Short Torque

Executive reshuffle for Audi in China

Jing Qingchun is to succeed Ge Shuwen as executive deputy head of FAW Volkswagen's Audi sales division from Sept 1, when Ge leaves to become deputy manager of FAW's sales department.

Jing, currently head of FAW Jiefang's sales department, will work with Michael-Julius Renz, general manager of the Audi division, to promote the premium brand's operations in China.

Jing and Ge both joined FAW in 1989, and Ge transferred to the Audi division in July 2012. During his term, the brand's sales increased rapidly, reaching 570,000 units in 2015, almost double the figure in 2012. In the first half of this year, the premium brand sold 288,908 cars, a 6.9 percent growth year-on-year.

Change across the board at Jinbei

Qi Yumin, chairman of the board of Jinbei, a brand of Brilliance Auto, and two board members, Wang Shiping and Lei Xiaoyang, have all resigned, according to a filing to the Shanghai stock exchange on Friday.

The company said all three have left their posts due to "job changes" but offered no further details. Jinbei's operational revenue stood at 2.3 billion yuan ($346.8 million) in the first half of the year, up 3.57 percent year-on-year. However, its net profit was 63 million yuan, a 1.88 percent dip from the same period last year.

Volvo, Uber team up to go driverless

Sweden-based manufacturer Volvo Cars will team up with ride-hailing service Uber in a $300 million joint venture to develop driverless automobiles.

Both Uber and Volvo will use the same base vehicle for the next stage of their own autonomous car strategies, said the automaker said in a statement on Thursday.

Uber and Volvo were two of the founding members of a coalition unveiled in April to push for a unified US legal code for self-driving cars - a group that also includes Google, car maker Ford and Uber rival Lyft.

Uber unveiled its first self-driving car in May, announcing it had begun testing an autonomous vehicle on the streets of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Volvo engineers began supervised tests of semi-autonomous cars in 2014 in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, where the company has its headquarters.

President and CEO of Volvo Cars, Hakan Samuelsson, said the venture placed Volvo "at the heart of the current technological revolution in the automotive industry".

Ford, Baidu laser in on Velodyne

Ford and Chinese search engine company Baidu will each invest $75 million in Velodyne, a company that makes laser sensors that help guide self-driving cars.

Velodyne, based in California, says it will use the $150 million investment to expand its design and production operations and reduce the cost of its sensors called Lidar, which stands for light, detection and ranging. They can also be used in conventional vehicles as part of driver assistance systems such as automatic emergency braking.

Velodyne says that lower costs will allow the sensors to be used in all vehicles, which will make roads safer.

Ford described Velodyne's technology as a key enabler of self-driving vehicles. Baidu is currently testing autonomous vehicles in China, where it hopes to cut road congestion.

Ford CEO Mark Fields said on CNBC Tuesday that the investment will help drive Ford's transition to a mobility company. He says the next decade will be defined by the automation of vehicles.

Motoring - Agencies

(China Daily 08/22/2016 page19)