubled suppliers expect we may well see in February the largest number of bankruptcy filings in the U.S. and Europe ever. The number of financially distressed suppliers that Ford has on our ‘watch list’ in 2007 has grown by 44 percent compared to this time last year.”

Brown added there could be some big-name “Tier 1” suppliers that are included in bankruptcy pandemonium. However, Brown did not go into specifics. “We’re not done yet,” he said. “There’s still excess capacity in the system.” Just as the Detroit automakers are trying to restructure to cope with the tough competition and reduction of demands, Brown said auto parts suppliers necessitate an immediate realignment.

Ford is standing by its restructure campaign called “Way Forward.” Said campaign resulted to several plant closures, job cuts and eventually the launch of upgraded vehicles that make up the latest lineup of the automaker. Ford is determined to alleviate its ailing condition by launching new vehicles that would capture both the needs and desires of auto aficionados. The present lineup and the forthcoming lineups are expected to showcase a brand new direction. Hopefully, this direction will not lead the automaker astray.

According to analysts in the auto industry, Ford is definitely moving forward but it lacks the acceleration needed. To circumvent this, the automaker intends to work more collaboratively with the remaining auto parts suppliers. Brown said Ford also continues to work with the other five largest automakers to create a steel purchasing exchange that would allow them to better weather the ups and downs of steel prices. He also divulged that the discussions started among them are continuing up to the present time. The automakers also are negotiating with steel producers, whom Brown said would also benefit from such an arrangement. “They need stability, too,” Brown concluded.

Aside from auto body parts suppliers, the automaker is also negotiating with air intake system manufacturers to enhance emissions and fuel efficiency level. Air intake is crucial in the reduction of restriction of air flow to eventually deliver greater power to the vehicle. There are ample of air intake systems available in the market. They vary in power and design.

Aside from Ford, the AEM cold air intake for the Dodge Dakota is said to be efficient. K&N, Volant and other sophisticated cold air intake filter system transform an ordinary vehicle into a high-performing auto machine. These vehicles scream hot performance.

Joe Thompson
http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/auto-industry-expects-supplier-bankruptcies-102152.html

My guess is the market failed due to government intervention and people had to pay taxes for the bailout? But I don’t know how and if this is even right.

Thanks to anyone who has some insite on this.

The recent trouble in the auto industry, U.S., domestic and foreign, started when the oil companies decided to raise gas and diesel prices to over three dollars for no good reason and our government was powerless to stop them.

You don’t buy new vehicles if you can’t afford to put gas into the old one you have already.