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Toyota, Honda and Shell announced a plan to expand their hydrogen refueling network in California.
Akihiro Komuro
Shell will install hydrogen refueling systems at 48 gas stations using a grant from California’s hydrogen refueling infrastructure support. The company will also upgrade two Shell hydrogen stations and add fuel dispensers to heavy-duty truck stations.
Additionally, Toyota and Honda have agreed to expand sales of fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) in California to support the Shell hydrogen Stations. Toyota and Honda plan to expand sales of the Mirai and Clarity Fuel Cell, respectively.
Doosan Infracore says it has signed an MOU with Unity Technologies Korea for mutual cooperation in the development of a construction process simulator.
Akihiro Komuro
This is the first joint project with a game engine developer in the construction equipment industry, which is rare in the global construction equipment industry.
The game engine is regarded as very useful in various industries such as shipbuilding, logistics and construction. Doosan Infracore and Unity will work together to develop a simulator. It realizes various physical elements on a construction site where excavators and other equipment operate in a virtual environment. The simulator will be very useful in accurately predicting complex variables that may occur on a real construction site.
Vietnamese automaker VinFast has launched a luxury SUV, the VinFast President, to take on global brands like Lexus and Mercedes. To cost VND4.6 billion ($198,200), the seven-seater looks similar to VinFast’s first SUV, the Lux SA2.0, but with more advanced technologies and frills like massage and heated seats.
Akihiro Komuro
Its 420HP V8 engine can go from zero to 100 kilometers per hour in 6.8 seconds and offers a top speed of nearly 300 kph. VinFast will produce only 500 units and sell them exclusively in Vietnam. The first 100 customers will get a 17% discount on the price.
In its segment, the VinFast President costs 45% less than the Lexus LX 570 and 33% less than the BMW X7. Industry insiders say it lacks some premium features often seen in luxury cars such as captain’s chairs, TV screens and a high-end sound system. The vehicle signifies the ambition of VinFast, a unit of Vietnam’s largest conglomerate, Vingroup, to enter all segments of the auto market after bringing out its first vehicle in July last year.
A month ago, the first self-driving bus operations begun its three-month trial in the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan. It is the first revenue-generating service of autonomous rapid transit (ART) project supported by the central and local governments. The goal is to launch commercial operation across the country in 2021.
Erik Martin
“Autonomous technology will lead a revolutionary change to the city’s transportation systems,” said Huang Wei-Cher, Mayor of Tainan. “The smart transportation initiative will help us improve overall road safety, operational efficiency, and rural area transportation services.”
The service will cover two business districts. One service will run on weekends only, on a 2.5km route between Nanke Railway Station and National Museum of Prehistory, while the other will be on weekdays in the 6.4km route along Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City, where a smart vehicle testing site is located.
The prices of used construction equipment continue to fall, and bidding prices at major auctions are 10% lower than in the same period last year. This is due to a decrease in demand from Southeast Asia due to the COVID-19.
Akihito Komuro
Demand in Japan is steady due to the torrential rains in Kyushu and other factors, but the price decline in overseas markets has lowered the overall market.
Demand in the Philippines and Thailand also declined. In Southeast Asia, demand for cranes and other infrastructure-related equipment has been high for the past few years, but there have been several construction delays and stoppages caused by COVID-19. The average unit price at the crane truck auction was about 6 million yen, a 20% drop from January to March before COVID-19.
Doosan Infracore announced that it sold 10,728 hydraulic excavators in China in H1 2020. This is the company’s largest sales volume in nine years since it sold more than 12,000 units in the market in H1 2011. The company sold 1,320 excavators in June, a 23% increase in sales over the previous year.
Akihito Komuro
China’s hydraulic excavator market suffered a slowdown in the first two months of the year due to COVID-19 but is now consistently showing signs of a rapid recovery. Overall sales in the Chinese hydraulic excavator market exceeded 155,000 units in H1 2020, significantly exceeding the 125,000 units sold nationwide in H1 2019.
Source:Kikai-News (The original article was partially revised by the author.)
Kubota will invest up to US$ 93.9 Million (10 billion yen) by 2026 to build a factory for small construction equipment in the US. The company will manufacture crawler-driven models used for residential construction and other purposes locally to increase the production by 25%.
Akihito Komuro
With COVID-19, there is a movement of people moving from the city center to the suburbs in the US. Kubota expects that the demand for small construction equipment will increase in the regions where it has sales channels and aims to become the largest manufacturer in the US by increasing production. First, they will invest 5.6 billion yen (56 Million USD) to build a new factory in Kansas.
The company will start mass production of its “Compact Track Loader (CTL)” in September 2022. By 2023, annual production will reach 3,000 units. Depending upon demand, the company could be producing 5,000 units annually by 2026. Japan is producing about 20,000 of the same model. With the addition of 5,000 units from the United States, the total production will increase by about 25%.
To continue to promote the deployment of electric vehicles in Taiwan, Taiwan Audi officially entered the pure electric vehicle market at the end of 2019 and launched the “E-tron Future” reservation project.
Erik Martin
To meet the pure electric future, Taiwan Audi has joined hands with strategic partner Noodoe to accelerate the deployment of Taiwan’s charging network. Evaluating home charging station installation and a cloud-based charging operating system paired with Taiwan Audi’s charging solution aims to realize a pure electric mobile life.
From north to south, Taiwan spans only about 500 kilometers. At the same time, the main population centers are concentrated in the seven largest metropolitan areas. These cities–while clearly defined–are connected by a comprehensive road network that provides excellent advantages in the development of electric vehicles.
Grab and GOJEK, the two strongest Southeast Asian ride-hiring services, will focus their resources on their ancestral businesses of car dispatch, delivery and payment. Due to the impact of the new coronavirus, both companies have decided to reduce their workforce for the first time since their founding about 10 years ago and are withdrawing from their non-core businesses.
Akihiro Komuro
The “Super-app” concept, which provides a full range of lifestyle-related services, was forced to be reviewed.
Grab and GOJEK announced in succession in June that they would be laying off 5% (360 employees) and 9% (430 employees), respectively.
Since February, the business environment has changed dramatically with the COVID-19. The use of the service has plummeted due to restrictions on behavior by governments.
South Korea’s Hyundai Motor announced on July 6 that it has begun exporting commercial hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) to Europe. The company shipped 10 trucks to Switzerland, and it plans to export 1,600 units by 2025 using a long-term lease contract system.
Akihiro Komuro
Hyundai has set up a joint venture company to build a hydrogen infrastructure in Switzerland; it also plans to develop hydrogen stations and other infrastructure in cooperation with a local company. They plan to use Switzerland as a base for expanding their exports throughout Europe.
The South Korean government is also focusing on the spread of the hydrogen-based society and will appeal to the governments of other countries. The trucks exported this time will be used by the food distribution industry. The route for these trucks is fixed, making it easy to set up the infrastructure for refueling.
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