Solução pioneira no cluster automóvel nacional;
Menos 40% de camiões na rota servida pelo Gigaliner;
Expansão da frota em análise para 2020.
in Volkswagen Autoeuropa, 30-08-2019
A Volkswagen Autoeuropa apresentou hoje o Gigaliner, um camião de três eixos acoplado a um semirreboque e a um dolly que vai poupar 70 toneladas de CO2/ ano, uma redução de cerca de 30% das emissões de CO2 na rota servida por este novo modelo de transporte.
Esta solução logística marca uma mudança significativa no setor da logística e dos transportes, como refere Dinora Guerreiro, diretora da cadeia de abastecimentos e transportes da Volkswagen Autoeuropa: “Com este projeto será possível obter melhorias a vários níveis, mas realço sobretudo as perspetivas ambiental e económica”.
O primeiro Gigaliner ao serviço da Volkswagen Autoeuropa irá percorrer cerca de 150km até ao fornecedor MD Plastics, que se localiza em Valado dos Frades (Nazaré). “Dentro de um ano esperamos estender esta solução a outros fornecedores Portugueses e talvez a fornecedores Espanhóis”, refere ainda Dinora Guerreiro.
Com este novo conceito de transporte, será possível reduzir entre 30% e 40% o tráfego de camiões por semana nesta rota, o que significa uma poupança de custos logísticos de 5% face às condições atuais.
A Torrestir foi o parceiro logístico responsável pela preparação do Gigaliner, que cumpre todos os requisitos legais atuais.
A Veneporte reforçou a organização e a funcionalidade das suas instalações. Em outubro, lançará a nova gama de produtos SCR. Abílio Cardoso, CEO da empresa, anunciou ainda mudanças estruturais na fábrica, para os próximos três anos, de modo a torná-la mais eficiente no futuro.
in Jornal das Oficinas, 29-08-2019
Organização e funcionalidade. O Jornal das Oficinas visitou as instalações da Veneporte, em Águeda, a poucos dias da conclusão dos trabalhos de remodelação (a inauguração oficial está agendada para 21 de setembro).
E estas são as duas qualidades que mais ficaram na retina.
O espaço ganhou maior dinamismo e uma interatividade ímpar entre as áreas administrativas e comercial, bem como com o bloco técnico.
Com a criação de um novo (e amplo) corredor, é agora possível ver-se, em profundidade, todas as salas, separadas por superfícies vidradas. A sensação é de grandeza e de comunicação total.
No primeiro semestre deste ano as exportações de componentes automóveis registaram resultados positivos ultrapassando os 5.000 milhões de euros
in AFIA, 09-08-2019
De acordo com a AFIA – Associação de Fabricantes para a Indústria Automóvel as exportações de componentes automóveis registaram um crescimento de 2,6% no primeiro semestre de 2019, atingindo o resultado record de 5.000 milhões de euros, quando comparadas com os resultados do mesmo período do ano passado. Esta informação surge com base nos dados de comércio internacional de bens divulgados, hoje, pelo INE.
Em relação aos destinos das exportações a AFIA refere que estes mantêm também a mesma tendência apresentando Espanha e Alemanha como os principais destinos, seguidos de perto pela França e Inglaterra. O conjunto destes quatro países representam assim, 71% do total das exportações, estando os restantes 29% distribuídos por outros países europeus e outros de fora da Europa, como os Estados Unidos da América, Marrocos, China, México e Turquia.
É ainda de notar que entre 2010 e 2019 as vendas de componentes automóveis portugueses ao exterior aumentaram 92%, o que demonstra mais uma vez o contributo positivo desta indústria para a sustentabilidade de economia nacional.
A new type of car started rolling off the production lines in the northern-Slovak town of Tepli?ka nad Váhom earlier this week.
in The Slovak Spectactor, 07-08-2019
The Kia Motors Slovakia plant launched the production of its new crossover, Kia XCeed, on August 5, after a two-week summer break in the plant, company spokesperson Ján Žgrav?ák informed.
The model was ceremonially launched in late June in the German city of Frankfurt am Main.
It is the sixth unique model to be produced in the plant, which is the only Europe-based plant of the Korean carmaker. The plant has so far produced more than 3.4 million vehicles and more than 5 million engines, the Sme daily reported.
The entire global vehicle market is facing flat-to-falling sales for the foreseeable future, says Jeff Schuster, president of global forecasting at LMC Automotive.
in Automotive News Europe, by Danielle Szatkowski | Automotive News, 06-08-2019
“Risk to auto sales globally is rising, and uncertainty remains high,” Schuster told Automotive NewsEurope sister publication Automotive News.
The mature markets of Western Europe, the U.S., Japan and Korea will likely contract in volume over the next five to seven years, Schuster said, which means the industry’s global growth opportunities will rely on emerging markets.
“This leaves countries that are highly volatile — Brazil, Russia, India, Turkey, China — to drive growth globally,” Schuster said. “But right now, many of these countries are in a decline, and that’s a risk to the long-term global market.”
Schuster forecasts that global light-vehicle sales will decline 2.6 percent in 2019 to 92.2 million units. Through 2025, he expects sales to muster a compound annual growth rate of just under 2 percent.
Trade friction and tariffs will continue to generate risk in global planning, especially with the European Union.
At the same time, more stringent emission regulations, especially in the form of new carbon dioxide requirements in Europe and China, have automakers counting more heavily on sales opportunities in electrification, Schuster said.
China accounted for 60 percent of battery-electric vehicles sold in 2018, totaling 770,000 units, Schuster said, and in 2030, China’s battery-electric vehicle count is expected to reach 6.4 million.
“The challenge in China and Europe is that these manufacturers need their battery-electric vehicles to hit the emission standards,” Schuster said. “There are price and infrastructure challenges that manufacturers will have to face. They also need consumers to buy the vehicles.”
Com os desenvolvimentos para a área automóvel fora da oferta, com o objetivo de serem apresentados numa feira específica para o sector, a ERT expôs na feira de têxteis técnicos e não-tecidos de Frankfurt termomoldados para a área de praia, desporto e lazer, laminados para a área de desporto, moda, calçado e têxteis-lar e produtos para a construção.
in Porugal Têxtil, 05-08-2019
O destaque, no entanto, esteve, em grande parte, na área dedicada à economia circular, com a apresentação dos revestimentos de têxteis com reciclados EVA (acetato-vinilo de etileno) e de couro. «Consumimos EVA na empresa para a produção de pantufas e chinelos. O que estamos a fazer com os resíduos é misturá-los e compactá-los. Depois, em alguns casos, transformamos em diferentes formatos, não necessariamente num produto. No fundo, passa a ser uma matéria-prima», revela o diretor de inovação Fernando Merino. Numa outra aplicação, a empresa está a usar os resíduos de EVA em pó para o revestimento sobre tecidos. «Como agora há uma procura muito grande para se construir um conceito de sustentabilidade à volta de um produto, a proposta que estamos a fazer é esta», explicou ao Jornal Têxtil.
Ainda na área da sustentabilidade, a ERT, juntamente com parceiros, mostrou um vestido produzido com resíduos de EVA e de couro. «No caso do couro, temos um pedido de patente. A forma como se obteve o material necessário para fazer o revestimento é inovador», garantiu.
Um outro projeto em exposição mostrou um colete e uma joelheira para os quais produziu termomoldados têxteis. «Quer para o colete, quer para a joelheira, as partes são produzidas de forma separada. No projeto que está exposto no Texboost que é uma cooperação entre a ERT, a Polisport e o Citeve, o plástico é injetado sobre o têxtil», afiançou o diretor de inovação da ERT. «Nós fazemos a termomoldagem dos materiais, dos trilaminados, a Polisport faz a injeção do plástico e depois aquilo é clipado», sublinhando que «são projetos de investigação, ainda não estão no mercado».
Critics of PSA Group’s acquisition of Opel/Vauxhall said Carlos Tavares would have to either lay off thousands of workers, close plants or do both to make the former General Motors unit profitable.
in Automotive News Europe, by Peter Sigal, 05-08-2019
Two years later, Opel’s workforce has been reduced only by about 10 percent to 15 percent, largely through attrition and buyouts. Capacity utilization is on an upward trend, even though sales volumes have dropped at Opel.
PSA assembly plants are running at about 75 percent capacity on average, just inside the margin considered to be profitable, said Justin Cox, a production analyst at LMC Automotive. By 2022 that rate is projected to increase to 85 percent, a figure that will be reached through “repatriation” of models that had been built elsewhere or by other automakers under contract or through joint ventures, Cox said.
Among the models that are expected to help fill PSA factories in Europe are the Opel/Vauxhall Mokka X, a strong-selling small SUV with an average annual volume of about 150,000. The Mokka X had largely been produced at GM’s factory in Bupyeong, South Korea. The next Mokka will have a PSA architecture and will likely be built in Poissy, France.
Production of Opel’s revamped light commercial van lineup, including the Combo, Vivaro and Movano, is being transferred to PSA factories, with the Combo added to plants in Portugal and Spain; the Vivaro at Luton, England; and the Movano eventually going to Gliwice, Poland. PSA will supply versions of its compact vans to Toyota, deepening the collaboration between the automakers in Europe.
“At first I thought Tavares would have to do drastic surgery on his footprint because he has too many factories that are not making enough cars,” Cox said. Tavares has a plan to boost capacity utilization, “even if he has had to do some trimming” at some plants, including reducing the number of production lines and shifts, he said.
Among the plants that have shown sharp utilization rate increases under Tavares are Rennes, France, which went to 45 percent in 2018 from 25 percent in 2016; Zaragoza, Spain, to 98 percent from 79 percent; and Sochaux, France, to 118 percent from 83 percent.
In fact, four of 14 PSA factories in Europe are operating at 100 percent capacity or higher, including lower-wage sites in Trnava, Slovakia, and Mangualde, Portugal. PSA will start production of the Peugeot 208 at a new factory in Kenitra, Morocco, this year.
Volumes have fallen, however, at former GM plants — Luton and Ellesmere Port in the UK; Opel’s German plants at Ruesselsheim and Eisenach; and at Gliwice.
“Tavares is quite happy to let sales and production fall so that they don’t have these huge inventories that they have to discount or sell at a loss or very low margins,” Cox said.
Tavares has said GM plants were much less efficient than PSA’s, which have been sharpened by internal competition for products.
“Most automakers do it, but PSA takes the internal competition between plants to another level,” said Philippe Houchois of Jefferies. “I’m sure it’s a bit tense — you are only as safe as the life cycle of the product.”
A challenging year in 2018 left many of Europe’s automakers struggling to put a brave face on falling margins amid worries about the high cost of complying with tougher emissions rules while also investing in electric cars and autonomous driving technology.
in Automotive News Europe, by Peter Sigal, 05-08-2019
This was not the case at PSA Group, where CEO Carlos Tavares announced record sales and profits, including an operating margin of 8.4 percent for the Peugeot, Citroen and DS brands — and a 4.7 percent margin for Opel/Vauxhall just 18 months after buying General Motors’ money-losing European operations.
Analysts were quick to give Tavares credit for the results.
“The transformation of PSA under Tavares has been extraordinary,” Max Warburton of Bernstein wrote in a note to investors in June. Tavares successfully applied his proven approach on cost, capital discipline, distribution and pricing to Opel/Vauxhall, Warburton wrote.
Arndt Ellinghorst of Evercore ISI said Tavares and his team are on track to do what few would have thought possible in turning around Opel/Vauxhall. “PSA, under CEO Tavares’ leadership, shows how to get the job done,” Ellinghorst said in a note to investors.
The praise for Tavares grew last month after PSA said that recurring operating income rose 11 percent to 3.34 billion euros, lifting its operating margin to a new record of 8.7 percent in the first half. Ellinghorst called it “a hugely impressive result.”
That being said, Tavares’ record is not perfect. Sales in the Chinese market have fallen to about 200,000 this year from nearly 750,000 in 2014; sales in other global regions such as the Middle East and Latin America have slipped recently; and the upscale DS brand has not yet gained traction.
The Tavares formula, if there is one, includes a focus on improving pricing even at the cost of volume; keeping a tight model lineup with strong branding; and efficient allocation of capital, analysts said.
But there are other factors such as: Tavares’ qualities as a leader; a willingness to explore lesser-known revenue streams such as used cars; and an agile production network.
Luck or good timing?
Some of the success can also be attributed to luck or good timing, analysts said.
Tavares arrived at a troubled PSA in early 2014 after stepping down as No. 2 at Renault under then-CEO Carlos Ghosn. The departure came after Tavares publicly expressed his wish to lead an automaker. With PSA bleeding cash after the 2008 recession, earlier management made some hard decisions. PSA was restructured to give the French government and China’s Dongfeng Motors a 14 percent stake each.
The move injected more than 1.6 billion euros into PSA while reducing the Peugeot family’s stake to 14 percent from 25 percent. Assets were written down, lowering PSA’s cost basis.
A factory at Aulnay, near Paris, had just been closed, as part of a plan to trim more than 10,000 jobs in France by 2015. A development deal with GM, signed in 2012, had yet to bear fruit, but it later resulted in key SUV models that hit the European market in 2016-2017, and laid a trust base for PSA’s acquisition of Opel/Vauxhall from GM in 2017.
European consumers were poised for a four-year car-buying binge that erased the losses from the 2008 recession and 2012 “double dip.”
Even if Tavares was able to hit the ground running at PSA, analysts praised him for his leadership qualities, operational efficiency, and discipline in reducing complexity and focusing on improving pricing.
“There is a long list of executional decisions that have been strong,” Morgan Stanley analyst Harald Hendrikse said.
“Having not had as much capital available as, say VW, PSA has been forced to make some more intelligent choices.”
Said Denis Schemoul of IHS Markit: “The recipe isn’t genius. The fact is that he can execute on it as a leader. If you talk internally to people at PSA they are so glad to have someone who provides organization and leadership vision. That was a big change.” Tavares has managed to get people behind him “even with some disruptive changes,” Schemoul said.
In person, Tavares is direct and approachable, with little of the “great man” mystique attached to powerful CEOs. He flies on discount airlines and stays in budget hotels. Away from the office, which he says gets 100 percent of his time from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., his passion is vintage racing, whether it’s a 1980s Formula 3, a rally-prepped Peugeot 104 or sharing the driver’s seat in a thundering Lola T70.
“He flies on low-cost airlines because he believes in it,” Schemoul said. “He is applying to the whole organization some aspects of his personality. That’s probably one of the reasons why people tend to follow him — they can see that he’s genuine.”
Yet Tavares’ racing exploits point to a fierce competitiveness. In recent years he has referenced Charles Darwin and the principle of natural selection to describe the seismic changes starting to appear in the auto industry.
“We are agile because we faced a near-death experience,” he said last year. “We are Darwinian. We know that the survival of our company is based on our ability to adapt.”
Tavares has increased the metabolism of PSA, analysts said, including pushing for real internal competition among factories for product allocations.
“He has definitely turned the organization around in terms of excitement, willingness to work, the ability to believe that PSA can win,” said Philippe Houchois of Jefferies. “That didn’t exist for 20 years.”
Tavares has hired talent from his former employer, Renault, most recently Thierry Koskas as head of sales and marketing, and Alain Raposo as head of powertrain, battery and chassis engineering.
Earlier, Olivier Bourget, executive vice president for programs and strategy, and Yann Vincent, industrial director, came aboard from Renault. “The years of nonaggression between Peugeot and Renault are gone,” Houchois said.
Next Marchionne?
In style and substance, Tavares bears some resemblance to the late Sergio Marchionne, the hard-driving CEO who managed to wring profits out of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, analysts said. “One of his key strengths has been humility, a realization of what kind of company he has, which Marchionne similarly had in Europe. By having a clear understanding of its strengths and challenges, it’s been easier to cut models and not to fight for the incremental sales, and therefore to hugely improve the overall mix,” Hendrikse said.
Said Houchois: “Tavares today is probably the closest we have to Sergio Marchionne in the industry, in the ability to drive people to do more.” Houchois, however, added a note of caution. “Keeping people on their toes as a management style has a lot of benefits, but it also wears people out,” Houchois said. “You have to be careful.”
Tavares has turned PSA’s relatively small size into an advantage, analysts said. “People have been suspecting PSA of underinvesting, but what we have seen coming out of r&d and the design studio is quite impressive,” Houchois said. “There has been a continued focus on capital allocation and savings that is Tavares’ imprint on the business.”
Tavares has often cited pricing relative to benchmarks as an important metric of success. “His other obsession [outside of efficiency] is to sell well,” Houchois said. “When Tavares was COO of Renault, it was about the only period when Renault was particularly good in pricing.”
Hendrikse said PSA did not take much market share in Europe from 2014 to 2016 when the market was seeing its biggest gains. Instead the company used the organic market growth to hugely improve the mix on the sales they were making. “They reduced exposure to rental cars and dealer self-registrations,” he said. “The overall sales discipline that Tavares has had has been incredibly important,” Hendrikse added. “He has not had an outright unit sales strategy, but one based on profitability.”
To command higher prices a company has to offer a product that buyers want, which PSA has done as Peugeot and Citroen have emerged as distinct brands with recognizable styling and a tighter lineup, analysts said.
“Tavares highlighted the fact that PSA had too many models in too many different regions,” Hendrikse said. Many were not profitable, and low sales meant high inventory and capital expenditure needs. “By allocating models more intelligently around the world and cutting less profitable models he has turned PSA into a much more efficient company,” he said.
Three models cited by analysts as having boosted PSA’s fortunes are the new-generation 3008 compact SUV — “you have more than doubled volume on an existing car,” Hendrikse said — and the Citroen C3, which was based on an older platform but has been the brand’s best-selling model. In addition, the new 508 midsize fastback and wagon have met sales targets in a declining segment. “The design and care with which they have brought cars to market on those two brands has been fantastic,” Hendrikse said. “That has played incredibly well with a more disciplined pricing and sales strategy.
Used-car focus
While new-car launches tend to draw most of the publicity, much of the profit in the auto industry is made after the sale — through service, parts and the used vehicle market.
PSA has been aggressive in taking some of that profit, which normally goes to dealers or third-party companies, for itself, through several channels.
“None of it is rocket science, but they are doing it with a bit more focus than their peers, and it appears to be paying off,” Houchois said.
Among recent moves: It has beefed up PSA Retail, its in-house dealer network, which has acquired or built 29 Opel/Vauxhall sales points since early 2018; and starting in 2020 will distribute Opel parts. In May, PSA launched Spoticar, a new used-car platform for its brands, with the goal of increasing vehicle sales to 1 million from 800,000 by the end of 2021.
“Selling used cars is always a profitable business, but they have taken it one step further,” Houchois said. “They are doing more multibrand sales of used cars and they have restructured aftermarket parts deliveries.
“Those two activities earn more than new-car sales,” he said. “What surprises me is that more automakers have not done it.” The payoff: an estimated profit margin of about 8 percent, he said, on revenues from those services of 11 billion to 12 billion euros.
A CaetanoBus, com sede em V. N. de Gaia, tem como “Core Business” o desenvolvimento e produção de carroçarias para veículos pesados de passageiros destinados aos serviços de turismo, aeroporto, interurbano e urbano, montadas em chassis de fabrico próprio ou dos “Original Equipment Manufacturers”.
in COMPETE 2020, por Miguel Freitas, 05-08-2019
A origem da empresa remonta, a 1946, ano em que foi fundada a primeira fábrica em Portugal a produzir estruturas totalmente metálicas para autocarros.
Alguns dos dos marcos de relevo na história da empresa são:
– A obtenção da certificação NP EN ISO 14001:1999 pela APCER, em 2004;
– A nomeação/conquista de diversos prémios entre os quais se destacam a nomeação pelo ”Design Management Europe Awards”, o reconhecimento das boas práticas de gestão do design da Empresa, a menção honrosa no “Green Project Awards” pela Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente, o reconhecimento do trabalho subjacente ao desenvolvimento de um autocarro 100% elétrico em 2011 e a nomeação para finalista na categoria “Inovação” nos “European Business Awards 2012-2013”, em 2012;
– O desenvolvimento de novos produtos no contexto de projetos inovadores.
“Para a concretização dos referidos marcos, muito tem contribuído a realização de importantes investimentos, por parte da CaetanoBus, bem como o precioso auxílio do programa “COMPETE 2020”, que muito contribui para suporte das bases do processo de inovação,” afirmou Jorge Guedes, responsável do projeto.
Enquadramento
A expansão registada no transporte terrestre de passageiros na União Europeia tem sido marcada por grandes desafios para os OEM´s e fabricantes de carroçarias destes veículos, sendo dois desses desafios considerados críticos. São eles a questão das exigências técnicas relacionadas com a proteção ambiental e a forte e crescente concorrência proveniente de países asiáticos, que se têm vindo a impor, em função do baixo custo, no próprio mercado doméstico dos fabricantes tradicionais europeus.
Quanto ao primeiro ponto da proteção ambiental e num sector ainda fortemente dependente de veículos cuja tecnologia é ainda em grande parte baseada em motorizações à base de combustíveis fósseis (potenciadores de emissões de gases poluentes CO2 que têm constituído foco de várias políticas e legislação europeia com vista à obrigatoriedade de minimização das mesmas) as soluções passam pelo desenvolvimento de motorizações que utilizem combustíveis, ambientalmente menos nocivos, (Gás, Eléctricos, híbridos etc.), redução de uso de solventes como a cola de adição de base solvente ou pelo desenvolvimento de autocarros mais leves; menor resistência ao ar (mais aerodinâmico) e eficientes do ponto de vista energético, com um menor consumo de combustível por km e passageiro transportado.
Para a questão da concorrência, a estratégia da CaetanoBus enquanto carroçado, passa pela aposta na diferenciação de produto, enquanto porta de acesso a nichos de mercado muito específicos, onde é requerida a criação de soluções com elevado nível de customização, cujas pequenas séries, são habitualmente pouco atrativas para os grandes fabricantes (OEM), cuja atividade se rege por estratégia focada no fornecimento de produtos estandardizados e consequente obtendo os seus lucros na economia de escala, ou mesmo flexibilidade construtiva.
No caso específico da CaetanoBus, a resposta aos problemas de contexto enunciados no ponto anterior passa por uma dupla aposta. Por um lado através da realização de parcerias com os fabricantes europeus de chassis mais tecnologicamente evoluídos, (com provas dadas na redução de consumo de combustível e emissões de CO2) e com o desenvolvimento de carroçarias mais leves e aerodinâmicas que potenciem a redução de peso e consequentemente o combustível consumido. Por outro lado e tentando ultrapassar a desvantagem das pequenas séries das suas carroçarias, desenvolvê-las de raiz a pensar na produção “Design for assembly”, (por forma a otimizar os tempos de fabrico reduzindo custos) e de forma modular, aumentando a flexibilidade de utilização dos componentes comuns a diversos modelos de carroçarias, obtendo uma outra forma de economia de escala, baseada na estandardização de componentes.
O Projeto
O desenvolvimento do Levante III é assim fruto da estratégia nascida neste contexto, como parte do desenvolvimento contínuo de novos modelos de autocarros distintivos da concorrência, através da novidade tecnológica, qualidade e flexibilidade proporcionada pela customização. Este projeto teve assim como objetivo geral, conceber e desenvolver um novo veículo pesado de transporte de passageiros de longo curso para o segmento de turismo, cuja carroçaria é desenvolvida tendo em vista a modularidade e standardização de elementos comuns, permitindo-lhe carroçar dois modelos distintos de chassis nas tipologias 3 e 2 eixos. O Novo veículo contém características inovadoras e distintivas (face ao atual estado da arte no referido segmento, incluindo o atual modelo do autocarro Levante, da CaetanoBus) a nível multidimensional (redução de massa, “design” de carroçaria com baixo coeficiente de resistência aerodinâmica, conforto e ergonomia, acessibilidade e eficiência energética).
Os objetivos Técnico Científicos Específicos do Projeto elencaram-se pelas seguintes atividades:
a. Realizar estudos preliminares, com vista ao levantamento aprofundado das tecnologias, das soluções construtivas e dos materiais aplicados aos veículos pesados do segmento de turismo (incluindo a identificação das limitações associadas a essas tecnologias), bem como à identificação, junto de agentes relevantes ligados ao referido segmento, das principais necessidades e tendências existentes e perspetivadas;
b. Efetuar a especificação técnica completa do novo modelo de autocarro (integrando a nova carroçaria para diferentes modelos de chassis, nas versões de 3 e 2 eixos), bem como o levantamento dos normativos aplicáveis para homologação do referido modelo, nas diferentes versões a conceber e desenvolver;
c. Efetuar investigação fina, com vista à aquisição e desenvolvimento de novos conhecimentos e competências específicas em áreas relevantes para a execução do projeto, nomeadamente: i) materiais mais leves e mais confortáveis no âmbito dos componentes de revestimento interior e exterior; ii) soluções de “design”, numa lógica integrada e multidimensional, com vista à obtenção de melhorias a nível de massa, modularidade/transversalidade, aerodinâmica, estética, conforto e ergonomia, acessibilidade e eficiência energética em autocarros de turismo de longo curso; iii) soluções de modularidade, nomeadamente, em termos de carroçaria, tejadilho, pis o e casa de banho; iv) soluções de climatização, nomeadamente ao nível da carroçaria, que inclui a interação de 3 sistemas, ar condicionado, desembaciador e piso aquecido; v) sistemas de remoção de odores na casa de banho; vi) sistemas de melhoria da acessibilidade, direcionadas a pessoas com mobilidade reduzida;
d. Conceber e desenvolver uma carroçaria com estrutura modular, transversal a dois modelos de chassis, nas versões de 3 e 2 eixos, (sobre 4 tipologias de chassis). Serão efetuadas simulações e validações numéricas das estruturas metálicas das carroçarias e dos respetivos componentes. Este desenvolvimento da estrutura da carroçaria será alvo de estudos aerodinâmicos em túnel de vento e de simulações numéricas por softwares específicos como o Ansys.
e. Construir meios auxiliares, “mock-ups”, provetes e protótipos necessários para a realização dos testes e ensaios conducentes à validação do novo modelo de autocarro, nas versões de 3 e 2 eixos e para as duas tipologias de chassis;
f. Realizar testes e ensaios sobre as “mock-ups” e provetes e sobre dois autocarros completos e funcional,(de 3 e 2 eixos) com vista à validação e homologação das soluções desenvolvidas. Alguns destes testes decorrerão em laboratórios independentes, reconhecidos internacionalmente, (os que necessitam de relatórios independentes), os destinados a testes funcionais de desenvolvimento serão realizados nos nossos laboratórios internos.
COMPETE 2020
O projeto, que teve o seu início em 1 de outubro de 2016 e fim em 31 de março 2019, conta com o apoio do COMPETE 2020 no âmbito do Sistemas de Incentivos à Investigação e Desenvolvimento Tecnológico, envolvendo um investimento elegível de 1,2 milhões de euros o que resultou num incentivo FEDER de cerca de 599 mil euros.
“Este apoio do programa “COMPETE 2020” traduziu-se numa incondicional mais valia, com a cooperação dos processos de inovação tecnológica, que a Caetanobus considera fundamental na sua área de atividade,” referiu Jorge Guedes.
The European auto market fell into negative territory in the first half for the first time since 2014, with vehicle sales declining by 3.1 percent to 8.18 million according to industry association ACEA. The best-performing brands were Lancia, Mitsubishi, Lexus, Dacia and Citroen.
in Automotive News Europe, by Peter Sigal, 04-08-2019
One reason for the decline was the introduction in the European Union last year of the Worldwide harmonized Light vehicle Testing Procedure, or WLTP. All vehicles needed to be certified by Sept. 1, 2018, so automakers pushed sales of noncompliant vehicles ahead of that deadline. As a result of that sales surge. which started in late spring 2018, gains in the first half of this year were harder to achieve, analysts said.
“Year-over-year comparisons will remain challenging for the rest of the summer, because purchases were pulled forward ahead of the implementation of WLTP,” LMC Automotive said in July.
For perspective, June registrations in 2018 set an all-time high for the month with the market up 5.2 percent, according to ACEA. In June this year sales were down 7.8 percent.
Some volume automakers have increased their market share significantly so far this year, including Dacia, up 0.5 percentage points, and Citroen, up 0.4 percentage points.
In contrast, Volkswagen brand lost 0.4 percentage points.
A slight sales increase of 0.5 percent in Germany, Europe’s largest market, was partly able to offset declines among other major markets, including former growth drivers France (down 1.8 percent), Italy (down 3.5 percent) and Spain (down 5.7 percent). The British market, Europe’s second largest, declined by 3.4 percent, a relatively good result that was helped by a Brexit delay granted by the European Union from March 31 until Oct. 31.
“Germany has been Europe’s outstanding performer in the first half,” LMC Automotive said.
12 winners
Among the 33 brands tracked by ACEA, just 12 showed sales growth in the first half, led by Lancia/Chrysler (27 percent), Mitsubishi (14 percent) and Lexus (11 percent) but all three had comparatively low volumes. Eight other brands lost sales but still outperformed the market.
Lancia is an unusual case, analysts said. The once illustrious Fiat Chrysler Automobiles brand is now sold only in Italy, where its sole model, the Ypsilon small hatchback, is the country’s No. 2–selling vehicle behind the Fiat Panda.
According to DataForce, 20 percent of Ypsilon sales were self-registrations — twice the Italian market average. Generous incentives also helped move Ypsilons in the first half, said Felipe Munoz, global automotive analyst at JATO Dynamics.
Mitsubishi’s growth has come largely from the Outlander midsize SUV, which gained an updated plug-in hybrid powertrain last autumn with a longer range in electric-only mode. Munoz said electrified SUVs from other brands, including the Hyundai Kona and Kia Niro, also did well.
Lexus continued a five-year trend of steady gains in Europe, helped by increasing demand for hybrids, which now account for 95 percent of its European sales, and strong demand for its new UX premium compact crossover.
Among other brands, the updated Duster small SUV pushed Dacia to a 10 percent sales growth.
“They are the biggest winner in the first half,” Munoz said of Renault Group’s budget brand. “The second-generation Duster is working even better than the first one — the perceived quality is a little better, and it’s still cheaper and bigger than most of its rivals.”
Citroen sales increased by 6.5 percent, helped by demand for the C3 and C5 Aircross SUVs, while Seat grew 6 percent with the introduction of the midsize Tarraco seven-seat SUV, which is emerging as a challenger to rivals such as the Skoda Kodiaq and Peugeot 5008.
Munoz said one surprise winner in the first half was BMW, which outperformed both the market, losing just 0.3 percent in sales, and its premium rivals Mercedes-Benz (down 1.8 percent) and Audi (down 6 percent).
BMW’s revamped SUV range, including the new X2, and new versions of the X3 and X5, boosted the brand’s volume, Munoz said. The X1 also remained the best-selling premium compact SUV.
One winner not tracked by ACEA is Tesla, which started European sales of its midsized electric Model 3 this year.
Deliveries spiked in March and June, Munoz said, perhaps related to the company’s quarterly goals. “The Model 3 is taking sales away from the other premium cars in its segment,” he said, including the BMW 3 series, Mercedes C class and Audi A4.
Biggest losers
Thirteen brands trailed the market, with the biggest drops among volume brands such as Nissan (down 27 percent), Fiat (10 percent), Ford (7.8 percent) — and at Europe’s two largest brands, Volkswagen and Renault (down 6.5 percent, respectively).
Nissan’s troubles relate to an aging SUV lineup and weak demand for the Micra small hatchback, Munoz said. “What used to be their growth drivers, the X-Trail, Juke and Qashqai, are facing many new competitors,” he said.
Renault’s decline is not unexpected. The automaker finished renewing its lineup in 2017 and will begin rolling out new models this year, starting with the Clio, Munoz said.
VW brand has been hurt by falling sales for cars such as the Golf, Polo and Passat in the face of demand for SUVs and crossovers. “The weight of the Polo and Golf on VW’s lineup is huge, and when these cars are not performing, this is the result,” Munoz said.
By group, only Toyota-Lexus was in positive sales territory, up just 0.3 percent, but five other groups outperformed the market, and showed small decreases, including Jaguar Land Rover (down 0.1 percent) and Hyundai-Kia (down 0.3 percent). Trailing the market were VW Group (down 4.4 percent), Renault Nissan Mitsubishi (down 5.5 percent) and Fiat Chrysler (down 9.5 percent).
Tariff threat
A factor weighing on the market is slowing GDP growth because of trade disputes and new tariffs, especially between the U.S. and its major partners. “Trade and investment have slowed sharply, especially in Europe and Asia,” the OECD said.
Nonetheless, European unemployment continues to fall, and is now at its lowest rate since 2008, at 6.4 percent.
Consumer confidence remains above its historical average, although it has fallen markedly from a peak in early 2018.
ACEA has revised its full-year European sales forecast to minus 1 percent from plus 1 percent. The rate of growth in EU car sales has been slowing since 2015, when the market rose by 9.3 percent.
In 2016 sales rose 6.8 percent, the rise was 3.4 percent in 2017 and volume increased by 0.1 percent last year.
