Toyota has announced a $373.8 million investment in five U.S. manufacturing plants that will support production of its first American-made hybrid powertrain and to implement Toyota’s New Global Architecture at its Alabama plant. Each of the projects is scheduled to begin this year and all should be operational by 2020.
The investments will include adding new production of hybrid transaxles (hybrid vehicle transmissions) at the Buffalo, West Virginia, manufacturing facility; expanding 2.5-liter engine capacity at the Georgetown, Kentucky, plant; increasing production of 2.5-liter cylinder heads at Bodine Aluminum’s Troy, Missouri, plant; and modifying the Bodine Jackson, Tennessee, plant to accommodate production of hybrid transaxle cases and housings and 2.5-liter engine blocks. The Huntsville, Alabama, plant will undergo a comprehensive upgrade to enable it to build engines that complement TNGA.
In its inaugural year, the all-new 2017 Chrysler Pacifica led all minivans. The Dodge Charger won its segment for the third time in four years while the Dodge Durango led its segment for the fourth time in five years.
Jeep Wrangler 4-door was previously named the best Entry SUV three consecutive years (2014 – 2016), but this year the Wrangler 4-door’s two-door sibling (Wrangler) led the segment.
"Customers increasingly measure 'Quality' by the 'Total' experience. Yes, counting problems factors in, but getting things right and presenting innovative experiences that people love has great impact,” said Christopher Chaney, Senior Vice President – Strategic Vision. “FCA has done all of this with segment winners Dodge Charger and Durango, Jeep Wrangler and now the Chrysler Pacifica, which redefines its segment."
Audi of America reported a July sales increase of 2.5 percent to 18,824 vehicles, led by the Q7, the Q3 and the new A5 Sportback.
July was the 79th straight month of record sales for Audi of America. The previous July record was set last year with 18,364 deliveries. Through July, Audi has sold 121,795 vehicles in the U.S., outpacing the premium market.
Audi SUV sales were 9,338, led by 3,334 deliveries of the Q7, the model’s best month ever. The Q7 has now risen 18 percent this year through July. Sales of the Q3 rose 3.8 percent to 1,888. Through the first half of the year, Audi SUV sales have risen 4.1 percent. Deliveries of the new Q5 are down because of inventory constraints. For the year, Q5 sales have risen 11 percent to 29,863.
The new A5, including the coupe, Sportback and Cabriolet, more than tripled to 2,255 vehicles, led by the Sportback, with 1,164 deliveries. The A4 sedan posted sales of 2,652, a 1.5 percent increase for the month and 14 percent year-to-date, as Audi sedans continue to outperform a challenging market for sedans.
“Audi is showing that you can win in a challenging segment with design and technology, based on the positive customer response,” said Cian O’Brien, chief operating officer, Audi of America.
-- Press release courtesy of Audi
|
AUDI US SNAPSHOT |
--MTD-- |
--YTD-- |
||||
|
Model Line |
July '17 Actual |
July '16 Actual |
Yr/Yr % change |
July '17 YTD Actual |
July '16 YTD Actual |
Yr/Yr % change |
|
A3 |
2,300 |
3,038 |
-24% |
14,837 |
19,622 |
-24% |
|
A3 e-tron |
218 |
349 |
-38% |
2,338 |
2,291 |
2.1% |
|
A4 |
2,652 |
2,612 |
1.5% |
19,921 |
17,531 |
14% |
|
A5 |
2,255 |
744 |
203% |
8,994 |
5,078 |
77% |
|
A6 |
1,218 |
1,822 |
-33% |
9,187 |
10,150 |
-9.5% |
|
A7 |
266 |
417 |
-36% |
2,556 |
3,473 |
-26% |
|
A8 |
270 |
327 |
-17% |
1,871 |
2,268 |
-18% |
|
allroad |
271 |
131 |
107% |
1,654 |
968 |
71% |
|
Q3 |
1,888 |
1,819 |
3.8% |
10,974 |
10,287 |
6.7% |
|
Q5 |
4,116 |
4,833 |
-15% |
29,863 |
26,819 |
11% |
|
Q7 |
3,334 |
2,322 |
44% |
20,066 |
17,063 |
18% |
|
R8 |
73 |
88 |
-17% |
554 |
350 |
58% |
|
TT |
181 |
211 |
-14% |
1,318 |
1,689 |
-22% |
|
Total Audi Sales |
18,824 |
18,364 |
2.5% |
121,795 |
115,298 |
5.6% |
|
Total CPO Sales |
4,594 |
4,066 |
13% |
26,831 |
27,130 |
-1.1% |
After a strong performance in the first half of 2017, the BMW Group is now focusing on expanding electric mobility and automated driving. The BMW iNEXT will set new standards in both of these fields and will act as a technological spearhead. It will be manufactured at Plant Dingolfing from 2021, underlining the significance of Germany for future technologies and as a centre of competence for electric mobility. Germany will also serve as a key location for the development of autonomous driving. As part of the co-operation arrangements established with Intel and Mobileye, the first engineers from all three companies will move to the new development campus in Unterschleißheim near Munich in the course of the current year. Moreover, one year since the co-operation began, a number of other prestigious partners including Delphi and Continental have also joined the project.
“Huge changes lie ahead in the world of mobility and it is vital that our company is in top shape to tackle them. Strategy NUMBER ONE > NEXT sharpens our innovative edge and strengthens our core business,” commented Harald Krüger, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG. “We are advancing rapidly in the field of electric mobility, today and into the future. No established competitor has been able to put as many electrified vehicles onto the roads as we have. In the future, our flexible architecture will enable us to decide quickly which and how many models to build with combustion, plug-in hybrid or all-electric drive systems. This flexibility in our product range is our key to success in times of volatility and uncertain forecasts.”
When the all-new 2018 Volkswagen Atlas and 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan arrive in dealerships over the next few months, they will carry the best transferable bumper-to-bumper warranty among SUVs in America: Volkswagen is offering a six-year or 72,000-mile (whichever occurs first) New Vehicle Limited Warranty, with coverage that’s transferable beyond the first owner.
“We specifically designed and built the all-new Atlas and Tiguan for American customers. This warranty further addresses the needs of American buyers head-on,” said Hinrich J. Woebcken, President and Chief Executive Officer of Volkswagen Group of America. “We’re confident in the reliability and workmanship of these SUVs, and we want our customers to be confident in their purchase. We believe this warranty will lead to reduced cost of ownership for Volkswagen owners.”
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