“Requirements Engineering for the Automotive Industry - Infoworld” plus 4 more

Requirements Engineering for the Automotive Industry - Infoworld
Fisker Automotive Gets $529 Million Government Loan To Build Electric ... - Huffingtonpost.com
Deutsche Bank: Steel Production To Remain Sluggish In Europe - RTT News
Consumers wait on electrics as companies build their fleets - Detroit Free Press
ICAR catches Detroit's eye - Greenville News

Requirements Engineering for the Automotive Industry - Infoworld

Posted: 27 Sep 2009 01:35 PM PDT

For industrial product development, the requirements engineering process helps companies manage complex requirements, improve team collaboration and ultimately produce high-quality products more cost effectively. This white paper explores requirements engineering and its groundbreaking role in product development and engineering for the industrial segment. It discusses the best practices and benefits of requirements engineering, and how automotive manufacturers can overcome today's quality and cost challenges using those best practices supported by IBM solutions. Several case studies illustrate how automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and industry suppliers have used IBM® Rational® DOORS® software to help improve communication and collaboration through the requirements-engineering process. As a result, these organizations can boost productivity, increase time and cost savings, and create higher quality end products.

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Fisker Automotive Gets $529 Million Government Loan To Build Electric ... - Huffingtonpost.com

Posted: 27 Sep 2009 02:53 PM PDT

Wall Street Journal:

A tiny car company backed by former Vice President Al Gore has just gotten a $529 million U.S. government loan to help build a hybrid sports car in Finland that will sell for about $89,000.

The award this week to California startup Fisker Automotive Inc. follows a $465 million government loan to Tesla Motors Inc., purveyors of a $109,000 British-built electric Roadster.

Read the whole story: Wall Street Journal

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Deutsche Bank: Steel Production To Remain Sluggish In Europe - RTT News

Posted: 27 Sep 2009 10:17 PM PDT

Deutsche Bank: Steel Production To Remain Sluggish In Europe
9/28/2009 1:21 AM ET

(RTTNews) - Production in the European Union's all-important steel industry will remain sluggish in the coming years, a report released by Deutsche Bank said Friday. The German firm also stressed the need for innovation in the steel making industry, in order for Europe to remain competitive against the booming rise of the Asia as a steel producer.

Steel production is one of the key industrial sectors in the European Union. Across the EU-27, the steel industry currently accounts for around 6% of total industry turnover. Each year, the sector produces around 200 million tonnes of crude steel and currently employs roughly 400,000 people in the EU-27.

From 1998 to 2007, the annual crude steel output in the EU-27 inched up by a mere 1% per annum to about 199 million tonnes, a rate of increase well below the world steel market average of 6% per annum. This nominal growth is because of the already high level of production in Europe and the declining importance of steel-intensive sectors. Per capita consumption in the EU-27 of around 370 kg is the highest in the world, as against a global average of 190 kg.

The current situation in the steel industry makes for a grim reading. As the international financial crisis deepened in September 2008, the international steel industry spiraled into an abrupt decline. In the first-half of 2009 crude steel output in the EU-27 was down 43% on the previous year as demand plunged.

Industries such as automotive production, mechanical engineering and construction - on which steel production is heavily reliant - all contracted drastically. European carmakers' production crumbled by almost 40% year-on-year, while mechanical engineering was down 20%. The shipbuilding and construction industries declined 10% each.

Considering the close links between crude steel output, GDP and industrial production, the report projects expansion in crude steel output to be sluggish over the medium term for the EU-27. The firm said demand for steel will be dominated by the construction, automotive and mechanical engineering sectors which together use almost 60% of all steel produced in the European Union.

Development in the construction industry is likely to be very moderate in the coming years, with the number of housing completions expected to slump in Western Europe. In the automotive industry, the property and financial market crisis has dimmed the medium term outlook for European carmakers. Motor manufacturers have responded to the waterfall drop in sales by slashing their production down by about 30% from the high unit figures of 2007. In the mechanical engineering sector too, rates of expansion are expected to be no more than moderate.

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Consumers wait on electrics as companies build their fleets - Detroit Free Press

Posted: 27 Sep 2009 11:57 PM PDT

While it could take years for everyday consumers to shell out their money for a new electric vehicle that will most certainly come with an initial price premium businesses like AT&T, Frito-Lay, Staples, utilities and others are lining up for new models.

For consumers, electric vehicles compete against fuel-efficient alternatives that cost less.

For example, the compact Chevrolet Volt, an extended-range electric vehicle, is expected to cost $32,000 to $38,000 after a tax credit of $7,500.

We are still not very bullish on electric vehicles unless the prices come down, said Mike Omotoso, an auto analyst at J.D. Power and Associates. The 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid starts at $22,000 and gets 50 m.p.g. So its kind of a tough sell for the Volt to be $10,000 more than the Prius.

For businesses, however, electric vehicles make more sense.

Companies accustomed to managing a fleet can save by switching to vehicles powered by electricity, which is relatively cheap. They are also likely to find recharging issues easier to manage than everyday drivers, who might have to install a special outlet in their garage. Whats more, companies could get an image boost by going green and advertising it on their trucks.

With our customers its How soon can we get them? said Bryan Hansel, CEO of Smith Electric Vehicles in Kansas City, which expects to begin production of a 180-vehicle fleet for business customers in October.

Businesses ready to save on electric fleets

When Bright Automotive was founded in 2008 with investors such as Duke Energy Corp. to develop electric vehicles, it decided to serve customers that manage fleets, such as businesses.

"Fleets have been under-served for a long period of time," said Lyle Shuey, vice president of marketing and sales for Anderson, Ind.-based Bright Automotive.

Now, that business model is looking smarter than ever.

On Thursday, Duke Energy Corp. and FPL Group Inc, said they would transition all their cars and trucks to plug-in hybrid or all-electric vehicles by 2020.

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ICAR catches Detroit's eye - Greenville News

Posted: 27 Sep 2009 08:44 PM PDT

The top lawyer for Ford Motor Co. said the International Center for Automotive Research in Greenville rivals any automotive research facility hes seen at the carmakers world headquarters in Michigan.

ICAR was still under construction when David G. Leitch, Fords general counsel and group vice president, visited the Clemson University research park for the first time in January 2007.

When he came back this week, Leitch saw teaching and research taking place at the 90,000-square-foot Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Graduate Engineering Center.

The graduate school offers the nations only doctorate in automotive engineering, according to Clemson. Its faculty positions include four professorships endowed with $18 million in state lottery money.

I can tell you it rivals anything Ive seen in Dearborn in terms of the facilities there and the collaborative spaces, Leitch told a group of business leaders following his tour.

He said, however, that Ford doesnt have any plans to join BMW in establishing a presence at ICAR, though he did hold out the prospect of collaborating on research.

Ford is always looking for new ideas and new innovation and new ways to collaborate, Leitch said.

The carmaker is already paying for Clemson engineering professor Ardalan Wahidi to study control algorithms for advanced power train systems, said Imtiaz Haque, executive director of the graduate school.

Leitch, whose son is a student at Clemson, was in town to promote Fords new Taurus sedan.

His visit came as Ford and the other two big U.S. carmakers, General Motors and Chrysler, struggle to come back from a devastating downturn in the industry.

GM and Chrysler are starting to add back some jobs after filing for bankruptcy, and Leitch said Ford is getting stronger.

Still, he said the outlook for U.S. automakers remains unclear, despite a recent sales bump from the federal governments Cash for Clunkers program.

Where well be a year from now is awfully hard to tell, Leitch said. If any of you know, let me know, and I can invest my money. But I like Fords position.