Kia Motors to finalize it’s plant location in India by this August

Hyundai’s sister company Kia Motors to zero in on it’s plant location in India by August. Production to start in 2019 with initial capacity of 3 lac vehicles.

According to Reuters, South Korea’s Kia Motors Corp is expected to pick a site next month for its first factory in India, stepping up plans to start making cars in one of the world’s fast-growing auto markets, two people familiar with the matter said.

The move would enable Kia to leverage the existing supplier base of its affiliate Hyundai Motor Co, India’s second-biggest automaker by sales. The proposed factory would start production in 2019 and eventually have capacity to make 300,000 Kia vehicles a year, one of the people told a major bet for a firm that sold 3.05 million vehicles last year.

The Korean pair, jointly the world’s No.5 carmaker, are chasing new business after missing annual targets in 2015 for the first time since the 2008 global financial crisis. Their combined sales fell 2 percent in first-half 2016, hit by weakness in markets like China, Russia and Brazil.

India is likely to become the world’s third-largest car market by 2020, according to IHS, up from fifth place now, with annual sales nearly doubling to about 5 million vehicles from 2.7 million in 2015.

The size of Kia’s investment has yet to be decided, one of the people said, declining to identify which models will be produced at the factory. Kia is best known as a maker of relatively inexpensive cars, like the Rio sub-compact.

Three sites are under consideration for the plant, and Kia may announce the plan in September after deciding on a location in August, the second person said.

The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the project was confidential.

The states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat have all been wooing Kia, according to two other people with knowledge of the matter. One of the two, an official with the Andhra Pradesh administration, said the state – which neighbors Tamil Nadu, home of Hyundai’s existing plants near Chennai – is the frontrunner.

Kia said in a statement to Reuters on Thursday that it was “continually evaluating potential locations for overseas manufacturing facilities, including India, to secure additional engines for future growth. However, as of now no concrete plans have been finalised.”

MARUTI CHALLENGE?

Hyundai started India production nearly two decades ago and has two factories in India that make cars for the domestic market and for export to Europe and elsewhere.

The firm trails only Maruti Suzuki India Ltd in sales in India, and has an extensive service and dealer network that gives it an advantage over global rivals that have struggled to build market share including General Motors, Toyota Motor Corp and Volkswagen.

Kia’s South Korea factories accounted for 57 percent of its sales last year. It also has plants in China, the United States and Slovakia, and its first Mexico factory began production earlier this year.

For the time being most cars sold in India are small. Hyundai sells several low-priced vehicles in the country, which could present a challenge in terms of market positioning for Kia, which would not want to cannibalise Hyundai sales.

Hyundai shares parts and vehicle underpinnings with Kia, which Hyundai bought at the height of the Asian financial crisis in 1998. Differentiating their brands has been a challenge, as they compete in similar segments and markets.

via: Reuters

Traffic Management to become a Multi-Billion-Dollar Opportunity: says TechSci Research

Where there is problem, there is an opportunity. With technological advancements comes new problems and new opportunities. With ever increasing traffic on Roadways, Railways, Airways and Waterways demand for real-time traffic monitoring systems is on rise. According to a report by TechSci Research market for Global Traffic Management is projected to surpass $ 22 billion by 2021.

According to TechSci Research report, “Global Traffic Management Market By Transportation Mode, By System Type, By Region, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011-2021″, the global market for traffic management is projected to surpass $ 22 billion by 2021, due to rising demand for traffic management in roadways, railways and airways; increasing demand for real-time traffic monitoring for traffic control planning, incident detection, vehicle location, route planning, journey time measurement, etc. Over the past two years, consumer preferences have shifted towards air travel majorly due to reduction in air fares. This is driving growth in sales of aircrafts by air companies across regions. Various recent deals in aviation industry, such as purchase deal of 250 Airbus planes by Indigo in 2015, purchase of 100 planes from Boeing by Iran Civil Aviation Organization in 2016, etc. would fuel air traffic congestion and air traffic management market in the near future, worldwide. With growth in air-passenger traffic, it is projected that Asia-Pacific would emerge as the fastest growing region in the air-traffic management market, globally during 2016-21.

In 2015, 89.68 million unit sales of new vehicles were registered. According to International Road Transportation Union, traffic congestion increases fuel consumption, leading to increase in carbon emissions by 300%. Growth in number of road accidents, increasing demand for parking space management, rising government initiatives to reduce carbon emission, etc. are some of the major factors driving the growth of the road traffic management market. It is projected that due to robust growth in road solutions, parking space and toll management would emerge as the fastest growing road traffic management solutions, worldwide during 2016-21. Growth in alternative transportation mode for daily commuters, such as metro by government of various countries’ along with modernization of traditional railway system has propelled demand for railway traffic management system, worldwide. Siemens, Thales, Hitachi, Alstom, Bombardier, Cubic, Kapsch TrafficCom, Iteris, and so on are few of the leading players in the global traffic management market.

“Growth in tourism industry, ease of traveling with reduced time and air-fares has propelled growth in number of aircrafts in the air. With growth in consumer disposable income and shift in preference towards air travel, air traffic management is set to pose robust growth in the coming years. Further, rising concerns towards reduction of carbon emissions due to negative impacts over the environment and country’s economy along with growth in number of road accidents has propelled demand for inter-modal transportation planning, predictive traffic modeling, etc. Rising demand for reducing traffic congestion across transportation modes would propel growth of global traffic management during the forecast period, worldwide.”, said Ms. Neha Tayal, Research Manager with TechSci Research.

The Research Report has evaluated the future growth potential of global traffic management market and provides statistics and information on market structure, size, share and future growth of global traffic management market. The report is intended to provide cutting-edge market intelligence and help decision makers take sound investment evaluation. Besides, the report also identifies and analyzes emerging trends along with essential drivers, challenges and opportunities in the global traffic management market.

• Global Traffic Management market to surpass $ 22 billion by 2021.
• Shifting consumer preference towards towards air travel due to reduced air fares is driving growth in Airplane sales and hence the air traffic.
• 89.68 million new vehicles were registered in 2015 according to International Road Transportation union.
• Asia-Pacific to become the fastest growing air traffic management market by 2021.

via: TechSci Research

 

Haryana govt. bans old petrol & diesel vehicles in NCR cities

The Haryana government has banned petrol vehicles that are more than 15 years old, and diesel vehicles more than 10 years old, in all cities that are a part of the National Capital Region (NCR). Currently, this jurisdiction is applicable in four cities of Haryana: Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonepat and Jhajjar.

The State government claims that this step has been taken to curb air pollution in a way that it does not affect the National Capital. This ban comes a few days after the National Green Tribunal issued a similar order on diesel vehicles that are more than 10 years old and are registered with the Delhi RTO.

The four cities affected by the said order (Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonepat and Jhajjar) cumulatively house around 20 lakh registered vehicles. It remains to be seen whether or not the Haryana government follows NGT’s steps and prohibits the old vehicles from reselling anywhere in India.

These recent efforts to curb pollution levels have intensified after Delhi was named as the 11th most polluted city of the world.

Source: Times of India

Video: BMW G310R alongside KTM Duke 390, Yamaha MT-03

 The video below, shot in Russia by HM Channel, shows the BMW G310R alongside the KTM Duke 390 and the Yamaha MT-03, two of the key rivals of the G310R. The video allows for an enthusiast to listen to the G310R’s exhaust, and watch its acceleration in comparison to its rivals.

According to a recent report, the BMW G310R will not launch in India this calendar year, rather towards the end of this financial year (February-March 2017). However, TVS Motor, the joint venture partner responsible for manufacturing the motorcycle, will begin exports of the G310R from its plant in Hosur, Tamil Nadu this year. Initial markets include European countries including BMW Motorrad’s home market in Germany.

Among the lot, the BMW G310R sports the smallest engine: a 313 cc single-cylinder, liquid-cooled unit that develops 34 PS at 9,500 and a peak torque of 28 Nm at 7,500 rpm. The KTM relies on a 375 cc single-cylinder unit while the Yamaha is powered by a 321 cc parallel-twin.

The BMW G310R is equipped with a 6-speed gearbox, as is the competition. The G310R also gets disc brakes at both ends and ABS as standard. According to the company, the naked street-fighter has a top-speed of 143 km/h with a kerb weight of 158.5 kg.

via Indian Autos Blog

Gesture control systems by Visteon

Visteon Arms Drivers with Gestures to Control Nearly Everything OnboardBy Oliver Kirsch, Innovation Project ManagerWhen a new technology is introduced in a vehicle cockpit, it usually requires a new set of controls. That means drivers must divert their attention from the road to manage yet another touch screen option or group of buttons. However, a…

via — Visteon

Tesla Motors Master Plan in Elon Musk’s own words

“However, the main reason was to explain how our actions fit into a larger picture, so that they would seem less random. The point of all this was, and remains, accelerating the advent of sustainable energy, so that we can imagine far into the future and life is still good. That’s what “sustainable” means. It’s not some silly, hippy thing — it matters for everyone.” – ELON MUSK

Here’s what Elon Musk want to say about his Master Plan : 

The first master plan that I wrote 10 years ago is now in the final stages of completion. It wasn’t all that complicated and basically consisted of:

1. Create a low volume car, which would necessarily be expensive
2. Use that money to develop a medium volume car at a lower price
3. Use that money to create an affordable, high volume car
   And…
4. Provide solar power. No kidding, this has literally been on our website for 10 years.

The reason we had to start off with step 1 was that it was all I could afford to do with what I made from PayPal. I thought our chances of success were so low that I didn’t want to risk anyone’s funds in the beginning but my own. The list of successful car company startups is short. As of 2016, the number of American car companies that haven’t gone bankrupt is a grand total of two: Ford and Tesla. Starting a car company is idiotic and an electric car company is idiocy squared.

Also, a low volume car means a much smaller, simpler factory, albeit with most things done by hand. Without economies of scale, anything we built would be expensive, whether it was an economy sedan or a sports car. While at least some people would be prepared to pay a high price for a sports car, no one was going to pay $100k for an electric Honda Civic, no matter how cool it looked.

Part of the reason I wrote the first master plan was to defend against the inevitable attacks Tesla would face accusing us of just caring about making cars for rich people, implying that we felt there was a shortage of sports car companies or some other bizarre rationale. Unfortunately, the blog didn’t stop countless attack articles on exactly these grounds, so it pretty much completely failed that objective.

However, the main reason was to explain how our actions fit into a larger picture, so that they would seem less random. The point of all this was, and remains, accelerating the advent of sustainable energy, so that we can imagine far into the future and life is still good. That’s what “sustainable” means. It’s not some silly, hippy thing — it matters for everyone.

By definition, we must at some point achieve a sustainable energy economy or we will run out of fossil fuels to burn and civilization will collapse. Given that we must get off fossil fuels anyway and that virtually all scientists agree that dramatically increasing atmospheric and oceanic carbon levels is insane, the faster we achieve sustainability, the better.

Here is what we plan to do to make that day come sooner:

Integrate Energy Generation and Storage
Create a smoothly integrated and beautiful solar-roof-with-battery product that just works, empowering the individual as their own utility, and then scale that throughout the world. One ordering experience, one installation, one service contact, one phone app.

We can’t do this well if Tesla and SolarCity are different companies, which is why we need to combine and break down the barriers inherent to being separate companies. That they are separate at all, despite similar origins and pursuit of the same overarching goal of sustainable energy, is largely an accident of history. Now that Tesla is ready to scale Powerwall and SolarCity is ready to provide highly differentiated solar, the time has come to bring them together.

Expand to Cover the Major Forms of Terrestrial Transport
Today, Tesla addresses two relatively small segments of premium sedans and SUVs. With the Model 3, a future compact SUV and a new kind of pickup truck, we plan to address most of the consumer market. A lower cost vehicle than the Model 3 is unlikely to be necessary, because of the third part of the plan described below.

What really matters to accelerate a sustainable future is being able to scale up production volume as quickly as possible. That is why Tesla engineering has transitioned to focus heavily on designing the machine that makes the machine — turning the factory itself into a product. A first principles physics analysis of automotive production suggests that somewhere between a 5 to 10 fold improvement is achievable by version 3 on a roughly 2 year iteration cycle. The first Model 3 factory machine should be thought of as version 0.5, with version 1.0 probably in 2018.

In addition to consumer vehicles, there are two other types of electric vehicle needed: heavy-duty trucks and high passenger-density urban transport. Both are in the early stages of development at Tesla and should be ready for unveiling next year. We believe the Tesla Semi will deliver a substantial reduction in the cost of cargo transport, while increasing safety and making it really fun to operate.

With the advent of autonomy, it will probably make sense to shrink the size of buses and transition the role of bus driver to that of fleet manager. Traffic congestion would improve due to increased passenger areal density by eliminating the center aisle and putting seats where there are currently entryways, and matching acceleration and braking to other vehicles, thus avoiding the inertial impedance to smooth traffic flow of traditional heavy buses. It would also take people all the way to their destination. Fixed summon buttons at existing bus stops would serve those who don’t have a phone. Design accommodates wheelchairs, strollers and bikes.

Autonomy
As the technology matures, all Tesla vehicles will have the hardware necessary to be fully self-driving with fail-operational capability, meaning that any given system in the car could break and your car will still drive itself safely. It is important to emphasize that refinement and validation of the software will take much longer than putting in place the cameras, radar, sonar and computing hardware.

Even once the software is highly refined and far better than the average human driver, there will still be a significant time gap, varying widely by jurisdiction, before true self-driving is approved by regulators. We expect that worldwide regulatory approval will require something on the order of 6 billion miles (10 billion km). Current fleet learning is happening at just over 3 million miles (5 million km) per day.

I should add a note here to explain why Tesla is deploying partial autonomy now, rather than waiting until some point in the future. The most important reason is that, when used correctly, it is already significantly safer than a person driving by themselves and it would therefore be morally reprehensible to delay release simply for fear of bad press or some mercantile calculation of legal liability.

According to the recently released 2015 NHTSA report, automotive fatalities increased by 8% to one death every 89 million miles. Autopilot miles will soon exceed twice that number and the system gets better every day. It would no more make sense to disable Tesla’s Autopilot, as some have called for, than it would to disable autopilot in aircraft, after which our system is named.

It is also important to explain why we refer to Autopilot as “beta”. This is not beta software in any normal sense of the word. Every release goes through extensive internal validation before it reaches any customers. It is called beta in order to decrease complacency and indicate that it will continue to improve (Autopilot is always off by default). Once we get to the point where Autopilot is approximately 10 times safer than the US vehicle average, the beta label will be removed.

Sharing
When true self-driving is approved by regulators, it will mean that you will be able to summon your Tesla from pretty much anywhere. Once it picks you up, you will be able to sleep, read or do anything else enroute to your destination.

You will also be able to add your car to the Tesla shared fleet just by tapping a button on the Tesla phone app and have it generate income for you while you’re at work or on vacation, significantly offsetting and at times potentially exceeding the monthly loan or lease cost. This dramatically lowers the true cost of ownership to the point where almost anyone could own a Tesla. Since most cars are only in use by their owner for 5% to 10% of the day, the fundamental economic utility of a true self-driving car is likely to be several times that of a car which is not.

In cities where demand exceeds the supply of customer-owned cars, Tesla will operate its own fleet, ensuring you can always hail a ride from us no matter where you are.

So, in short, Master Plan, Part Deux is:

Create stunning solar roofs with seamlessly integrated battery storage
Expand the electric vehicle product line to address all major segments
Develop a self-driving capability that is 10X safer than manual via massive fleet learning
Enable your car to make money for you when you aren’t using it

via: www.tesla.com

World Premiere: Mercedes-Benz Future Bus CityPilot

The Mercedes-Benz Future Bus with CityPilot made its first public journey on part of Europe’s longest BRT route (BRT = Bus Rapid Transit) in the Netherlands. This links Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport with the town of Haarlem. This almost 20 km long route is a real challenge for the Mercedes-Benz Future Bus, as it has numerous bends and passes through tunnels and across junctions with traffic lights.

What urban public transport will look like in the future is shown by the semi-automated city bus with CityPilot – it operates even more safely, efficiently and comfortably than conventional buses. Connectivity plus camera and radar systems with data fusion are catapulting the city bus into the future. Mercedes-Benz is showing this spectacular technology on an equally spectacular technology platform, the Mercedes-Benz Future Bus with CityPilot.

The technology of the CityPilot in the Mercedes-Benz Future Bus is based on that of the autonomously driving Mercedes-Benz Actros truck with Highway Pilot presented two years ago. It has however undergone substantial further development specifically for use in a city bus, with numerous added functions. The CityPilot is able to recognise traffic lights, communicate with them and safely negotiate junctions controlled by them. It can also recognise obstacles, especially pedestrians on the road, and brake autonomously. It approaches bus stops automatically, where it opens and closes its doors. And not least, it is able to drive through tunnels.

Just under a dozen cameras scan the road and surroundings, while long and short-range radar systems constantly monitor the route ahead. There is also a GPS system. Thanks to data fusion, all the data received create an extremely precise picture and allow the bus to be positioned to within centimetres. This already works in practice, as demonstrated by the world premiere of the CityPilot on an exacting route covering almost 20 km, with a number of tight bends, tunnels, numerous bus stops and involving high speeds for a city bus.

This semi-automated city bus improves safety, as it relieves its driver’s workload and nothing remains hidden from its cameras and radar systems. It improves efficiency, as its smooth, predictive driving style saves wear and tear while lowering fuel consumption and emissions. With its smooth and even rate of travel it also improves the comfort of its passengers.

via: daimler.com

 

 

Triumph Speed Triple – Russell Motorcycles

If you could go into the future to see which motorcycles would become classics you could make a hell of a fortune; if I had a DeLorean and some Plutonium I’d give it a try. Those who’d picked up Honda CX500s or BMW R series bikes for pocket change are now cleaning up and if you’d mothballed a Z1, a K0 or a CBX you can now add an extra zero to what you paid for it. Of course it’s never that easy or we’d all be rich but with Triumph going from strength to strength the early Hinckley Trumpets could be one of the future classics to keep an eye on. Fresh from their Ducati Scrambler success at World Ducati Week Russell Motorcycles are back with an old friend, a 1998 Triumph Speed Triple, that’s now a retro racer.

Main man at Russell Motorcycles Eduardo Iglesias must have known Triumph were on to a good thing when the Speed Triple was released as he picked this one up nearly new in 2000. Before the current era of super nakeds had even arrived the Speed Triple was part of a new line-up of Triumphs that were getting the company back in the black. But after a few years of thrashing the tasty triple around he sold it to riding buddy Alberto who has been part of the original riding crew before the company was even conceived. He’s been blasting it around himself, always with half an idea to do something a little different with it. “Ever since he has been waiting the chance to remake it. This past summer, he had a crash with it so he came to me and said: “do whatever you want with it, freestyle!” explains Ed. So freestyle he did and Ed and Dani started to draw up plans of exactly what direction to take and when they settled on retro racer they were pot committed.

It makes a lot of sense on a crashed bike that has largely received only cosmetic damage, to replace the body work or leave it off altogether. Simply to fit up standard fairings again would seem a waste to any true customiser and it wasn’t a path the boys ever considered. With all the busted bits removed and the trellis frame fully exposed the rear subframe was ditched for a new item. Fabricated in-house it bolts to the factory mounts but is raised in height to give a more aggressive racer look and still allow for the battery and electronics to be hidden beneath. The frame was checked to ensure it hadn’t suffered any stress fractures in the crash and once given a clean bill of health the new subframe was bolted on and the whole lot painted black. Then it was time to start making moulds for the full array of fibreglass body work to give the bike that retro look. The tail section was the first piece created and the lines are straight from the ’70s GP paddock with a faint resemblance to the Kawasaki’s of Mick Grant.

With the stock tank still in good condition and containing all the pieces for the engine’s fuel injection it made sense to keep it on the bike, so the tail-piece comes all the way to where the tank meets the frame. The front end at first glance is not dissimilar to many of the fairings you see from the period but this one-off piece has a few tricks up its sleeve. First it had to be designed to work with the Triumph’s parameters to allow for easy bolt up and steering that was free to move lock to lock. Plus being a bike designed for the street, Ed made the two openings that allow the fitment of a pair of twin headlights that give the classic Le Mans enduro styling. But it’s the Triumph’s smile that gives this Speed Triple a unique touch; mounted right at the front and out in the cold air, the oil cooler takes pride of place and has been given a subtle black grille to help keep the stones from punching a hole in its guts.

With the glass out of the moulds it was time to lay down the paint and it’s here that a race look bike can really be won or lost. Thankfully like all their builds this is an area where Russell Motorcycles excels and if Triumph had fielded a factory team in the period this could well have been their colours. The lime green is the original colour of the Speed Triple and was the hue that grabbed all the attention when the model was released, so cleverly this has been retained. Broken up with bold blocks of black and white the colours are separated with razor-sharp lines in all three colours for a more intricate take on basic pinstriped race graphics. “The words it has in the fuel tank “lo que ves es lo que hay” is a tattoo Alberto has on his leg that means “what you see is what you get” and the number seven is also another tattoo that he has in memory of Raul the soccer player of Real Madrid.”

But what really gets the rider going, why Ed bought the bike in the first place and gave Triumph such a financial boost is that high-compression, fuel injected, big bore triple engine. The very first ride had MCN fawning “There’s nothing on earth quite like the fruity and fast second generation Triumph triple. As you might hope, this layout is a happy compromise between the easy, flexible torque of a twin and the free revving power of a four.” With the factory muffler destroyed in the crash it was the perfect excuse for Ed to fit up a GP style rear can that gives the Triumph the throat it deserves to let the world hear that triple scream. To add a little more racing feel to Alberto’s experience the traditional handlebars have also been changed over to clip-ons to give a more sporty riding position. With the stock instrument cluster hiding behind the new Perspex screen all the information the rider needs is available and a set of adjustable levers with lime green clickers is a neat touch.

To keep things road legal for his mate so that he can join them on every cruise Ed made sure to fit up minimalist turn signals front and rear, with a dual tail light setup a racers touch in the bid for street legality. For the Russell Motorcycles team the reaction of the customer is everything. “You see that the bike is really personal and we are very proud that he is clear he is not going to sell it” with Alberto more than happy to confirm that fact “There may be others, but this one will never go…” Now all that’s left to do is contemplate whether Russell Motorcycles have shown the potential of the early Speed Triples to be a future classic, to me it’s a definite yes and I’ve already opened the classifieds in hope of that unicorn like low KM, one lady owner example that must be out there!

 

via: Pipeburn

Black box in cars! Germany plans a legislation making ‘black box’ mandatory for autonomous cars

The fatal crash of a Tesla Model S car in its autopilot mode has increased the pressure on industry executives and regulators to ensure that automated driving technology can be deployed safely.

Germany plans new legislation to require manufacturers of cars equipped with an autopilot function to install a black box to help determine responsibility in the event of an accident, transport ministry sources told Reuters on Monday.

Black box flight recorder for illustrative purpose

The fatal crash of a Tesla Model S car in its autopilot mode has increased the pressure on industry executives and regulators to ensure that automated driving technology can be deployed safely.

Under the proposal from Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt, drivers will not have to pay attention to traffic or concentrate on steering, but must remain seated at the wheel so they can intervene in the event of an emergency.

Manufacturers will also be required to install a black box that records when the autopilot system was active, when the driver drove and when the system requested that the driver take over, according to the proposals.

The draft is due to be sent to other ministries for approval this summer, a transport ministry spokesman said.

Germany is home to some of the world’s largest car companies including Volkswagen Group, Daimler and BMW Group and the government wants the industry to become a global player in the market for self-driving vehicles.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said in April the industry should draw up a wish list for Berlin to help develop self-driving vehicles, ideally with a timetable.

Companies around the globe are working on prototypes for self-driving vehicles, but such cars are not expected to be available for the mass market before 2020.

via: ANE

Automotive Startups: Accelerator program for startups working on future of mobility

Daimler partnered with Plug n Play Tech Center of Silicon Valley, Stuttgart University and ARENA2036 to establish Startup Autobahn at Stuttgart with aim to support both the hardware and software startups of Auto industry. What is this STARTUP AUTOBAHN? Let’s have a look at the video below ⇓

Daimler is establishing STARTUP AUTOBAHN, the new startup ecosystem in Stuttgart. “In contrast to Silicon Valley with its software focus, with STARTUP AUTOBAHN both software and, above all, hardware-oriented projects are to be in the foreground. We are warmly welcoming international as well as local startups”, says Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management at Daimler AG and responsible for Group Research & Mercedes-Benz Cars Development. “Whether it’s the USA, China, India or Germany – for a long time now we have been focusing the strengths of various world regions with our global research and development network. But our roots are and remain here in the strong industrial region of Baden-Württemberg. Therefore this region must retain and continue to strengthen its huge appeal for innovation and inventive spirit in future, too.” To this end further local firms and medium-sized businesses will be able to join the STARTUP AUTOBAHN project in the future.

“We are charting new territory and will continue to further our innovative culture through the additional impulses from the startup scene. The fast and uncomplicated cooperation with top talents from the startup scene will open up a further way for us to use the chances digitization offers”, says Wilfried Porth, Member of the Board of Management, Personnel Director, IT & Mercedes-Benz Vans at Daimler AG.

STARTUP AUTOBAHN – full speed ahead in Stuttgart

“Stuttgart is one of the world’s leading automotive and high-tech regions and thus offers the ideal prerequisites for startups”, says Saeed Amidi, CEO of Plug and Play Tech Center. “Together with our strong partners Daimler, the University of Stuttgart and ARENA2036, startups, local companies and venture capitalists have optimum opportunities to find each other here at STARTUP AUTOBAHN.” Through the cooperation with Plug and Play, STARTUP AUTOBAHN is highly networked with the German startup community in places all over the world, such as Silicon Valley and Berlin.

Startups from all over the globe are invited to apply with immediate effect for the STARTUP AUTOBAHN accelerator scheme. Following the application phase around 25 startups will be invited to the Selection Day on 14 July 2016. The winners will be accepted onto the accelerator scheme, in which they will be prepared for the Expo-Day for three to six months within the framework of special coaching and with support from mentors. As part of the STARTUP AUTOBAHN’s accelerator scheme, the CoWorking Space and Hardware Lab will be at the startups’ disposal in the ARENA2036 research factory. At the Expo-Day the pioneers might get the chance of their life: this is where they will be pitching to investors, in order to be able to develop their ideas.

Hardware Lab for innovations without borders

The Hardware Lab in ARENA2036 is a large high-tech workshop (approx. 1500 m²), containing equipment such as tools, machines, 3D printers and software for building prototypes and small series production. In addition to this, the aim is to accelerate the development process with supporting services such as legal and tax advice, professional help with financial planning and project management. Straightforward networking with partners from business, research and politics, plus contact with investors, potential customers and mentors will also be among the services offered to the startups.

About Plug and Play Tech Center

The Plug and Play Tech Center has over 20 locations in Silicon Valley, Germany, Spain, Singapore, China and Brazil, making it one of the biggest and most experienced accelerator operators. Having looked after more than 2000 startups since it was founded ten years ago, Plug and Play has grown with a technical focus and venture capitals to become the world’s largest global accelerator. Plug and Play organizes over 365 events all over the world every year in order to network startups and investors and operates also as an investor.

About ARENA2036

The highly technologised ARENA2036 with its area of 10,000 m² as a research campus is a new form of cooperation in which renowned partners from science and industry research innovative subject areas related to automotive production of the future under the same roof as the startups. A unique high-tech centre is being created in the heart of the economic region of Baden-Württemberg. The name “ARENA2036” stands for “Active Research Environment for the Next Generation of Automobiles”. By the year 2036, the 150th anniversary of the car, the stated aims are to be implemented at the ARENA2036 research campus, thus paving the way for the automotive engineering of the future.

Daimler at a glance

Daimler AG is one of the world’s most successful automotive companies. With its Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Daimler Buses, and Daimler Financial Services divisions, the Group is one of the leading global suppliers of premium cars and is the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles. Daimler Financial Services offers financing, leasing, fleet management, insurance, investments and credit cards as well as innovative mobility services.

The company founders, Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, made history by inventing the automobile in 1886. As a pioneer of automotive engineering, Daimler continues to shape the future of mobility today by focusing on innovative and green technologies as well as on safe and superior vehicles that captivate and inspire. Daimler consistently invests in the development of alternative drive trains – from hybrid cars to full electric vehicles with battery and fuel cell – to enable zero-emission driving for the long term. Moreover, the company is actively promoting accident-free driving and intelligent networking all the way through to driverless cars. This is just one example of how Daimler willingly accepts the challenge of meeting its responsibility towards society and the environment.

Daimler sells its vehicles and services in nearly all the countries of the world and has production facilities in Europe, North andSouth America, Asia and Africa.

In addition to Mercedes-Benz, the world’s most valuable premium automotive brand, and Mercedes-AMG and Mercedes-Maybach, Daimler’s current brand portfolio includes smart, Frieghtliner, Western Star, BharatBenz, Fuso, Setra and Thomas Built Buses, as well as the Daimler Financial services brands Mercedes-Benz Bank, Mercedes-Benz Financial, Daimler Truck Financial, moovel and car2go. The company is listed on the Frankfurt and Stuttgart stock exchanges (ticker symbol DAI). In 2014, the group had 279,972 employees and sold over 2.5 million vehicles. Revenue totalled €129.9 billion and EBIT amounted to €10.8 billion.

source : media.daimler.com