Blog: Automotive Design & Production

Automotive Production

By: Gary S. Vasilash - November 13, 2018 at 6:58 AM

Although this may be a rather déclassé observation, the people at Aston Martin Lagonda are certainly not fooling around, as the company has announced that the work on the St Athan production facility in Wales, where the company’s 2020 DBX sport utility vehicle will go into production starting in 2019, is nearing production readiness.

Automotive Powertrain

Hyundai Going Forward In a Number of Ways

By: Gary S. Vasilash - November 12, 2018 at 6:05 AM

On the morning of November 8, Mike O’Brien, vice president, Corporate, Product and Digital Planning at Hyundai Motor America, took the wraps off what will be the flagship SUV in the company’s lineup, the three-row Palisade.

Sponsored Content

What Lightweighting Technologies Are Making CAFE Standards Attainable?

November 09, 2018 at 6:00 AM

Technologies like microcellular injection molding and 3D printing have increased the lightweighting options available to manufacturers, but how do design engineers adjust?

Automotive Electronics

Otonomo Makes Driver Info Anonymous

By: Gary S. Vasilash - November 08, 2018 at 6:42 AM

Although people like the ability to be connected when they’re driving their vehicles, what they probably don’t know—and what they probably wouldn’t like at all—is the fact that there is a whole lot of information about them that is capable of being obtained through that connectivity.

Is the Opposed-Piston Engine Becoming More Real?

By: Gary S. Vasilash - November 07, 2018 at 1:28 PM

Achates Power has been working on its opposed-piston engine technology—which it claims is more cost effective than a traditional engine (thanks, in part, to the elimination of such things as a cylinder head and valve train), easier to produce, and potentially “approximately 50% more efficient than today’s gasoline engines” (the Achates engine runs on gasoline, diesel, natural gas. . .)—since 2004.

Renewable Diesel in Sweden

By: Gary S. Vasilash - November 07, 2018 at 10:28 AM

While on the subject of diesel fuel, it is interesting to note that a Finland-based company, Neste Corporation, is launching its fuel, “Neste MY Renewable Diesel,” in the Swedish transport market, interesting because this is a biodiesel that, according to the company, produces 90% less greenhouse gas emissions than dinosaur-based diesel fuel.

Diesels Meet Standards: Celebrations Not Required

By: Gary S. Vasilash - November 07, 2018 at 7:17 AM

Euro diesels actually have low emissions according to a new study from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), which studied approximately 270 new diesel vehicles and checked them against the Euro 6d-TEMP standards.

Automotive Powertrain

2019 Toyota Corolla XSE Hatchback

By: Gary S. Vasilash - November 06, 2018 at 6:47 AM

Back in the late ‘90s, Toyota has an internal research organization named the “genesis group.” An objective was to discern not only what the OEM’s existing customers were interested in, but also what the emerging generations would like Eventually it gave rise to Scion, but in the interim it noted that the company offered an array of vehicles ranging from the ECHO to the Celica.

Automotive Powertrain

Engineering the GM Full-Size Truck

By: Gary S. Vasilash - November 05, 2018 at 6:11 AM

Through the third quarter of 2018 General Motor delivered 424,403 Chevrolet Silverados and 152,242 GMC Sierras, for a total of 576,645 pickups, which is a big number, but given that there is another quarter to go before the books are closed on 2018, the numbers are going to end up much, much higher.

Automotive Engineering

Polestar 1 Crash Tested in Sweden

By: Gary S. Vasilash - November 02, 2018 at 6:31 AM

This is the carbon fiber body of the Polestar 1, a low-volume hybrid that provides 600 hp and, perhaps so as to be a good global citizen, an electric-only range of 93 miles.

Why Tooling Spend Matters to You

By: Gary S. Vasilash - November 01, 2018 at 5:56 AM

The photo below shows a step in the process known as “hot stamping,” wherein the material is heated before it is stamped, such that the material is sufficiently pliable to be formed without breaking the tooling: hot stamping is performed mainly for steels that are really, really strong (typically used for things like B-pillars on vehicles, so that this strength helps for safety in the case of a side collision); after the material is formed and cooled it is back to being formidable, but not formable. (Photo: Schuler AG) Body panels and components for the body-in-white (i.e., the vehicle before the exterior panels are fitted into place) are stamped.

Automotive Management

China and U.S. OEMs

By: Gary S. Vasilash - October 31, 2018 at 8:12 AM

When Ford announced its 3rd quarter earning on October 24, the official announcement said, in part, “Company revenue was up 3 percent year over year, with net income and company adjusted EBIT both down year over year, primarily driven by continued challenges in China.” The previous day, perhaps as a preemptive move to answer the question “If things are going poorly in China, what are you doing about it?, Ford announced that it was establishing Ford China as a stand-alone business unit.