If you're a development engineer on a new car project nothing is more guaranteed to put you off your stroke than a change of company ownership and a consequent change of platform.
But Opel senior development engineer Thomas Wanke told just-auto this week he and the team at Opel took that in their stride. After all, General Motors Europe had already collaborated with PSA on small cars which begat the Crossland X and Grandland X and work was proceeding apace on a Corsa replacement on an earlier platform when PSA bought GME and decreed the new Corsa would be built on PSA's CMP platform, one which underpins the Peugeot 308. According to Wanke, prototypes were ready several years ago but the work didn't go to waste – a notchback (saloon/sedan) derivative became a Buick Excelle for China. As for having to use CMP: "It's a very modular architecture with different wheelbases and track width, three different rear compartments". I've yet to try PSA's Peugeot 208 variant but it's quite remarkable how Wanke and co have taken this French platform and given the Opel/Vauxhall version a German look and feel even though some bits are still obviously PSA. Like the cracking little 1.2 I3 turbo petrol engine and an excellent eight-speed automatic. You'll call this badge engineering at your peril. Wanke also noted the PSA purchase of GME "really opened doors" compared with developing the Crossland. When there were two cooperating but two rival companies, there were PSA secrets to be kept from GME but that "immediately changed and we were also able to influence the architecture". In a good way. And an EV version is to come.
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Unfortunately, we don't get a crack at products in other markets from what's left of GM but learned this week the automaker is hoping that offering its Flint, Michigan-built three-litre I6 diesel in two new full-sized SUVs will give them an advantage over competitors. Chevrolet's 2021 model year Tahoe and the long wheelbase 2021 Suburban have independent rear suspension for the first time in the models' decades long history and can be optionally equipped with air springs. The new models are the first SUVs for GM's VSS-T body-on-frame architecture. Dimensions have changed dramatically for the Tahoe, which gains 170mm over the current, 202-inch long model. The Suburban is also lengthier, although only by 33mm. Buyers of both models have the choice of three engines, each of which is linked to GM's 10L80 10-speed automatic gearbox.
Staying with GM, the Australian brand Holden has had a torrid time since local manufacturing ended and it shifted to imports from the remainder of the empire. Now we learn it will is cull the Opel designed, PSA-built Astra and Commodore [Insignia], the final two car models in a line which will soon be reduced to one pickup truck and four SUVs. The embattled brand recently lost its managing director and was last month reduced to 12th place in Australia, a market it once dominated, albeit with a lot of government protection for most of the time. The reinvention of the Commodore [the 1979 original was a blend of strengthened Rekord body and Senator nose with local I6 engines] as an imported front wheel drive hatchback and wagon range has not worked for Holden, the Opel-built cars failing to succeed in a segment which has been contracting for many years. For the year to the end of November, Commodore registrations in the Aussie market numbered a mere 5,417 units, with just 309 delivered during November. Facing up to the inevitable after several years of slow sales, Holden's new interim chairman and managing director Kristian Aquilina said the Commodore and Astra would be phased out in 2020. The equivalent Opel/Vauxhall Astra was facelifted some months ago in Europe but the update will not happen for the Holden and the same applies to the Insiginia-based Commodore. A restyle for the Opel original premieres at the Brussels motor show in January and goes on sale across Europe soon after.
Tata Motors' Jaguar Land Rover retail sales in November 2019 were down 3.4% year on year to 46,542 vehicles. Sales continued to improve in China (up 29% year on year) marking the fifth consecutive month of double-digit sales growth in the region. North America also grew (4.9%), achieving record November sales. Sales were down 10.8% in the UK reflecting lower industry and lower incentives on selected models, Europe was off 16.8%, largely reflecting higher sales a year ago ahead of tax changes in certain jurisdictions), and Overseas was down 16.7% due largely to Russia and MENA. Model highlights included the redesigned Range Rover Evoque (up 25.2%), the refreshed Land Rover Discovery Sport (up 4.4% and just launching in China), as well as the Land Rover Discovery (up 15.5%) and Range Rover Sport (up 4.8%).
You probably like the fact your smartphone or tablet gets a regular operating system update 'over the air' once in a while. Slowly, that's coming to cars, Tesla being notable. Now Jaguar Land Rover is in on the act with Jaguar using technical knowledge gained from the I-Pace eTrophy race series to give current owners a range-boosting software upgrade which will also add enhanced Software-Over-The-Air functionality. Dealers will carry out the upgrade. The update optimises the management of battery, thermal and AWD systems to enhance the efficiency of the all electric powertrain. The race series puts the EV SUV through extreme use conditions and the first competitive season yielded critical learnings for the durability and thermal control of the battery and torque management systems. Engineers have also analysed data from 50m miles of real world journeys from all corners of the globe.
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By GlobalDataIt's been an especially hectic 2019 for Tesla. The car making division has been working through a large bank of orders for the Model 3, the Model Y and Cybertruck have been shown as prototypes, plans revealed for vehicle and battery production in Germany, and any day now, the first vehicles are due to roll off the line at the Shanghai factory. There is even more to come in the 2020s.
West European new car sales grew by 4.2% year-on-year (YoY) in November according to data released by LMC Automotive. LMC said the result was one of relative improvement – against November 2018's WLTP-related weakness – rather than a story of strong underlying demand in November 2019. Rats. Nonetheless, gradual 'normalisation' from a weak September 2019 SAAR continued with this year having seen more muted WLTP distortions than 2018. The West European selling rate reached 14m units a year in November, moving upwards from 13.5m units a year in October and 13.1m units a year in September.
Have a nice weekend.
Graeme Roberts, Deputy Editor, just-auto.com
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