Notch will be presenting a paper on current conditions in the global carbon black industry at the Tire Tech Expo happening this week at the Hannover Messe, Germany. This giant conference/trade show is an absolute must for anyone interested in the tire industry. Notch is presenting on Day 2 (Thursday, May 19) during the “Solutions in Polymer, Filler and Compound Additives” session, which begins at 9:00 AM. There are many, many papers of interest over all three days, as well as a full trade show on-site. Hope to see you there.
May 16, 2022
December 2, 2020
GM raising EV spending, predicts 40% of US lineup will be electric by 2025
General Motors is increasing its financial commitment to electric vehicles and predicts that 40% of the company’s US entries will be battery electric vehicles by the end of 2025.
Chairman and CEO Mary Barra revealed that the company will offer 30 all-electric models globally by mid-decade. Forty percent of the company’s U.S. entries will be battery electric vehicles by the end of 2025. Barra also announced an increase in GM’s financial commitment to EVs and AVs today to $27 billion through 2025 – up from the $20 billion planned before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Climate change is real, and we want to be part of the solution by putting everyone in an electric vehicle,” said Barra. “We are transitioning to an all-electric portfolio from a position of strength and we’re focused on growth. We can accelerate our EV plans because we are rapidly building a competitive advantage in batteries, software, vehicle integration, manufacturing and customer experience.”
GM said in the press release that it plans to launch 30 EVs around the world by 2025, and more than two-thirds will be available in North America. Cadillac, GMC, Chevrolet and Buick will all be represented. More than half of GM’s capital spending and product development team will be devoted to electric and electric-autonomous vehicle programs.
August 14, 2020
Continental invests $4 million to expand Indiana site
The $4 million investment will not only upgrade the facility, it will bring more than 45 new jobs to northeastern Indiana, according a joint news release issued by Continental and the Indiana Economic Development Corp. It also will allow ContiTech to consolidate its vibration control technical center operations, currently in Michigan and Canada.
The Indiana facility should be fully operational by 2024.
U.S. auto sales outlook is still low, but shows improvement
A recovery began almost as abruptly as things fell apart in the spring, according to analysts who gave an economic overview of light-vehicle production and sales in a Zoom presentation Aug. 5 during the Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars
But it will take that recovery a long time to get back to the 17 million-plus U.S. sales levels of previous years.
August 12, 2020
Festival of Automotive to be held virtually for 2020
The Festival of Automotive conference will be held virtually next week from August 18-20. The meeting will encompass both the WardsAuto Interiors Conference and the WardsAuto UX Conference. Registration is now open for the 3-day event, which features informative sessions and insightful speakers.
July 17, 2020
EU auto registrations down 38% in first half of 2020
On July 16, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association released data on registrations of new passenger cars in the EU for June and for the first half of 2020. For the first six months of 2020, registrations were down 38.1% relative to the same period of 2018. Declines for the individual months are below:
- January: -7.5%
- February: -7.4%
- March: -55.1%
- April: -76.3%
- May: -52.3%
- June: -22.3%
Over the first half of 2020, EU demand for new passenger cars contracted by 38.1%, the result of four consecutive months of unprecedented declines across the region. Among the four major EU markets, Spain saw the biggest decline (-50.9%) so far this year, followed by Italy (-46.1%), France (-38.6%) and Germany (-34.5%).
May 11, 2020
April 28, 2020
Amid global pandemic, IHS sharply lowers 2020 global light vehicle sales forecast
IHS Markit, which tracks automotive sales and production trends, sharply lowered its 2020 forecast for global light vehicle sales in response to COVID-19 pandemic, warning that the US will take the biggest hit.
IHS expects global light vehicle sales to fall 22% from prior estimates of more than 12%. In the US, IHS expects auto sales to fall 26.6% compared with a year earlier.
IHS estimates global light vehicle production to drop 21.2%.