#Daimler
Strange Bedfellows: BMW Wants a Cozier Relationship With Daimler to Make Life Easier
According to BMW’s new head of purchasing, Markus Duesmann, the company intends to expand its cooperation with Daimler AG in acquiring automotive components from suppliers.
The competing automakers began their cooperative purchasing in 2008, limiting it to elements most manufacturers typically share already — items like seating frames, radiators, tires, or air conditioning systems. Despite the cost benefits and leverage from their massed buying power, the companies still keep each other at arm’s length. More recently, however, the two have managed to maintain a healthy rivalry while seeking mutually beneficial ventures together.
Daimler Figures Russia Has Pretty Much Bottomed Out, so Why Not Build a Plant?
Russia, the country where Shoviet Shub captain Sean Connery learned to fish, might be on the verge of a modest economic rebound.
After tanking hard in the wake of collapsing oil prices, the country’s rickety economic state prompted many automakers to abandon plans for production growth or pull up stakes altogether. General Motors was a noted casualty, though Lada sailed through the turmoil in fine shape.
Early last year, it seemed as if parent Daimler would head west instead of building a Mercedes plant in the Motherland. However, that’s no longer the case, according to the country’s trade and industry minister.
BMW, Daimler, Ford, and VW Are Planning a High-Power EV Charging Network to Connect Europe
Due to a wildly cooperative joint venture between German carmakers and the Ford Motor Company, owning an electric vehicle in Europe will soon become far more practical.
Daimler AG, BMW, Ford, and Volkswagen Group intend to establish a continent-wide network of ultra-fast 350 kW capacity charging sites that will begin juicing up vehicles as early as next year.
Across The Block: Carlisle Auctions, Lakeland, Florida
Well, that didn’t go as planned. Though, working from a baseball analogy, batting .250 isn’t too bad. More on last week’s picks later — on to the new stuff in sunny Florida!
For years, Carlisle has been shorthand for a series of massive swap meets in a central Pennsylvania town. I’ve not had the pleasure of a Carlisle event yet, but I’m imagining a million-acre orgy of rusty cars and parts. In other words, heaven.
TTAC News Round-up: Atieva Has a New Name and a New Sedan That Desperately Needs One
Atieva has a luminous new name for its company and a lightning-fast sedan without one.
That, the future of autonomous driving doesn’t need to include stopping for red lights, defective Takata airbags have claimed another life, and the E-Class is helping keep Daimler filthy stinking rich… after the break!
GLA45 AMG's Aerodynamics Package is Mercedes-Benz at Its Worst
Another Lawsuit Launched at Mercedes-Benz in Diesel Litigation Barrage
Mercedes-Benz’s parent company, Daimler, has been hit with a second lawsuit from a U.S. law firm that represents owners of diesel vehicles, despite recent evidence that could render the suit invalid.
The suit from now-familiar firm Hagens Berman accuses the German automaker of employing an emissions “defeat device,” a la Volkswagen, in its diesel vehicles, according to Reuters (via Automotive News).
The suit alleges the device must be the cause of laboratory emissions test results that show higher nitrogen oxide emissions than during real-world tests.
Mercedes-Benz Recreates 'Maximum Overdrive' in Europe
If you’re planning to drive between the Netherlands and Germany tomorrow, just know that self-aware trucks will be out there.
Convoys of automated transport trucks will be plying the highways between Stuttgart and Rotterdam as part of the European Truck Platooning Challenge, an initiative created by the Netherlands to develop and showcase connected vehicle technology.
TTAC News Round-up: Daimler Sets GPS to Poland, Porsche Execs Get Off, and Self-Driving Rules Coming
Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler is getting cold feet about opening a factory in Russia, and thinks it might just skip a little bit west.
That, two Porsche executives avoid the Big House, the NHTSA wants autonomous rules post-haste, Volkswagen seeks a quick way out of trouble, and Aston Martin wants an F1-inspired moonshot … after the break!
Daimler CEO: Google, Apple Further Along With Car Projects
Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said a recent trip to Silicon Valley revealed that tech companies such as Google and Apple were making significant progress on autonomous cars, German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported ( via Reuters).
“Our impression was that these companies can do more and know more than we had previously assumed. At the same time they have more respect for our achievements than we thought,” Zetsche said, according to the report.
Zetsche said he and other managers from the automaker met with tech companies in Silicon Valley, but didn’t disclose what those companies were.
TTAC News Round-up: Investors Pump the Brakes, Daimler's Dig, and Chapo's Crapwagon
Investors aren’t necessarily drinking automakers’ Kool-Aid that 2016 will be full of beer and Skittles.
That, the China-made Cadillac CT6 that’ll eventually get here, El Chapo’s cheapo getaway car and General Motors’ questions get down and dirty … after the break!
BMW, Audi, Mercedes Finish Purchase of Nokia's Mapmaking Division; Cartography Now Acceptable As College Major
No one will laugh at you for majoring in cartography anymore. Well, maybe not everyone. — Aaron
Daimler AG, Audi and BMW announced Friday that the trio had completed its purchase of Nokia’s mapmaking business, HERE, which the trio announced they were seeking to purchase in August.
The companies didn’t specify details about the transaction, and said they would announce more about their purchase on Monday. In August, the companies announced they were purchasing the mapmaking business, which provides cloud-based maps and data for more than 200 countries, to further develop “swarm technology” that could allow cars to communicate with each other.
Transaction Roundup: Daimler Trades Legal Chief To Volkswagen For Player to Be Named Later
Volkswagen announced Friday that Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt would join the embattled automaker from a similar post at Daimler after receiving approval from that automaker’s board of directors.
The Daimler board member and former judge will join Volkswagen on its Board for Integrity and Legal Affairs to help the automaker clean up its severely tarnished image after it admitted it had cheated emissions tests on more than 11 million cars worldwide. From Daimler:
In the interests of the Good Corporate Governance of the German automotive industry, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG has agreed to this request after consultation with the Presidential Committee of the Supervisory Board, after Compliance is anchored firmly at Daimler and its corporate culture.
(Emphasis mine on the sick, corporate burn.)
Daimler Launches Internships For Refugees in Germany
Daimler announced Wednesday that it would help Germany’s growing refugee crisis by offering “bridge internships” to 40 people along with German classes, transportation for aid organizations and food donations.
The company would put to work some refugees who have flooded the country to escape violence in nearby Middle Eastern countries. In all, Daimler announced it would put to work “several hundred” refugees after a 14-week course in helping them to learn the nation’s language and construction practices.
Daimler joins Audi in offering help to refugees in Germany, after that automaker announced this summer that it would donate €1 million ($1.1 million) to aid organizations.
Automakers' Denials of Cheating Actually Faster Than Many of Their Cars
This week, Daimler, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles issued statements on how their diesel cars don’t cheat like someone else you may’ve heard of.
“The BMW Group does not manipulate or rig any emissions tests,” BMW said in a statement Thursday. “We observe the legal requirements in each country and fulfill all local testing requirements.”
BMW’s admission is notable because the automakers’ X3 diesel model was targeted by the independent commission that discovered that Volkswagen’s cars illegally polluted.
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