AD #2388 – BMW Expands Presence in China, New Stitching Process Uses Lasers, Mercedes Upgrades Its Buses

On today’s show… China’s Baidu teams up with BMW and Hyundai to develop connected and autonomous technology… one supplier develops a faster way to stitch instrument panels together… and Nissan explains how it’s preparing for the technological change coming to the auto industry. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.

BAIDU TEAMS WITH BMW & HYUNDAI
Hyundai Motor Group and Baidu, the Chinese internet company, are partnering to work on connected cars. The two companies will start by working on in-car content, like real-time traffic status based on data, artificial intelligence and other technologies. They will also incorporate Baidu’s interactive AI into Hyundai vehicles. It can be used for a wide variety of in-car features from navigation and changing the temperature to locking the doors and monitoring driver fatigue. Baidu also signed a partnership with BMW, which will add the German automaker to its “Apollo” autonomous driving platform. It’s an open platform that provides all the features and functions for self-driving vehicles.

BMW EXPANDS PRESENCE IN CHINA
And speaking of BMW, it’s expanding its joint venture with Brilliance Automotive. The companies will increase production capacity in China to 520,000 units for 2019 and will also expand engine production. The all-electric iX3, will be produced in China beginning in 2020 and now says the vehicle will be exported to other markets outside of China. And BMW is expanding MINI’s EV presence in China, too. Its signed a deal with Great Wall Motor to produce electric MINIs in the country and will call the joint venture “Spotlight Automotive Limited.” Both partners will also work to open a production facility in China.

Still to come… one supplier develops a faster, more efficient way to stitch instrument panels together.

NEW STITCHING PROCESS
Stitching together the interior of a car is not an easy task and I’m sure most of us have seen a stitch or two out of place before. But supplier Inteva is working to make sure that never happens again. It developed a new stitching process that uses lasers to scan the stitch and adjust the programmed path of the robot if it needs to. It’s even able to do this on the fly, as the component is being stitched. Inteva says the new process reduces cycle time by 20-30% and will be used on the instrument panel for the new 2019 Silverado and Sierra.

MERCEDES ELECTRIFIES CITARO BUS
Mercedes offers diesel, hybrid and natural gas versions of its large Citaro bus and now it’s adding an all-electric model to the lineup. The eCitaro features an electric axle with two motors mounted at the hubs and the option for up to 10 battery modules that would combine for 243 kWh of capacity. In the summer the electric bus will have a range of 150 kilometers or about 93 miles and under ideal conditions that’s extended to 250 kilometers or 155 miles. At the start of production it will use a plug-in charging system, but in the future there will be the option to charge the eCitaro via a pantograph. You know, the thing that sits on top of a bus or tram and connects to an overhead power line. The eCitaro will start reaching customer hands before the year is out.

ADVANCED DRIVER ASSIST SYSTEMS FOR BUSES
Mercedes is also improving the driver assist systems for its buses and coaches. By beefing up its radar technology, Mercedes is now able to add pedestrian detection to its Active Brake Assist system and initiate braking if something is in its way. And sensors at the side of the bus can now warn the driver of objects he or she may not be able to see. The new Active Brake Assist system will be standard on all Mercedes and Setra touring coaches in 2019.

Be sure to join us for Autoline After Hours this Thursday when we’ll have a Panhard Dyna Z17 in the studio. If you have no idea what the heck we’re talking about don’t worry, we’ll have Ken Nelson, an expert in unusual cars back with us, explaining what this thing is all about.

Coming up next, a look at how Nissan is preparing itself for the disruption, electrification, autonomy and connectivity will cause to the auto industry..

NISSAN PLANS FOR FUTURE AUTO INDUSTRY
The move into electrification, autonomy, mobility services and connectivity, is going to cause a lot of disruption in the auto industry. Recently on Autoline This Week, we were joined by Jose Munoz the Chief Performance Officer at Nissan. And he shared how the company is preparing for that challenge.

(Clip from ATW #2222 can only be viewed in the video version of today’s show.)

You can watch that entire discussion with Jose Munoz right now on our website, Autoline.tv or you can find it on our YouTube channel.

But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.