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New Honda Pilot Produced Without Physical Prototypes
Honda Motor Co.'s plant in Lincoln, Ala., relied solely on computer simulation and test parts made by 3-D printers to validate manufacturing equipment and processes before launching the 2016 Pilot crossover vehicle this summer, Automotive News reports.
Ford Patents Flex Seat for Autonomous Vehicles
Ford Motor Co. received a U.S. patent earlier this month related to reconfigurable seat arrangements and interior layouts for self-driving vehicles, reports Business Insider.
Renault-Nissan Plan Big Job Cuts in India
The Renault-Nissan Alliance intends to cut production 50% at its assembly plant outside Chennai, India, and eliminate as many as 3,000 jobs in the country, according to The Economic Times.
Caddy Diesels Headed for the U.S.
General Motors Co.'s Cadillac unit will offer diesel-powered models in the U.S. early next decade, Automotive News reports.
GM’s Oshawa Plant Gets Another Extension
General Motors Co. says it will continue to operate its assembly line in Oshawa, Ontario, to 2017.
Toyota Extends Plant Closure in Tianjin
Toyota Motor Corp. says it will idle its assembly operations at Tianjin, China, through Saturday as officials continue to decontaminate last week's chemical explosion site near the city's wharf, Reuters reports.
Developers Target High-Capacity Lithium-Sulfur Batteries
A consortium of 15 companies, universities and research organizations have formed the Alise Project in Europe to develop and test lithium-sulfur battery technologies for next-generation electrified vehicles.
Share. Then Buy.
According to a recent survey by Enterprise Holdings—that’s the company that holds the car rental firms Enterprise, Alamo and National—“91 percent of millennials surveyed said it is extremely or very important to have their own car to accomplish daily work/life tasks.” Which is awfully good news for those who are concerned that this generation (ages 25 to 34) feels as strongly about driving as they do about flossing. (That may actually be Generation Z, but that’s another story.) One caveat is found in the small print of the study, which indicates that those surveyed, which was conducted via the Web, had to have rented a car in the six months prior to the study, be at least 25 years old, and actually own a car.
Toyota Idles Two Chinese Assembly Plants After Tianjin Blast
Toyota Motor Corp. has suspended production at two FAW-Toyota run plants in Tianjin, China, from Monday through Wednesday following huge double explosions on Aug. 12 at a warehouse in the area.
Apple Scouts a Car Test Facility in California
Apple Inc. has indicated interest is using a former naval base 40 miles northwest of San Francisco to test the self-driving car it is developing, the American edition of U.K.'s Guardian newspaper reports.