This week's gossip from the automotive industry has news of GKN Driveline's vision of the future, the 'everyday' Ferrari, Kia's anti-aging formula and Honda's quick turn-around.
GKN Driveline's vision of the future
GKN Driveline's director of advanced engineering believes now is the most exciting time to be an automotive engineer. “I’ve worked in this industry for 27 years,” said Theo Gassman.
“In the 1990s, drive systems were all mechanical, but since then, they’ve become a lot more complex.” He believes connectivity and big data will be the next things to go under the spotlight.
“How will we make best use of all the data in a car?” he said. “That’s the question.”
Read more: GKN’s integrated electric drive system could transform the EV market, GKN: Future electric driveline tech will create super-agile EVs
The 'everyday' Ferrari
The creation of the GTC4 Lusso T was driven by demand for an ‘everyday’ Ferrari with a harder edge and without all-wheel drive. Around 70% of FF/GTC4 Lusso buyers in countries such as Germany and Switzerland said four-wheel drive was key, but that dropped to 30% in places such as California and even lower in the Far East.
Read more: Limited-edition Ferrari J50 revealed in Japan, Ferrari models to get hybrid power from 2019
Kia's anti-aging formula
Kia is hoping its latest models will age well thanks to a lack of fussy styling and erratic surfacing.
“Our cars only tend to age when the new one comes out,” said Kia’s European design chief, Gregory Guillaume. “
We thought the previous Kia Sportage could have gone on for a couple more years as it still looked fresh, but sales are even stronger with the new one.”
Read more: 2017 Kia Rio on sale priced from £11,995, Kia to bring small SUV to market this year
Honda's quick turn-around
Honda's Swindon factory makes 400 Honda Civics per day. It takes 2.5 hours to build the engine, 2.5 hours to weld the body, 10.5 hours to paint and seal the car and just under 3 hours to assemble the frame. The plant is also producing its own instrument panels from scratch for the first time.
Read more: 2017 Honda Civic 1.0 i-VTEC Turbo SR review, Honda and GM to co-develop advanced hydrogen fuel cell technology
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Fast or careless?
Aye, and if it's a Mexican built HR-V like mine, over 11 weeks back at the dealership trying to sort out the problems. The most unreliable car I've ever had, can't wait to get rid of it.