Car Makers Research Articles

Cars’ sales systems improvement on the global market

The modern car market is the basis of the global economy. Car`s sales make strong influence at economic growth and crisis in the global economy. The car market is one of more competitive market among others and just here all innovations and technologies as in management as in marketing and production are implemented. Car market is cyclic very much by its nature. So, car market has suffered crisis for several time during last 15 years. And such car makers as Chrysler and SAAB could not managed to survive demand`s fluctuation. The negative trends of sales are to be seen even now. Therefore car producers have to change and develop its sales system with the aim to increase competitiveness. The classic cars` sales schemes which have been used since 30th of the last century as well as new sales channels have been viewed at the article. It is realized that the classis cars` sales system is changing in the modern time. Cars are becoming more complicated. New sales channels have been researched and proposed to be realized. It is offered to upgrade the cars` sales system and develop new sales channels. It will help to sell more active at target segments and allows specialized dealers to focus at clients.

Study for the requalification of Inmetro's Primary Hardness Standardization Machine for Vickers HV3 scale

The standardization of Vickers hardness quantity in Brazil was established as related to the quality management system and the properties of metallic materials that are used in industries like steelworks, car makers aircraft manufacturers. This work aimed in describing the metrological methodology applied in the requalification of the Inmetro's Primary Hardness Standardization Machine for low, medium and high hardness ranges of Vickers HV3 scale.

Accurate lateral positioning from map data and road marking detection

We are witnessing the clash of two industries and the remaking of in-car market order, as the world of digital knowledge recently made a significant move toward the automotive industry. Mobile operating system providers are battling between each other to take over the in-vehicle entertainment and information systems, while car makers either line up behind their technology or try to keep control over the in-car experience. What is at stake is the map content and location-based services, two key enabling technologies of self-driving cars and future automotive safety systems. These content-based augmented geographic information systems (GIS) as well as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) require an accurate, robust, and reliable estimation of road scene attributes. Accurate localization of the vehicle is a challenging and critical task that natural GPS or classical filter (EKF) cannot reach. This paper proposes a new approach allowing us to give a first answer to the issue of accurate lateral positioning. The proposed approach is based on the fusion of 4 types of data: a GPS, a set of INS/odometer sensors, a road marking detection, and an accurate road marking map. The lateral road markings detection is done with the processing of two lateral cameras and provides an assessment of the lateral distance between the vehicle and the road borders. These information coupled with an accurate digital map of the road markings provide an efficient and reliable way to dramatically improve the localization obtained from only classical way (GPS/INS/Odometer). Moreover, the use of the road marking detection can be done only when the confidence is sufficiently high (punctual use). In fact, the vision processing and the map data can be used punctually only in order to update the classical localization algorithm. The temporary lack of vision data does not affect the quality of lateral positioning. In order to evaluate and validate this approach, a real test scenario was performed on Satory’s test track with real embedded sensors. It shows that the lateral estimation of the ego-vehicle positioning is performed with a sub-decimeter accuracy, high enough to be used in autonomous lane keeping, and land-based mobile mapping.

Void coalescence and fracture behavior of notched and un-notched tensile tested specimens in fine grain dual phase steel

Due to growing global concern about the environmental issues, steel developers have been forced by automobile makers to produce more efficient steel grades with high strength to weight ratios along with high crashworthiness performance. In order to find deficiencies of the existing steels and develop superior steel products, detailed understanding of deformation and damage behavior in the existing steels is needed. In the present research, deformation and damage evolution during room temperature uniaxial tensile test of a modern high strength Dual Phase Steel, i.e. DP780, were studied. Detailed scanning electron microscopy (SEM) examination of the microstructures of notched and un-notched tensile fractured specimens revealed that in notched specimen, plastic deformation was concentrated more within the notched region. Therefore, much higher reduction in thickness with a high reduction gradient occurred in this region, In the un-notched specimen, however, plastic deformation was more uniformly distributed in larger parts of the gauge length, and therefore, thickness reduction happened with a lower gradient. Although geometric notch on the specimen did not change the void nucleation and growth mechanisms, the kinetics of these phenomena was influenced. On the other hand, voids linkage mechanism tended to change from void coalescence in the un-notched specimen to void sheeting in the notched specimen. Moreover, three different models developed by Brown & Embury (BM), Thomason and Pardoen were employed to predict the final fracture strain. It was revealed that, BM model showed much more accurate predictions for the studied DP steel in comparison with those of Thomason and Pardoens’ models.

통합 연료전지모니터링 시스템 개발

The interest of New Renewable Energy is increasing globally because of the increment of the uncertainty for the energy's supply and demand, and the increment of the frequency in weather anomaly and its damages. One of the New Renewable Energies, Hydrogen receives attention as the future energy that can deal with global environment regulation. Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) is an environment-friendly vehicle that uses Hydrogen as fuel. The electric power for FCEV is generated by chemical reaction with Oxygen from the air and Hydrogen. Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) has developed a proprietary fuel cell system since 2005. In 2012, HMC is the first car maker that mass-produces the ix35 FCEV to the worldwide such as North America, Europe, etc. In order to develop and improve the FCEV technology, data acquisition and analysis of the driving vehicle information is essential. Therefore, the monitoring system is developed, which is consist of datalogger, Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) server and main server. Especially, WCDMA technology is integrated into the system which enables the data analysis without any restriction of time and region. The main function of the system is the analysis of the driving pattern and the component durability, and the safety monitoring. As a result, ix35 FCEV has successfully developed by using the developed monitoring system. The system is going to take an advantage of development in the future FCEV technology.

한국 자동차업체 생산직 노동자의 고령화와 채용정체에 관한 연구

한국 자동차업체 생산직 노동자의 고령화와 채용정체에 관한 연구

Power semiconductor and packaging trends in vehicle electrification

Since road traffic currently contributes 23% to CO2 emission, the European Union forces car makers to reduce the average CO2 emission of their fleet to 95g CO2/km by 2021. This can only be achieved by electrification of vehicles. It is obvious that the market requires electrified vehicles to be comparable to combustion engine cars in price, driving range, maintenance effort, lifetime and safety. The main inverter, also called HPCU (hybrid control unit), with the power module as its core component plays a key role because it is a major lever for CO2 reduction. The strict rules of the EC requires future power modules with highest power density, high voltage and high current rating, high temperature capability and cooling, sufficient lifetime, low weight and small size. The article describes how Infineon will meet the requirements of power modules for the coming years. On the power semiconductor technology side, a new IGBT generation will be introduced as well as a very thin IGBT technology. On the packaging side, two new packages will be introduced: a very compact low-cost generator module, and a high power motor module with significant improvements in power density and size, cost, stray inductance and efficiency. It will also be discussed how to further increase the robustness of such packages to allow operation at even higher operating temperatures. An insight into wide bandgap power semiconductor switches will also be given. The new technologies will reduce Vce and switching losses at the same time and thereby increase inverter efficiency and power density.

The hydrogen economy – Vision or reality?

When looking at future energy systems, hydrogen offers a range of benefits as a clean energy carrier, which are receiving great attention as policy priorities. This is first and foremost as an alternative fuel in the transport sector. Car makers have recently started the market introduction of fuel cell electric vehicles and are currently entering a pre-commercial phase, as they are progressing from prototype vehicles for demonstration to producing small volumes. At the same time, market development initiatives aiming at implementing hydrogen refuelling station networks are spreading in Europe, Asia, and the USA. But also in recent years, hydrogen electrolysis has gained considerable attention as a potential flexibility option to help facilitate the large-scale integration of intermittent renewable energies. Given the sustained interest in and controversial discussions on the prospects of hydrogen, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive coverage of the most relevant aspects related to the wider use of hydrogen in the energy system, including the most recent developments and insights.

초경량 컨트롤암 개발을 위한 VPG 통합시스템

Car manufacturers and part manufacturers each have their own criteria with regard to strength, stiffness and NVH performance levels. Part manufacturers typically investigate such performances according to the part unit. To do this, the part manufacturer receives information from the relevant car maker. However, the information provided by the car maker is limited, making it difficult to develop a part which meets all of the design requirements specified by the car unit overall. To overcome this difficulty, the utilization of a VPG system is recommended for the designer. In this study, the durability performance of an optimized control arm as suggested in a previous study was investigated using the ETA-VPG, LS-dyna and FE/safe software packages. ETA-VPG provides several types of suspension and steering parts. In this study, a complete car is created using the library included in ETA-VPG, with the exception of the control arm. We also conducted a virtual proving ground analysis to predict the life cycle of the control arm.

News Comment: View From Brussels

Recent Westminster hearings confirm that the national car industry is a big supporter of the EU, and it thinks the UK should play nice, says Pelle Neroth. UK and EU: What has the EU ever done for us? A lot, say car makers.

Developing corridor choice model under hypothetical Variable Message Sign based traffic information

The article presents development of a closed-form corridor choice model under hypothetical variable message sign (VMS) based traffic information. A single VMS board is assumed to display traffic information at a junction of two alternative and competitive traffic corridors connecting two catchment areas in Kolkata city, India. The corridor choice models are developed by combining revealed preference (RP) and stated preference (SP) data sources. The development of a combined RP-SP model is a challenging task as different data sources have their respective error terms. In this work, the data sources are combined by exploiting their respective merits; while discarding their respective de-merits. Here a procedure of developing composite utility function is presented, which is constituted of estimates of attributes from SP data source and alternative specific constant term of alternatives calibrated from RP data source, while fixing all coefficients of attributes at SP estimates. The construction of corridor choice models is demonstrated for two types of VMS based traffic information, which differs in terms of the content displayed on VMS board and also for two types of trip maker- namely private car and taxi. Under the influence of VMS-based traffic information, trip makers are found to take corridor choice decision based on the rational trade-off between travel time information and direct travel cost of alternative traffic corridors. The alternative-specific-constant term of choice models indicates that in presence of VMS-based information, private car trip makers are likely to be less biased to choose comparatively longer but almost free-flow traffic corridor (thereby less travel time corridor); while taxi trip makers are likely to be more biased to choose longer but almost free-flow traffic corridor to arrive at their destination.

Dispatches

Dispatches

A comparative analysis study of alternative energy sources for automobiles

Depletion of oil resources and some environmental factors have been pushing automobile makers and the scientific communities to study on the use of alternative energy sources in automobiles. In this respect, some energy sources will come to the forefront with some advantages while some others not. To determine which alternative energy source is suitable for automobiles in terms of the existing conditions is a very important issue. It is necessary to know the characteristics of these energy types and evaluate their advantages and disadvantages to make this determination. In this study, a comparative analysis is performed for fuels such as LPG, CNG, hydrogen, biodiesel, ethanol and methanol, which could be used as an alternative to gasoline and diesel, and electric, hybrid and fuel cell vehicles. According to the comparison, LPG and CNG are best alternative fuels for economical reasons, while electric and fuel cell vehicles stand out as their emission advantages. Also, hydrogen can be considered as a key fuel due to its usage as an energy source for both internal combustion engines and fuel cell vehicles.

An Empirical Research on Inter-firm Capital Relationship in Yokokai Using IDE Spatial Model

This paper introduces recent fundamental modifications to the Japanese alliance system known as the keiretsu, and analyses how these changes have affected corporate performance. More specially, the performance of Japanese auto manufacturers, such as Toyota, Nissan and others, has significantly improved due to sophisticated production system technologies, highly productive workers, and recurring transaction relationships with their network family partners. After economic bubble of the 1990s, the strong ties between automobile makers and their supplier partners experienced significant changes, which are known as “keiretsu loosening”. Consequently, what is the status quo of automotive keiretsus? Does cross-shareholding, which is one specific form of capital relationship in keiretsu, still contribute to improving corporate performance? To answer these questions, this research reports the results of a study that collected data on cross-shareholdings to shed light on the relationship between inter-firm capital relationship and corporate performance. The findings of this empirical investigation reveal that: (1) Keiretsu is a flexible, highly adaptive organizational form; its scale changes in response to economic situations; (2) Capital relationships still remain a significant determinant of increasing profits for keiretsu partners even after the bubble burst in the 1990s.

Sales Forecast of Electric Vehicles

Sales Forecast of Electric Vehicles Antonio Naranjo Redondo, Alberto Pérez Cagigas Abstract The present research presents the sales forecast of electric vehicles in Spain until the year 2040, all of these under the conditions of different technological generations and scenarios. Although the market structure isn’t clear yet, goverments and car makers recognize that is an important strategical factor to know the sales forecast to mid and long term; so both could design the most suitable strategy. The evolution of the transition between ICE and EV is conditioned by objective factors (Fuels prices, autonomy range and government grants) and subjective factors (Post-materialist values related with ecology and the interest in new technologies). The present research uses a developed versión of the Bass Model (1969), known as BB-04X (P. Bass & Frank, 2004), which allows to contemplate different generations of the product as well as the leapfrogging phenomenon. A preference model is used to calculate the number of potencialdrivers, this contemplates that the switch can be based in the drivers preferences only when the EV has a certain amount of features, independently of the entry barriers and the forced adoptions. All the data used has been obtained form the survey developed by IPSOS-TRT company in different countries of the European Union in 2012. The present research presents the sales forecast of electric vehicles in Spain until the year 2040, all of these under the conditions of different technological generations and scenarios. It uses a developed versión of the Bass Model (1969), known as BB-04X (P. Bass & Frank, 2004), which allows to contemplate different generations of the product as well as the leap-frogging phenomenon. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jea.v3n1a8

Electric Vehicle Battery Modelling and Performance Comparison in Relation to Range Anxiety

In electric vehicle, rechargeable battery served as energy source for all its system operation which include electric motor for propulsion system and also other auxiliary components. Therefore, it becomes an important issue to be tackled in EV technology in order to enhance the battery energy capacity for long range operation. In general public view, people tend to be very concern in purchasing the electric car. One of the concerns lies on the question of how far they can travel with only battery for their car propulsion means. Therefore, this study tries to investigate the relation between battery types and the range anxiety faces by electric car makers. The investigations reveals that, Li-ion as the battery with high energy density cover more area or distance travel.

直噴式ディーゼル機関用高分散微粒化ノズルの設計（噴射ノズルの噴孔形状・寸法が噴霧特性と流量特性に及ぼす影響）

It is demanded to obtain excellent spray characteristics that is able to obtain excellent combustion characteristics in order to reduce noxious exhaust gas, especially, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter. The purpose of this study is to design and develop high-efficiency and high-dispersion injection nozzle for direct injection Diesel engine that is able to achieve lean combustion based on requirements of some automobile makers. In this study, effects of shapes and measurement of nozzle holes of atomization enhancement nozzle, which is affected to internal flow in nozzle hole and disintegration behavior of spray, on spray and flow characteristics were investigated. From these results, it was cleared that in case of the round inlet shape of nozzle hole downstream from the gap, breakup length becomes short about 50 % and spray angle becomes large about two times compared with the sharp inlet shape nozzle hole. Moreover, atomization and dispersion of intermittent spray were improved considerably by using the multi-hole nozzle with the round inlet shape of nozzle hole downstream from the gap under high-ambient pressure at room temperature conditions at before top dead center for direct injection Diesel engine.

Automóveis que Geram Prazer: um estudo sobre a conexão entre atributos e valores pessoais de compradores paulistanos

The objective of this paper is to evidence the cognitive structure of the values of automobile consumers from Sao Paulo, considering two models (one compact and another sportive) of a car maker. Specifically, this paper aimed to identify elements through a hierarchical value map (HVM), the attributes, the consequences and the values that characterize the perceptions of the consumers and respective connections among these. Therefore, thirty in depth interviews were performed with buyers of the two models. The qualitative Laddering technique (REYNOLDS; GUTMAN, 1988), based on the Means-End Chain Theory (GUTMAN, 1982), guided the collection, analysis and interpretations of data. The results point out that personal values are determinant aspects for the decision of buying such models and, consequently, should be considered for the elaboration of strategies of automobile design and communication. The analysis of the HVM highlighted that the main chains, for the two models, are started by the attributes: “internal trim” and “Design”. These items generate the perception of the value “Hedonism” - the most expressive state for the interviewees. This highlights the importance of this value in deciding to buy those two analyzed models.

주행 중 차실 내에서 발생한 외제승용차 화재 사례의 분석

대부분의 사람들은 선진국에서 생산한 고가의 최고급승용차는 화재가 발생하지 않을 것이라고 생각하는 경향이 있으나 이러한 고가의 최고급승용차에서도 화재가 발생하고 있다. 이 논문에서는 주행 중에 발생한 고가의 컨버터블 외제승용차화재의 화재원인 등을 분석하고 있다. 화재원인은 조수석 앞 대시보드 안쪽에 배선된 전선의 합선이다. 이 단락된 전선은 대시보드 안쪽에 위치하고 있어 대시보드를 분해하지 않고는 볼 수 없으므로 소유자나 운전자가 관리하거나 확인할 수 있는 부품이 아니고, 일반적으로 교체하거나 정비를 하지 않고 자동차 수명이 다할 때까지 그대로 사용하는 부품 중 하나에 속한다. 그러므로 화재발생원인 책임은 소유자나 운전자에 있지 않고 메이커에 있는 것으로 분석하고 있다. 그리고 화재원인은 자동차 메이커의 제조결함과 관련이 있는 것으로 분석하고 있다. Although most of people believe that fires do not break out in expensive foreign cars, fires have broken out in such expensive foreign cars. In this paper, the cause and liability of expensive foreign convertible fire during driving was analyzed. As a result of analysis, the fire cause was the short-circuit of an electric wire distributed in the inside of dashboard in front of the passenger seat. Because the short-circuited electric wire is located in the inside of dashboard and cannot be checked out without disassembly of dashboard, car owners or drivers cannot manage and often use until the expected life span without exchange or car service. Therefore, it is analyzed that a car owner or a driver is not responsible for this fire and the fire cause is associated with car maker's manufacturing defect.

Test Everything Everywhere [testing through lifecycle

We are entering the era of total test: where things remain on test through their lifecycle and not just at the end of the production line to try to avoid failures in the field. Industries such as automotive and aerospace illustrate how attitudes to test have changed. Why? The high cost of product recalls and the increasing reliance on automation for safety. Stefan Singer, automotive field applications engineer at chipmaker Freescale, says the car makers are keen to eradicate component failures: "The trend towards zero defects is a big topic in automotive: customers have moved from measuring the number of failed parts per million to parts per billion".