Some car firms losing 30 per cent of staff due to ‘pingdemic’ July 29, 2021 Some UK car makers are seeing up to 30 per cent of their staff having to isolate due to the ‘pingdemic’, trade body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has warned. Speaking at the association’s half-year production briefing, SMMT boss Mike Hawes said that the problem, which has affected many industries, was threatening [...]
Dallas engineering giant Jacobs to support UK’s first satellite launch site July 27, 2021 Dallas engineering giant Jacobs, which works with NASA, has secured a role in supporting the UK’s first vertical space satellite launch site due to be based in the Scottish Highlands. Jacobs will assess the local supply chain and report on how advanced engineering, asset management and avionics – aviation electronics – can be transferred to [...]
Bezos offers to cover $2bn of Nasa costs for lunar contract July 27, 2021 Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos offered Nasa a $2bn (£1.45bn) discount if the space agency allows its company Blue Origin to build a spacecraft to land astronauts on the moon. Bezos said Blue Origin would waive payments up to $2bn in the current and next two fiscal years “to get the program back on track right [...]
5G revolution could boost UK manufacturing by over £6bn July 27, 2021 The economy could be over £6bn better off in 2030 as a result of the rollout of 5G across the manufacturing sector, with the biggest benefits being felt in the places the Government wants to “level up”. According to a new report by Vodafone, faster and more reliable 5G mobile technology has the potential to [...]
Gigafactory firm Britishvolt mulling London listing July 15, 2021 The firm behind the UK’s first battery gigafactory for electric cars has said it is now considering a London listing by the end of next year’s second quarter. In an interview with Bloomberg, Orral Nadjari, the chief executive of Britishvolt, said that the recent overhaul of London listing rules was behind the decision. Britishvolt had [...]
Semiconductor shortage drives car production off the road July 9, 2021 The impact of the ongoing shortage of semiconductor chips was laid bare this morning as the Office of National Statistics (ONS) said that car manufacturing fell over a quarter in May. The government agency said that vehicle production fell 26.9 per cent in the period, driving an overall fall in manufacturing output of 0.1 per [...]
BMW and Volkswagen Group fined $1bn by EU for emission cleaning July 8, 2021 The European Commission fines BMW and Volkswagen Group a total $1bn (£726m), saying that three German carmakers breached EU antitrust rules by restricting competition in emission cleaning for new passenger diesel cars. The EU executive said the trio – BMW, Volkswagen Group and Daimler – had colluded on technical development in the area of nitrogen [...]
New car registrations up as lockdown end nears July 5, 2021 The total number of cars registered grew in June from the same period last year, however new registrations still lag pre-pandemic figures, which raises questions about further growth in the industry. A total 186,128 new cars were registered in June, according the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), up 28 per cent on the [...]
Renault-Nissan alliance to build 1m electric cars a year by 2030 June 30, 2021 Renault and its partners Nissan and Mitsubishi will produce 1m electric cars a year by 2030, the French auto giant announced today, as it accelerates its move away from the internal combustion engine. Chief executive Luca de Meo said that the carmaker would launch 10 new electric vehicle models by 2025, with 90 per cent [...]
Nissan puts hundreds of factory staff back on furlough after surge in Covid-19 cases June 25, 2021 Nissan furloughs hundreds of factory staff after surge in Covid cases