Automotive
Auto Tech Review
Electrification Of An Eight-Speed DCT
Dual-clutch transmissions are compelling predominantly because of their sporty direct shifting. ZF demonstrates how clearly this technology also signifies efficiency and functionality gains with the modular full hybridisation of its new eight-speed dual-clutch transmission (8DT).
6 min |
April 2017
Auto Tech Review
Battery Tech, Management Software To Drive Growth For Electric Two-Wheelers
There are close to three dozen electric two-wheeler models currently available in India. Regarding who manufacturers these, Lohia and Hero Electric are two OEM names that you might recognise, while the others are largely anonymous. For the most part, electric two-wheelers in India represent cheap, often poorly-built scooters that offer very basic mobility on a budget. On the other hand, elsewhere in the world, a small bunch of electric vehicle manufacturers are trying to re-write the two-wheeler rulebook by producing cutting-edge vehicles packed with the latest electric motor and battery technologies. Here we take a quick look at the state of things globally, vis-à-vis the Indian scenario.
7 min |
April 2017
Auto Tech Review
Plastics Extrusion For Effective Automobile Solutions
The increasing demand for improved fuel efficiency and light weighting in automobiles has resulted in many auto component manufacturers opting for engineering plastics across the automobile design value chain. Helping this cause further is the process of plastics extrusion, which has remained the preferred process for designing automotive parts over the last many years. PPAP Automotive Limited has been a leading supplier of injection moulded parts for many OEMs in India, for a wide variety of sealing systems, and interior and exterior parts. ATR met Anil Sharma, Deputy General Manager, Manufacturing, PPAP Automotive, at their Noida plant to understand the extrusion process for vehicle applications.
5 min |
April 2017
Auto Tech Review
Will Hydrogen-Powered Vehicles Become Part Of Future Mobility?
The automotive industry has been witnessing development of several alternate fuels for the energy source of vehicles, but there is one source that has been waiting to become the next big technology. We are talking about hydrogen as a fuel as well as hydrogen fuel cells as an energy source for vehicle propulsion.
6 min |
May 2019
Auto Tech Review
Kicking It Off With Safety & Performance Technology
Nissan India has been making headlines with its soon-to-be launched Kicks compact SUV in India. The Kicks comes in at a time when the Japanese stalwart aims to launch a fresh onslaught to gain a reasonable foothold in the Indian market. In contrast to the global version of the Kicks, the India spec model is designed for the sub continent and is bigger than the model being retailed abroad. Nissan has positioned the Kicks on the same platform used for the Terrano - it will, in fact, replace the latter in India. Auto Tech Review drove the Kicks to the Rann of Kutch to understand what Nissan is offering and here is what we made of it.
5 min |
January 2019
Auto Tech Review
“Investing In Digitisation To Connect The Entire Supply Chain Seamlessly”
Shell Lubricants India, part of the leading global lubricant supplier Shell, is rapidly transforming into an energy transition company. The company has a five percent market share in the Indian lubricants space, and to know about the approach it is adopting to cope with the changing dynamics of the automotive industry, Auto Tech Review caught up with Mansi Madan Tripathy, Country Head – Shell Lubricants India Cluster.
6 min |
January 2019
Auto Tech Review
Leveraging Strengths To Roll Out Quality Vehicle
VE Commercial Vehicles, the brand of the joint venture between Volvo Group (Volvo) and Eicher Motors Limited (EML) recently completed a decade of its existence in India. The company has gone from strength to strength in developing flagship products across domains and posted a 15 % CAGR over the last 10 years. Auto Tech Review was recently invited to VECV's Pithampur facility to witness its manufacturing excellence in developing advanced products.
6 min |
January 2019
Auto Tech Review
Shell Eco-Marathon Brings Together Bright Minds
In a scenario where poor air quality, congested roads and ever-rising population are gradually becoming a pain for leading metropolitan cities of the world, Shell’s ‘Make the Future’ initiative debuted in India with Shell Eco marathon competition, to challenge young engineers to design, build and drive energy-efficient vehicles
7 min |
January 2019
Auto Tech Review
Bridging Consumer Aspirations
Mobility is rapidly evolving from vehicle ownership to a shared vehicle paradigm.
2 min |
January 2019
Auto Tech Review
Addressing The Challenges Of Future Emission Regulations
There are a few basic requirements for any type of engine that powers an automobile, be it petrol, diesel, compressed gas or biofuels. Among these requirements, engine oil, lubricants and fuels are at the top of the pyramid.
5 min |
August 2018
Auto Tech Review
Safety Driven By Technology Harps On Accelerating Road Safety Movement
India wittingly or unwittingly has earned an infamous reputation for registering the highest number of road fatalities in the world.
7 min |
August 2018
Auto Tech Review
High-Quality Clutch Systems For Changing Mobility Trends
Manual transmissions have been the predominant choice of the Indian consumer, but there is a steady shift towards adoption of conventional and newer automatic transmissions. For any type of transmission, be it manual, automatic or hybrid, a key component is the clutch and its release system. There are also a number of different clutch technologies that are paired with their appropriate transmission systems, and this trend is evolving on a regular basis. One of the key players in this segment is LuK India.
6 min |
August 2018
Auto Tech Review
CVT VS DSG - Which One Is Better, And Why?
The launch of Honda’s second-generation Amaze in India had a significant first in the Indian automotive market.
4 min |
August 2018
Auto Tech Review
Sophisticated & Sporty - Kia Sportage Blends It All
Kia Motors is today one of the most recognisable automotive brands, with success stories spreading across the globe. The Kia brand has forayed into India at a time when the market is ripe for the taking. The company has drawn up plans to kick things off with the launch of a compact SUV in 2019. But the big question is – do the company, the Kia brand and its products have enough to create a cosy space for themselves in the crowded Indian marketplace? Time will tell. In the meantime, we laid our hands on the Kia’s popular global SUV, Sportage to bring you this detailed review.
5 min |
August 2018
Auto Tech Review
Taking On The Master — Can Kicks Outwit Creta?
Ever since its launch, the Hyundai Creta has enjoyed an almost exclusive space for itself among a herd of compact SUVs flooding the market. While no other carmaker has come close enough to challenge the Creta in terms of performance, features and premiumness, a contender has emerged with the potential to turn the tables in its favour. Nissan recently launched the brand new Kicks in India with an ambition to reinvent itself for the Indian market. The Kicks in India is larger than its global counterpart and boasts of segment-first features. Lining it up alongside the Hyundai Creta, Auto Tech Review ran a head-to-head comparison of both compact SUVs to evaluate performance, comfort, safety, space and more. Read on for the significant and conclusive findings.
5 min |
April 2019
Auto Tech Review
Multiphysics Simulation Becoming A Norm For Product Life Cycle Development
Simulation is one of the most important factors in the product development process and is being increasingly deployed in the automotive industry.
5 min |
April 2019
Auto Tech Review
Simulation Key Part Of Development In Automotive Industry
The digital form of carrying out testing and validation is known as simulation, and is fast emerging as a standard for engineering development that is being applied more over physical prototyping and testing during a product development phase.
3 min |
April 2019
Auto Tech Review
Polyvalence In Safety
Safety in automobiles has been progressively growing due to many facets of the ecosystem.
2 min |
July 2018
Auto Tech Review
Aiming To Stay Competitive In ‘Regular' Scooter Segment
The automotive industry has been steadily moving towards new energy vehicles with high focus on electric vehicles. In India too, government agencies as well as vehicle manufacturers are bracing up to embrace electromobility – their capabilities highlighted at the 2018 Auto Expo. Bengaluru-based start-up Ather Energy was not present at the 2018 Auto Expo, but has been plugging away on electric scooters over the past four years. The company had first showcased the concept of this electric scooter (then called Ather S340) in 2016. Ather Energy has now launched two variants of this scooter – Ather 450 and 340 that are expected to be delivered to customers in a month’s time. Auto Tech Review got an opportunity to experience a quick ride of the Ather 450 electric scooter. We bring you a quick perspective on its features as well as the ride experience.
4 min |
July 2018
Auto Tech Review
Maruti's Ags – Ushering In An Era Of Two Pedal Technology
In the 2018 edition of our Transmission.tech conference, one of the highlights was the launch of a whitepaper titled ‘Global Powertrain Outlook 2018’ prepared by Frost & Sullivan. The whitepaper claimed that automatic transmissions would have a 64 % share of the global transmissions market by 2025, and this growth will be driven by demand for DCTs from China and AMTs from India. Bolstering this fact, Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) recently achieved cumulative sales of 300,000 units of cars equipped with the Auto Gear Shift (AGS) technology. We take a closer look at the history and inception of Maruti Suzuki’s AGS and how it promises to become the most staple among two pedal technologies for the Indian market in the lower segments.
5 min |
July 2018
Auto Tech Review
EPS, SBW, AWS To Revolutionise Automotive Steering Systems
Automotive industry analysts in Europe and North America predict that higher adoption of electric power steering (EPS), steer-by-wire (SbW) and rear-axle steering / all-wheel-steering (AWS) will be some of the biggest drivers in the fast-evolving automotive steering systems vertical. For the period 2017-2020, a compounded annual growth rate of 8-10 % is predicted for the global steering systems market, which will see major developments coming in due to new requirements specified by electric vehicles and partially/fully autonomous vehicles. Here, we take a look at some technologies that we believe will drive development in the automotive steering systems space over the next few years.
6 min |
September 2017
Auto Tech Review
Vero | Going Upstream Into Customers' Workflow For Greater Efficiency
As manufacturing and related processes have evolved over time, quicker and more efficient forms of manufacturing have become the norm. Leading CAD/CAM (computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing) software provider, Vero Software works at offering software for design and manufacturing processes across various industries.
4 min |
November 2017
Auto Tech Review
Siemens | Offering Enhanced Software Integration For Rapid Development
The need for automotive OEMs to manage product complexity in a global industry mandates a systems-driven product development process, which combines systems engineering methodology across all development domains with an integrated definition of the product.
3 min |
November 2017
Auto Tech Review
Blaupunkt | Focussing On Improving In-House Software Capabilities
While the primary role of an automobile is to transport its driver and passengers from point A to B, there has always been the case of trying to make the commute entertaining.
4 min |
November 2017
Auto Tech Review
Imaginarium | Helping Manufacturers With Short-Run Production Goals
There has been tremendous development in manufacturing methods, and newer technologies like 3D printing and additive manufacturing have begun growing at a faster pace than expected.
4 min |
November 2017
Auto Tech Review
Transworld | Improving Connectivity Through Smart Use Of Telematics
Vehicle telematics has assumed an important role in the global automotive value chain. Connected car technology is currently the area where most development is taking place globally. However, in India the progress has been rather slow in terms of actual technology implementation. There has been some activity in the supply chain and logistics space in terms of telematics.
3 min |
November 2017
Auto Tech Review
Connectivity, ADAS To Revolutionise Interiors
According to some recent studies, the average car driver in India could be spending as much as 600 hours or more every year in his car, of which up to 5 % of the time may be spent sitting in traffic jams. So, yes, while factors like a car’s exterior styling, power, performance, ride and handling, and fuel economy are definitely important, the interiors are no less so. Indeed, according to independent polls conducted by various automotive OEMs, interior design, features, comfort, infotainment, connectivity and low levels of NVH feature high on prospective buyers’ list of priorities when looking for a new car.
6 min |
November 2017
Auto Tech Review
Connected Vehicles, Connecting Lifestyles
Connected vehicles enable multi-faceted aspects that relate to urban transportation, safety and well-being of occupants, driver behaviour monitoring, fleet management and longevity of vehicle systems through monitoring of component functioning in various environmental conditions. The connectivity in vehicles helps connect holistically the lifestyle of the owner of a vehicle.
2 min |
May 2018
Auto Tech Review
Central Parking Services | Digitising Parking Management
India is currently the world’s largest two-wheeler market and is at the top of four-wheeler growth and adoption as well. Parking has become a serious concern, especially in urban areas.
3 min |
May 2018
Auto Tech Review
Sabo Hema | Looking To Replicate Cv Success In SUV Segment
Leading shock absorber & suspension components manufacturer Sabo Hema Automotive India has primarily been catering to the commercial vehicle segment in India. Auto Tech Review recently caught up with SN Ahmed, CEO, Sabo Hema Automotive India to understand the current state of technology adoption in the suspension domain and the future trends.
3 min |