Saturday, 17 May 2014
Thursday, 1 May 2014
Bentley Motors Limited - British luxury automaker
Bentley Motors Limited is a British luxury automaker, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the German Volkswagen AG. Its principal activity is the design, engineering, manufacture and distribution of luxury automobiles sold under the Bentley marque. Based in Crewe, England, Bentley Motors Limited was founded by W. O. Bentley on 18 January 1919 in Crickle wood near London and was acquired by Rolls-Royce in 1931.
Bentley Motors Limited is the direct successor of Rolls-Royce Motors, which Volkswagen AG purchased in 1998. The purchase included the vehicle designs, model nameplates, production and administrative facilities, the Spirit of Ecstasy and Rolls-Royce grill shape trademarks, but not the rights to the use of the Rolls-Royce name or logo, which are owned by Rolls-Royce Holdings plc and were later licensed to BMW AG.
Bentley vehicles are sold via franchised dealers worldwide, and as of November 2012, China was the largest individual market for Bentley automobiles. Most Bentley cars are assembled at the company's plant in Crewe, with a small number of Continental Flying Spurs assembled at the Transparent Factory in Dresden, Germany. Automobile bodies for the Continental model line are produced in Zwickau, Germany. Bentley cars are largely hand-built.
Bentley cars have won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929,1930 and 2003. The current Bentley production models are the Continental Flying Spur, Continental GT and Mulsanne. Notable former Bentley production models include the Bentley 4½ Litre, Bentley Speed Six, Bentley Turbo R and Bentley Arnage.
The New European Driving Cycle (NEDC)
The New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) is a driving cycle designed to assess the emission levels of car engines and fuel economy in passenger cars (excluding light trucks and commercial vehicles). It is also referred to as MVEG cycle (Motor Vehicle Emissions Group).
The NEDC is supposed to represent the typical usage of a car in Europe. It consists of four repeated ECE-15 urban driving cycles (UDC) and one Extra-Urban driving cycle (EUDC).
The test procedure is defined in UNECE R101 and maintained by the UNECE World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29), which also works in its successor, the World Light Test Procedure (WLTP).
Although originally designed for petrol-based road vehicles, the driving cycle is now also used to estimate the electric power consumption and driving range of hybrid and battery electric vehicles.
The Hyundai Motor Company
The Hyundai Motor Company is a South Korean multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. The company was founded in 1967 and, along with its 32.8% owned subsidiary, Kia Motors, together comprise the Hyundai Motor Group, which is the world's fifth largest automaker based on annual vehicle sales in 2012.In 2008, Hyundai Motor (without Kia) was ranked as the eighth largest automaker. As of 2012, the Company sold over 4.4 million vehicles worldwide in that year, and together with Kia total sales were 7.12 million.
Hyundai operates the world's largest integrated automobile manufacturing facility in Ulsan, South Korea, which has an annual production capacity of 1.6 million units. The company employs about 75,000 people worldwide. Hyundai vehicles are sold in 193 countries through some 6,000 dealer ships and showrooms.
The Hyundai Blue Will plug-in hybrid has made its U.S. debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit 2010.
At the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, Hyundai unveiled the i-flow, a concept car using a variant of the BLUE-WILL hybrid system. The i-flow Concept uses a 1.7-liter twin-turbo diesel engine along with electric batteries to achieve fuel economy of 3 litres per 100 kilo metres (94 mpg-imp; 78 mpg-US). Hyundai says a production car based on the i-flow's design will be in production by 2011.
The Hyundai Blue On is a subcompact 5-door hatchback electric car produced by Hyundai Motor Company. The prototype, an electric version of , was first unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2009. The pre-production testing model was unveiled in Seoul in September 2010, when the first of 30 units were delivered to South Korean government agencies for field testing. The carmaker plans to build 2,500 units by the end of 2012. The BlueOn is equipped with a LG 16.4 kW hlithium polymer (Li–Poly) battery pack and charges in 6 hours with a 220 V power outlet and in 25 minutes to 80% with three-phase electric power (in a 380 V outlet). The maximum speed is 130 km/h (81 mph) and 0–100 km/h is achieved in 13.1 seconds. According to Hyundai Motor Company, the total investment to developed the BlueOn, its first production electric car, was around 40 billion won (US$34.3 million)
The Audi A4 - executive cars
The Audi A4 is a line of compact executive cars produced since late 1994 by the German car manufacturer Audi, a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group.
The A4 has been built in four generations and is based on Volkswagen's B platform. The first generation A4 succeeded the Audi 80. The automaker's internal numbering treats the A4 as a continuation of the Audi 80 lineage, with the initial A4 designated as the B5-series, followed by the B6, B7, and the current B8. The B8 A4 is built on the Volkswagen Group MLB platformshared with many other Audi models and potentially one Porsche model within Volkswagen Group.
The Audi A4 automobile layout consists of a longitudinally oriented engine at the front, with transaxle-type transmissions mounted at the rear of the engine. The cars are front-wheel drive, or on some models, "quattro" all-wheel drive.
The A4 is available as a saloon/sedan and estate/wagon. The second (B6) and third generations (B7) of the A4 also had a convertible version, but the B8 version of the convertible became a variant of the Audi A5 instead as Audi got back into the compact executive coupé segment.
The new facelifted A4 features redesigned LED headlamps and tail lights, front air dam with fog lamps, and closely set twin exhausts. Interior changes include a three-spoke steering wheel and a redesigned ignition key. Controls for air-conditioning, infotainment, and power windows gain chrome clasps. The A4 includes radio with eight speakers as standard, while MMI navigation system with voice dialogue is optional. A new "Drive Select System" allows drivers to choose comfort, dynamic, individual, or efficiency modes for fuel efficiency. Power output of the 1.8 TFSI engine is 170 BHP and 320 Nm of torque – up 10 BHP and 70 Nm from the previous versions. Electro-mechanical power steering is standard.
Monday, 28 April 2014
Power steering
In automobiles, a power steering (also known as power assisted steering (PAS) or steering assist system) helps drivers steer by augmenting steering effort of the steering wheel. Hydraulic or electric actuators add controlled energy to the steering mechanism, so the driver needs to provide only modest effort regardless of conditions. Power steering helps considerably when a vehicle is stopped or moving slowly. Also, power steering provides some feedback of forces acting on the front wheels to give an ongoing sense of how the wheels are interacting with the road; this is typically called "rοad feel".
Representative power steering systems for cars augment steering effort via an actuator, a hydraulic cylinder, which is part of a servo system. These systems have a direct mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the linkage that steers the wheels. This means that power-steering system failure (to augment effort) still permits the vehicle to be steered using manual effort alone.
Other power steering systems (such as those in the largest off-road construction vehicles) have no direct mechanical connection to the steering linkage; they require power. Systems of this kind, with no mechanical connection, are sometimes called "drive by wire" or "steer by wire", by analogy with aviation's "fly-by-wire". In this context, "wire" refers to electrical cables that carry power and data, not thin-wire-rope mechanical control cables.
In other power steering systems, electric motors provide the assistance instead of hydraulic systems. As with hydraulic types, power to the actuator (motor, in this case) is controlled by the rest of the power-steering system.
Some construction vehicles have a two-part frame with a rugged hinge in the middle; this hinge
Sunday, 27 April 2014
Bayerische Motoren Werke - BMW or BMW AG, CAR.
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG English: Bavarian Motor Works), commonly known as BMW or BMW AG, is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916.
BMW is headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It also owns and produces Mini cars, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad. In 2012, the BMW Group produced 1,845,186 automobiles and 117,109 motorcycles across all of its brands. BMW is part of the "German Big 3" luxury automakers, along with Audi and Mercedes-Benz, which are the three best-selling luxury automakers in the world.
BMW was established as a business entity following a restructuring of the Rapp Motorenwerke aircraft manufacturing firm in 1917. After the end of World War Iin 1918, BMW was forced to cease aircraft-engine production by the terms of the Versailles Armistice Treaty.The company consequently shifted to motorcycle production in 1923, once the restrictions of the treaty started to be lifted,followed by automobiles in 1928–29.
The first car which BMW successfully produced and the car which launched BMW on the road to automobile production was the Dixi, it was based on the Austin 7 and licensed from the Austin Motor Company in Birmingham, England.
BMW's first significant aircraft engine was the BMW IIIa inline-six liquid-cooled engine of 1918, much preferred for its high-altitude performance. With German rearmament in the 1930s, the company again began producing aircraft engines for the Luftwaffe. Among its successful World War II engine designs were the BMW 132 and BMW 801 air-cooled radial engines, and the pioneering BMW 003 axial-flow turbojet, which powered the tiny, 1944–1945–era jet-powered "emergency fighter", the Heinkel He 162 Spatz. The BMW 003 jet engine was tested in the A-1b version of the world's first jet fighter, the Messerschmitt Me 262, but BMW engines failed on takeoff, a major setback for the Emergency Fighter Program until successful testing with Junkers engines. Towards the end of the Third Reich BMW developed some military aircraft projects for the Luftwaffe, the BMW Strahlbomber, the BMW Schnellbomber and the BMW Strahljäger, but none of them were built.
By the year 1959, the automotive division of BMW was in financial difficulties and a shareholders meeting was held to decide whether to go into liquidation or find a way of carrying on. It was decided to carry on and to try to cash in on the current economy car boom enjoyed so successfully by some of Germany's ex-aircraft manufacturers such as Messerschmitt and Heinkel. The rights to manufacture the Italian Iso Isetta were bought; the tiny cars themselves were to be powered by a modified form of BMW's own motorcycle engine. This was moderately successful and helped the company get back on its feet. The controlling majority shareholder of the BMW Aktiengesellschaft since 1959 is the Quandt family, which owns about 46% of the stock. The rest is in public float.
BMW acquired the Hans Glas company based in Dingolfing, Germany, in 1966. Glas vehicles were briefly badged as BMW until the company was fully absorbed. It was reputed that the acquisition was mainly to gain access to Glas' development of the timing belt with an overhead camshaft in automotive applications, although some saw Glas' Dingolfing plant as another incentive. However, this factory was outmoded and BMW's biggest immediate gain was, according to themselves, a stock of highly qualified engineers and other personnel. The Glas factories continued to build a limited number of their existing models, while adding the manufacture of BMW front and rear axles until they could be closer incorporated into BMW.
In 1992, BMW acquired a large stake in California based industrial design studio Design works USA, which they fully acquired in 1995. In 1994, BMW bought the British Rover Group (which at the time consisted of the Rover, Land Rover and MG brands as well as the rights to defunct brands including Austin and Morris), and owned it for six years. By 2000, Rover was incurring huge losses and BMW decided to sell the combine. The MG and Rover brands were sold to the Phoenix Consortium to form MG Rover, while Land Rover was taken over by Ford. BMW, meanwhile, retained the rights to build the new Mini, which was launched in 2001
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Saturday, 26 April 2014
Friday, 25 April 2014
Toyota Motor Corporation
Toyota Motor Corporation (Japanese: is a Japanese automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. In 2013 the multinational corporation consisted of 333,498 employees worldwide and, as of January 2014, is the fourteenth-largest company in the world by revenue. Toyota was the largest automobile manufacturer in 2012 (by production). In July of that year, the company reported the production of its 200-millionth vehicle. Toyota is the world's first automobile manufacturer to produce more than 10 million vehicles per year. It did so in 2012 according to OICA, and in 2013 according to company data. As of November 2013, Toyota was the largest listed company in Japan by market capitalization (worth more than twice as much as #2-ranked Soft Bank) and by revenue.
The company was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937 as a spinoff from his father's company Toyota Industries to create automobiles. Three years earlier, in 1934, while still a department of Toyota Industries, it created its first product, the Type A engine, and, in 1936, its first passenger car, the Toyota AA. Toyota Motor Corporation produces vehicles under 5 brands, including the Toyota brand, Hino, Lexus, Ranz, and Scion. It also holds a 51.2% stake in Daihatsu, a 16.66% stake in Fuji Heavy Industries, a 5.9% stake in Isuzu, and a 0.27% stake in Tesla, as well as joint-ventures with two in China (GAC Toyota andSichuan FAW Toyota Motor), one in India (Toyota Kirloskar), one in the Czech Republic (TPCA), along with several "nonautomotive" companies. TMC is part of the Toyota Group, one of the largest conglomerates in the world.
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