DHM Bergendahl Professional

Volvo Group delivers recommendations on sustainable transport to UN Secretary-General

10/31/16 AB Volvo

Today Volvo Group CEO Martin Lundstedt, in his role as co-chair of the High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport, submitted a report to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon containing ten recommendations on how sustainable transport can advance sustainable development. The report calls for increased international development funding, supportive legislation and incentives to promote new transport technologies. The report also highlights ElectriCity, the Volvo Group’s full-electric bus route in the city of Göteborg, as an innovative collaboration in the field of new, clean public transport.

“Sustainable transport is a driver of sustainable development and a precondition for economic growth, eradicating poverty and combating climate change. The shift towards sustainable transport represents great opportunities for our industry. The Volvo Group will embrace these opportunities by developing new technologies and new business models and by working closely together with our customers and the entire value chain,” says Volvo Group CEO Martin Lundstedt.

The report delivers ten recommendations which include calls for increased international development funding, supportive legislation and incentives to promote new transport technologies. The report concludes that technology will drive progress and that all types of transport should be made as efficient as possible in the areas where they are most effective.

The report highlights a number of sustainable transport solutions, one being ElectriCity, the Volvo Group’s full-electric bus route in the city of Göteborg, which is described as an innovative collaboration in the field of new, clean public transport.

http://www.volvogroup.com/en-en/news/2016/oct/news-2348614.html

Will Indians start buying fewer cars?

The Hindu Business Line (October 30th 2016):

They might, once they figure out that travelling by taxis is convenient, stress-free and economical

Gridlock in India’s cities has reached dangerous proportions. The average speed of traffic going through the city centre in Bengaluru during peak hours was recently clocked at just 10 km per hour. Commute speeds in Mumbai and Delhi are often worse.

In the big Indian cities, two solutions — metro rail and taxis — are beginning to offer relief. As more people squeeze into metros, road traffic density under metro-elevated structures and on surrounding feeder roads appears to have fallen.

This makes sense. Many metro riders own private vehicles that are now off the roads, decongesting traffic along their entire route.

The problem is that not everyone in the big cities can travel by Metro. The sprawl in India’s cities is so vast that even when all future lines of current metro projects are operational, the majority of a city’s residents will be more than a mile from the nearest metro station. This last mile problem — of how to get to and from a metro station at both ends — is a serious one.

/…/

The taxi option

For the family that uses taxis, the monthly outlay would be just ₹24,500, a saving of 48 per cent over the car family.

Plus, it never needs to pay for parking. Improvements in app functionality and the deployment of thousands of taxis mean that cabs these days arrive at their pickup point often faster than the time it takes for a parked car to be driven out into the street.

Even if the car family doesn’t hire drivers, throwing the comparison off because taxis come with drivers, the car family spends ₹23,000 a month, only slightly less than the taxi family.

If Indians in the big cities slowly begin to think in this manner, they could begin to buy fewer new cars in the future. Families will continue to have their existing cars parked in garages but will start severely limiting their use, perhaps to pleasurable, long-distance drives or emergencies only.

This in turn would have serious consequences for India’s manufacturing and service economy. True, taxi companies will continue to encourage their drivers to buy new cars but this volume pales in comparison to domestic retail buying.

AP reported in early September that John Zimmer, co-founder of the ride-sharing company Lyft wrote in an essay that “personal car ownership in the US will come to an end because autonomous rides (self-driving Lyft cars) will become a cheaper way to travel than owning an automobile”.

With India’s vast labour pool and complex traffic patterns, self-driving cars are unlikely to make an entry on Indian roads anytime soon. But Zimmer’s prediction that personal car ownership will fall may turn out to be true in India as well.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/taxi-travel-is-convenient-stressfree-and-economical/article9285738.ece?utm_source=email&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Newsletter

ACEA: Alternative fuel vehicle registrations: +7.0% in third quarter of 2016

Brussels, 28 October 2016 – In the third quarter of 2016, demand for alternative fuel vehicles in the EU grew (+7.0%), totalling 137,423 units.

In the third quarter of 2016, demand for alternative fuel vehicles (AFV) in the EU grew (+7.0%), totalling 137,423 units. Results were diverse among different vehicle categories. On the one hand, registrations of both new electrically chargeable (ECV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) continued their positive momentum, posting double-digit percentage gains during the last quarter (+20.2% and +29.2% respectively). Growth in the ECV segment was particularly supported by plug-in electric cars (+26.4%), which represent more than half of total ECV registrations. On the other hand, demand for cars powered by propane, ethanol or natural gas (NGV) fell by 26.2% to 34,384 units during Q3 2016, following the trend of the first and second quarter. The main reason for this has been a contraction of the Italian market, which accounts for the majority of these vehicles.

Among the EU’s major markets, Spain (+44.8%), Germany (+33.9%) and the UK (+30.5%) recorded substantial increases in AFV registrations over the last quarter. Growth in these countries was fully driven by demand for electric and hybrid electric vehicles. Italy performed less well compared to Q3 2015 (-17.2%), due to a sharp decline in registrations of propane and gas-fuelled cars, which where only partly offset by increases in the electric (+46.6%) and hybrid electric (+52.4%) segments. France showed a modest decline (-10.9%) in total AFV registrations, mainly due to a drop in HEV and LPG sales. France, however, still accounted for the second largest number of HEV registrations (10,070) after the United Kingdom.

Among the EU+EFTA countries, Norway maintained its leading position with the largest number of ECV registered over the period: 11,287 units, up 44.1% compared to Q3 2015.

http://www.acea.be/press-releases/article/alternative-fuel-vehicle-registrations-7.0-in-third-quarter-of-2016

Babbel Magazine: The Top 5 Reasons To Learn Swedish

You want to learn a foreign language but you’re stuck on which one to go for? Well my friend, don’t follow the crowd, go for a fun left-field choice like Swedish. What’s that? You’re not sure? Then let us convince you!

Reason one: Swedish is a (relatively) easy language to pick up

Reason two: Swedish is your master key to all Scandinavian languages

Reason three: Sweden’s a great place for expats

Reason four: Solve a Swedish mystery

Reason five: Dig into the culture like a pro

Bonus reason: Oh so THAT’S what the name of that piece of IKEA furniture means…

https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/top-5-reasons-to-learn-swedish?bsc=engmag-a173-reasonsswedish-cd-swe-ob&btp=1_eng_out_cd&utm_campaign=cd_engall_gen_cse_reasonslearnswedish&utm_content=5+Reasons+You+Should+Start+Learning+Swedish&utm_medium=CON&utm_source=outbrain&utm_term=5424503

ACEA Stats: Commercial vehicle registrations: +13.1% over nine months; +6.0% in September

ACEA, Brussels, 21 October 2016

Total new commercial vehicles

In September 2016, demand for new commercial vehicles in the EU continued to grow (+6.0%), even if at a more modest rate than the previous month. This marked the 21st consecutive month of growth, with a total of 220,781 new vehicles registered. Growth continued to be driven by the Italian (+46.3%) and Spanish (+14.1%) markets, while France (-1.1%) and the United Kingdom (-0.9%) performed less well than in September 2015.

Over the first nine months of 2016, the EU market expanded by 13.1%, totalling about 1.7 million commercial vehicles. During that period, Italy (+40.2%), Spain (+13.1%), Germany (+11.3%), France (+10.1%) and the United Kingdom (+2.0%) all posted growth.

All details:

http://www.acea.be/press-releases/article/commercial-vehicle-registrations-13.1-over-nine-months-6.0-in-september

ET: BMW to make India global hub for small bikes

Indian frugal engineering mates with German traditions – strategy towards success:

Engineered and designed by BMW Motorrad at Munich, the one-cylinder low-weight G310R embodies the pure essence of a BMW roadster that has been designed not only for tricky, narrow city lanes but also for long-distance rides. TVS offers the knowledge of frugal engineering and value-efficient component sourcing, strengths to keep the product manufacturing cost competitive.

http://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/two-wheelers/motorcycles/bmw-to-make-india-global-hub-for-small-bikes/54909908

MEET A MAKER: ‘MAKE IN INDIA’ FOR VOLVO GROUP

SIGNIFICANCE OF MAKE IN INDIA

With regards to India’s potential, Mr Kamal Bali, the Managing Director of Volvo India, said, “As Indians let us rekindle and rediscover our inventive and entrepreneur skills. Remember, when the world was wearing animal skin, we discovered cotton. Imagine the world without the number 0 or even without the binary code which we discovered. We did this all 2,000 BC. We can do it now. Let’s make India a powerhouse of manufacturing. Let’s make what will drive the world. Let’s make what will change the world.”

http://www.makeinindia.com/article/-/v/listening-to-the-leaders-make-in-india-for-volvo-group

OPINION (ET): Auto manufacturing now on track to become main driver of ‘Make in India’

India has attracted a good quantum of investment from global and local OEMs as well as component manufacturers.

The government’s aim to make auto manufacturing the main driver of the ‘Make in India’ initiative is now gaining attention of global manufacturing players.

India has attracted a good quantum of investment from global and local OEMs as well as component manufacturers. Many of the global automobile players have been ramping up investment in India to accommodate growing domestic demand.

Also, global automobile manufacturers plan to leverage India’s competitive advantage to set up export-oriented production hubs. Besides expansion through various channels, many domestic manufacturers have started investing heavily in various segments (especially in R&D and new technology) of the industry over the past few months.

http://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/opinion-auto-manufacturing-now-on-track-to-become-main-driver-of-make-in-india/54864057

Ms Monika Kapil Mohta appointed as next Ambassador of the Republic of India to the Kingdom of Sweden

Born on 19 January 1962, Ms Monika Kapil Mohta joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1985. She has occupied a number of important positions in the Ministry of External Affairs and in Indian missions abroad.

She served as the Ambassador of India to Poland and Lithuania from July 2011 to January 2015. Prior to that she served as the Director of The Nehru Centre and Minister (Culture) at the High Commission of India to the United Kingdom from 2006 to 2011. In the Ministry of External Affairs, she has served in many different positions including Additional Secretary/Joint Secretary (Southern Division), Director (Pakistan), Director (Gulf), Director (External Publicity) & Deputy Spokesperson, Director (United Nations).

She has also served at Indian Embassies in France, Nepal and Thailand, and in the Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO.

She is married to Dr. Madhup Mohta, also a career diplomat. They have a son and a daughter.

https://www.indianembassy.se/pages.php?id=6

ACEA Statistics: Highest September Total on Record

Passenger car registrations: +8,0% over nine months; +7,2% in September

Brussels, 14 October 2016 – In September 2016, passenger car registrations in the EU continued to grow (+7.2%), totalling 1,455,180 units.

In September 2016, passenger car registrations in the EU continued to grow (+7.2%), totalling 1,455,180 units. In volume terms, this result marked the highest September total on record. All major markets posted growth, contributing to the overall upturn. Italy (+17.4%), Spain (+13.9%) and Germany (+9.4%) showed the highest percentage gains, followed by France (+2.5%) and the United Kingdom (+1.6%) with more modest rates.

Over the first nine months of 2016, the European passenger car market grew by 8.0%, reaching 11,243,263 units. The overall increase through the first three-quarters of the year showed the market’s ongoing recovery with all of the big five markets posting solid growth rates. Italy (+17.4%) and Spain (+11.5%) recorded double-digit growth over the period, followed by Germany (+6.1%), France (+5.7%) and the UK (+2.6%).

http://www.acea.be/press-releases/article/passenger-car-registrations-8.0-over-nine-months-7.2-in-september