Latest automotive analysis
Comprehensive coverage of the automotive industry's latest, breaking news brought to you by just-auto's leading network of international journalists.
Punch Powertrain on a rapid growth track
19 Sep 2017 | Calum MacRae
Punch Powertrain is a transmission supplier that’s creeping up on the rails of the more established suppliers such as Aisin, JATCO and ZF and is providing them with stiff competition. Since 2013 it’s achieved average annual growth of around 50% and has plans to take its capacity from 1.2 million units at the end of this year to over 3 million units by 2020. It’s headquartered at Sint-Truiden in Belgium and is a major supplier of CVTs to Chinese domestic OEMs from its manufacturing plant in Nanjing, China.
Management briefing - Frankfurt motor show overview
18 Sep 2017 | Glenn Brooks
Did Mercedes-AMG win the battle of the clicks for news coverage from the 2017 Frankfurt IAA? The Project ONE hypercar was certainly one of the highlights - when did we last see an F1 engine in a road car? In the world of important new production cars, the VW T-Roc and Polo were the stand outs, while for futuristic prototypes, Audi was surely the winner with its Aicon concept.
ANALYSIS - What the Giulia says about Alfa Romeo's future
15 Sep 2017 | Glenn Brooks
Alfa Romeo is at long last on the rise. Across Europe and in the US too, Giulia sales, after a slow start, are accelerating. In many ways, this D segment sedan is good enough to be compared with the best in its class. However, there are areas of concern.
ANALYSIS - Suzuki architectures and future models [updated]
15 Sep 2017 | Glenn Brooks
Often flying under the radar due to its small presence in Europe and China, as well as its withdrawal from the US market, Suzuki Motor Corporation is something of a stealthy giant. Its dominance of the rapidly expanding Indian market, the strength of its mini-vehicle sales in Japan and a strategy of remaining fiercely independent after a bust-up with Volkswagen mark out SMC as one of the world's most unusual and successful OEMs.
Suzuki already planning to triple capacity at new Indian plant
15 Sep 2017 | Glenn Brooks
Having opened its first car plant in the Indian state of Gujarat earlier this year, Suzuki Motor Corporation now says it will lift capacity of the 250,000 units per annum plant to 750,000 by 2020. The statement was made by chairman Osamu Suzuki at an event where a new battery factory was also announced.
Could VW axe the up! in Europe?
14 Sep 2017 | Dave Leggett
Small cars can be a headache for vehicle manufacturers. The problem is that model offerings have proliferated at the low-margin small car end of volume carmaker portfolios and it's something that appears to be exercising managers at Volkswagen Group right now.
ANALYSIS - Land Rover Discovery and future SVX
12 Sep 2017 | Glenn Brooks
Even though the Discovery hasn't long been on sale, Land Rover is adding more derivatives at either end of what is already a comprehensive line-up.
Interior design and technology - Honda Civic
11 Sep 2017 | Matthew Beecham
Since its launch in 1972, the Honda Civic has gone through no fewer than ten generational changes, each one slightly larger and rebadged for international markets. Continuing QUBE/just-auto's review of interior design and technology trends, we take a closer look at the latest incarnation of the C-segment Civic to discover what’s new.
Management briefing - Frankfurt motor show preview
7 Sep 2017 | Glenn Brooks
A lot has changed since the last Frankfurt IAA cars show took place two years ago. Opel and Vauxhall have been spun off from the GM empire making Groupe PSA Europe's second largest OEM by regional sales volume. And while diesels are increasingly seen as 'dirty', there is a certain irony that the first engines for the future Euro 6.2 emissions standard are now being announced.
ANALYSIS - Vauxhall Maloo marks end of GM's muscle-ute era
6 Sep 2017 | Glenn Brooks
The last rear-wheel drive vehicle to be manufactured in Australia will be produced on 20 October. This also means the end of an era for a vehicle which Vauxhall, but never Opel, has sold in tiny numbers: the V8-engined Maloo pick-up.
New four-cylinder SD4 Ingenium - best Range Rover Sport yet?
1 Sep 2017 | Glenn Brooks
Is JLR's Ingenium 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel engine up to the task of powering 2.1+ tonnes of Range Rover Sport? Perhaps surprisingly, the answer is not only a definite yes but if the other V6 and V8 options did not exist, this could well be all the RRS that anyone needs.
ANALYSIS - Ford's future global SUVs and pick-ups
30 Aug 2017 | Glenn Brooks
Following on from a look at what Ford Motor Company is believed to be planning for Lincoln, the second chapter of a three-part series turned to future Ford cars and minivans. The final instalment below concerns the blue oval brand's next generation of SUVs and pick-up trucks. Each feature includes details of autonomous, hybrid, PHEV, EV and/or hydrogen fuel cell models.
ANALYSIS - Crossland X and future Opel-Vauxhall SUVs
23 Aug 2017 | Glenn Brooks
At first sight, the new Crossland X, which steps in for the Meriva, appears to make no sense for Opel and Vauxhall. Isn't it the same size as the Mokka X? The now Groupe PSA divisions believe there is room below their existing B-SUV for a slightly shorter, narrower and lower crossover, but is there?
ANALYSIS - Ford's future global cars and minivans
22 Aug 2017 | Glenn Brooks
Following on from a look at what Ford Motor Company is believed to be planning for Lincoln, the second chapter of a three-part series now turns to future Ford cars and minivans. The final instalment will be all about the blue oval brand's next generation of SUVs and pick-up trucks. Each feature includes details of autonomous, hybrid, PHEV, EV and/or hydrogen fuel cell models.
Interior design and technology - BMW 5 Series
22 Aug 2017 | Matthew Beecham
When the first 5 Series was launched, way back in 1972, it heralded the introduction of a naming system for BMW model designations that are still in use today. The BMW 520 was the successor to the BMW 2000 Neue Klasse model. Since then, the range has sold some 7.6 million models worldwide. Launched in the UK earlier this year, the latest and seventh-generation 5 Series model is even more high-tech, efficient and accommodating. A staple of the executive car class, this popular model competes against the likes of the Mercedes-Benz E Class, Audi A6 and Volvo S90. Continuing QUBE/just-auto's review of interior design and technology trends, we take a closer look at the latest incarnation of the 5 Series.
Honda & Acura NSX: better than an Audi R8?
18 Aug 2017 | Glenn Brooks
What could better demonstrate the strange situation that Honda UK and Honda Motor Europe find themselves in than the NSX? Even if you pay the circa GBP33,000 list price for what had been the brand's priciest model until recently, there is then a GBP110,000 leap from there to the cheapest NSX. How on earth do they market this supercar?
Will Ford sieze an electric opportunity for Lincoln?
17 Aug 2017 | Glenn Brooks
It has been just over a year since what Ford calls The Lincoln Motor Company was the subject of a just-auto in-depth analysis feature. China is still nowhere near being the brand's largest market but sales there are up by a staggering 92 per cent and that's even without a local manufacturing presence. With things good in the US too, it surely won't be long before Lincoln returns to being a make selling in excess of an annual 250,000 vehicles worldwide.
ANALYSIS - More SUVs and an electric future for Jaguar
15 Aug 2017 | Glenn Brooks
Once in danger of going the same way as Saab or Lancia, Jaguar has been brought back to life via massive infusions of cash, intelligently spent. Thanks to the success of the F-PACE, it is probably now profitable too. Such are the plans for the ongoing transformation of the leaping cat brand, Jaguar's reinvention is really only just beginning.
How 900Nm and 48V make the Audi SQ7 TDI epic
11 Aug 2017 | Glenn Brooks
In the words of a friend who owns a Golf GTD and is a long time fan of multiple Volkswagen Group models, driving the Audi SQ7 would have to be "like propelling a municipal building at lightspeed". Is three times the torque output of most small diesel engines necessary, though?
ANALYSIS - Land Rover and Range Rover SUVs for the 2020s
9 Aug 2017 | Glenn Brooks
Land Rover is both the vehicle volume and profits powerhouse of not only JLR but Tata Motors Limited too. Thanks to a spark of genius which saw the L538 project take on Range Rover branding and pricing, what became the Evoque changed everything for Land Rover. Now comes the hard bit: new generations of the Evoque, Sport and Range Rover are being developed. Can Land Rover remain TML's biggest money spinner?
Automotive technologies through a patent lens
9 Aug 2017 | Guest
Aistemos is an analytics company that specialises in providing a view of the technology and innovation landscape through the lens of patent data. It says that through the use of AI, it has harnessed the worlds patent data to create a source of insights into companies and technology outlooks. In an exclusive article for just-auto, they illustrate an analytics solution designed specifically for those needing competitive intelligence about the automotive technology landscape.
Toyota C-HR waistline not a problem for Kidsview, as it turns out
7 Aug 2017 | Graeme Roberts
Consider a large slice of humble pie cut, served and eaten. Traitorous kids. Soon as Toyota last year started issuing early pix of the controversially styled C-HR crossover (people seem to love or hate it), I was convinced the high waistline would make the view out for little ('ish' in my case now) people. "Don't your designers have kids?" I fired at Toyota GB. "For the more conservative family, we have the RAV4," their soshul meedjah team tweeted back. Touche. I should have kept quiet. Finally, we get one in, the troop lines up for inspection, their first quick drive. No problem at all with the view out the back. So much for my problem with Toyota's waistlines (it also does this with the Aygo city car, unlike Peugeot and Citroen with their versions).
ANALYSIS - Picanto 1.0-litre and Kia's plans for A segment
7 Aug 2017 | Glenn Brooks
Known as the Morning in the country of its manufacture, the Picanto is one of Kia Motors Europe's best sellers. As an import from South Korea it won't ever be the regional segment's number one against the likes of the built-in-Europe VW up! and Fiat Panda. That doesn't mean that the new shape model isn't as good as these two or other A segment hatchbacks.
ANALYSIS - Tata Motors' future models under the microscope
4 Aug 2017 | Glenn Brooks
After the disappointment of the Nano and a series of underwhelming subsequent new vehicle releases, Tata Motors seemed to lose its way. Now, thanks to the success of the Tiago small car and a record overall Indian market for new passenger vehicles in the first half of 2017, Tata is firmly on the comeback trail and has even pushed the mighty Toyota down to sixth place. But will it be able to achieve its stated goal of becoming number three by 2019?
Toyota's French Yaris gets a Polish heart transplant
3 Aug 2017 | Graeme Roberts
Time was you could just about set your calendar by the Japanese automakers' model rollout programmes. Four years, more or less on the dot. Year one, after a Tokyo motor show debut, a new model; year three, new nose and tail, new dashboard; year one again, full redesign, at least of body and cabin. Engines often carried over and it was not unusual to see a new powerplant or two shoe-horned in, maybe in year two or four, carrying over to the next redesign. Simples.
New Insignia and Opel-Vauxhall's future under Groupe PSA
3 Aug 2017 | Glenn Brooks
It's August, once the month during which the northern hemisphere's automotive industry would quieten down. This being an odd-numbered year there's no chance of that, what with preparations for the Frankfurt IAA well underway. And now, Groupe PSA completing the acquisition of Opel and Vauxhall. The perfect time then to look at how those brands' newest car measures up.
ANALYSIS - What SAIC is planning for MG, Roewe and Maxus
2 Aug 2017 | Glenn Brooks
SAIC has two main passenger car manufacturing JVs in China. These are with the Volkswagen Group and General Motors. China's largest state owned OEM also has much in the way of plans for its own makes and it is these which are examined here below.
HZG project gives Groupe Renault two D-SUVs
31 Jul 2017 | Glenn Brooks
With the second generation Koleos, Groupe Renault is going bigger, and in markets such as the UK, that means a presence in the D segment for the first time in years.
ASEAN vehicle sales rise 8% in H1
28 Jul 2017 | Tony Pugliese
New vehicle sales in South-east Asia’s six largest markets increased by 4.8% to 781,800 units in the second quarter of 2017, from 746,304 units in the same period of the previous year, according to data collected exclusively for just-auto by AsiaMotorBusiness.com.
Why the Ford Mustang is so successful the world over
27 Jul 2017 | Glenn Brooks
Talk to Audi, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and BMW and you'll hear that sales of sports coupes and convertibles are in decline all over Europe. Ford's experience with the Mustang seems to be the opposite.
