Auto Futures – Automotive News Hub for journalists

Lead Story January 16, 2019

China Ready to Shock the World

Auto Futures taps industry experts to find out their views on the predicted $300 billion investment in EVs over the next decade

A report published by Reuters on January 10th uncovered 29 global automakers’ plans to invest at least $300 billion in electric vehicles over the next five to 10 years, with more than 45% of that figure going into China. The...

Read more

Latest News January 17, 2019

Ford To Build All-Electric F-Series Pickup

Ford has announced that it will launch an all-electric version of its highly-successful F-Series pickup truck, as it continues its plan to bring 16 EVs to the market by 2020. Before new SUV rivals such as Rivian appeared, the 2020…

Read more

Innovation January 17, 2019

Why Racing is a Smart Way to Test and Promote EV Technology

The first ever electric vehicle drag race takes place in Abu Dhabi this week. It forms part of the Electric Vehicle Road Trip Middle East in collaboration with the eco Grand Prix. The event is just the latest in a…

Read more

Spotlight January 13, 2019

A Heads Up for HUDs in the Vehicles of the Future

Head-up displays (HUDs) were originally developed for aviation. Now they are seen as a great way to view navigation or safety alerts on the road. HUDs project images that appear either on the windscreen or in the field of view…

Read more

BRAND CONTENT

January 16, 2019

Self-driving vehicles: EU should step on the gas
2 1

January 16, 2019

SEAT’s three SUVs, on the road together for the first time
6 9

January 16, 2019

Automotive Maintenance and Repair Expo (AMR) 2019 expands on special zones and introduces first ever German Pavilion
4

January 10, 2019

MOTOBIKE ISTANBUL IS GETTING READY TO OPEN ITS DOORS TO THE SECTOR IN ITS 11TH YEAR
6

January 8, 2019

Audi turns the car into a virtual reality experience platform at CES
5 3

December 19, 2018

An inside look at the CUPRA e-Racer
7 16

December 18, 2018

SEAT joins Alastria for the development of blockchain technology-based solutions
1 3

December 13, 2018

Automechanika releases calendar for 2019
3

News

Car2go Makes Paris Its Fourth E-City

Daimler's Car2go carsharing brand has launched in Paris, the fourth city in the mobility company's European roll out. To start, Car2go will offer 400 fully-electric Smart EQ fortwo cars to anyone in the French capital. More cars will be added throughout the year.

“Paris offers ideal conditions for our free-floating carsharing principle,” said Olivier Reppert, CEO of Car2go. “I am really pleased that we can launch today with a fleet of fully electric smart fortwo and thus offer Parisians as well as visitors of the city a sustainable, flexible and convenient way to move around in the city. The smart cars are already one of the most popular vehicles in Paris – not only because they are manufactured in France, but also because they are the perfect cars for that city.”

Following Amsterdam, Stuttgart and Madrid, the latest roll out in Paris brings Car2go's electric fleet in Europe to 2,100. The French capital is... Read more

Ford To Build All-Electric F-Series Pickup

Ford has announced that it will launch an all-electric version of its highly-successful F-Series pickup truck, as it continues its plan to bring 16 EVs to the market by 2020. Before new SUV rivals such as Rivian appeared, the 2020…

Read more

Microsoft To help Develop LG’s AI Software

LG and Microsoft have entered into a memorandum of understanding to enhance and further grow LG’s autonomous vehicle and infotainment system business. Under the terms of the partnership, LG will accelerate the transformation of its existing digital platform for the…

Read more

Former Audi Executive To Take Over LEVC

Former Audi executive Joerg Hofmann has been named as the London EV Company’s CEO effective from February 4th, as the company gears up for the next stage in its development and new product strategy. Following the successful launch of the…

Read more

Faraday Future Investor Becomes Majority Stakeholder in NEVS

Evergrande Group, the Chinese company who has taken a large stake in Faraday Future, is investing $2 billion into National Electric Vehicle Sweden – better know as NEVS. Chinese investor Kai Johan Jiang bought the assets of struggling automaker SAAB…

Read more

PROMOTIONAL

Welcome to Auto Futures

The start-ups know it, the mainstream manufacturers have woken up to it and now the wider public is starting to get it, the fact that we’re on the cusp of a mobility revolution not seen since the bygone days of…

Read more

Be Inspired

Auto Futures is made by journalists for journalists. It’s an editorially independent resource dedicated to documenting the changes taking place in the industry and their impact on urban mobility. From high tech startups shaking up the business model to traditional…

Read more

Coming Soon…

Over the next month we will be writing and publishing a number of special reports and interviews on the subject of AI and the automotive industry. It’s a sector that’s forecast to be generating $26.5 billion in annual global revenue…

Read more

Green

Why Racing is a Smart Way to Test and Promote EV Technology

The first ever electric vehicle drag race takes place in Abu Dhabi this week. It forms part of the Electric Vehicle Road Trip Middle East in collaboration with the eco Grand Prix. The event is just the latest in a…

Read more

Adrian Smith January 17, 2019

China Ready to Shock the World

A report published by Reuters on January 10th uncovered 29 global automakers’ plans to invest at least $300 billion in electric vehicles over the next five to 10 years, with more than 45% of that figure going into China. The…

Read more

Alex Kreetzer January 16, 2019

VW Unveils Mobile EV Charging Stations

As the automotive industry moves into the new year, many players involved within the rapidly-developing electrification market are trying to make EV charging more efficient and less time-consuming. To kick-off 2019, Volkswagen has offered a glimpse into the company’s mobile…

Read more

Adrian Smith January 2, 2019

Paying for Your Taxi Ride by Pitching Your Ideas…

The Pitchalong Shuffle is the name of a new EV taxi where sustainable and innovative start-ups can pitch their ideas directly to executives of the Finnish clean energy company Fortum. What’s more, the cost of the journey is paid for…

Read more

Adrian Smith December 13, 2018

Tech

US Mobility Industry to Create 100,000 New Jobs

Research from Boston Consulting Group and Detroit Mobility Lab shows that autonomous and electric cars will help create over 100,000 industry jobs in the US in the coming decade, with 30,000 of these new vacancies available to engineers with degrees…

Read more

Alex Kreetzer January 14, 2019

A Heads Up for HUDs in the Vehicles of the Future

Head-up displays (HUDs) were originally developed for aviation. Now they are seen as a great way to view navigation or safety alerts on the road. HUDs project images that appear either on the windscreen or in the field of view…

Read more

Lynn Walford January 13, 2019

Mobileye Paves the Way for Israel’s Autonomous Success in China

Mobileye, the Israeli technology company owned by software giant Intel, is one of the most successful suppliers of autonomous driving software on the planet. Continuing its drive to dominate the global market, Mobileye has announced that it is expanding its…

Read more

Alex Kreetzer January 9, 2019

Toyota Offers Autonomous Tech To Help Drivers, Not Replace Them

Using on board cameras, sensors and 3D animation, Toyota Research Institute (TRI) attended CES this year to show the audience how its new Guardian software is able to reduce the chance of accidents by assisting humans, not replacing them. The company…

Read more

Alex Kreetzer January 8, 2019

VIEWS

The UK Start-up Building the Robot Brains Needed for Self-Driving

When the European Space Agency needed help to develop the Mars rover probe, it turned to a UK start-up for its vision sensors. That start-up was Oxbotica, a company formed in 2014 by Paul Newman and Ingmar Posner, two professors…

Read more

Adrian Smith January 6, 2019

Waymo’s Way Forward. In Conversation with AV Visionary Larry Burns

9/11 was a pivotal moment for Larry Burns. At the time he was busy leading R&D for General Motors. He was in Frankfurt for the auto show when the attacks happened. There were no flights back to the U.S. And,…

Read more

Adrian Smith January 2, 2019

Tough Love for the Auto Industry from Roger C. Lanctot

In the connected car space, if you want a good quote, you can always get one from Roger C. Lanctot, Director, Automotive Connected Mobility, Global Automotive Practice at Strategy Analytics. He’s smart, knows the business and always has something brilliant…

Read more

Lynn Walford December 16, 2018

The New Face of Automotive Human Machine Interface

Rashmi Rao is changing the face of automotive technology. She’s busy building new human machine interfaces (HMI) for automotive mobility at Samsung’s HARMAN, a supplier of technology, infotainment and systems for the automotive industry. Her current position is Senior Director…

Read more

Lynn Walford December 9, 2018

September 19, 2018 by admin

Trucking logistics costs will fall by 47 percent by 2030, largely through reduction of labor
Delivery lead times will fall by 40 percent
Trucks will be in use on the road for 78 percent of the time, rather than the current industry average in Europe of 29 percent

Munich, September 19, 2018 – The digitisation and automation of processes and delivery vehicles will reduce logistics costs for standardised transport by 47% by 2030, according to a new report from PwC’s Strategy& consultancy.

The Global Truck Study 2018 has found that around 80% of these savings will be attributable to the reduction of personnel in the transport and logistics industry. In addition, there will be enormous increases in efficiency: autonomous lorries, for example, will be able to travel 78% of the time from 2030 onwards, as opposed to 29% of the time since 2030. This will be because there will be no breaks for drivers and idling time will be reduced through the use of algorithms.

Events

CES: The World’s Biggest Auto Show?

CES 2019 was a behemoth of automotive technology and demonstrations, a mega-mall shopping palace for automakers and suppliers. Auto Futures was on-site to supply insight into the top trends at the event. Trends include aftermarket upgrades, pods, alternative transport, personalisation,…

Read more

Lynn Walford January 14, 2019

CES 2019 – Now That’s Entertainment!

Las Vegas, Nevada. Not only home to the greatest entertainment in the world but, during CES, the latest and greatest technology. Since changing to a once-a-year format in 1998, CES has positioned itself at the forefront of consumer technology and…

Read more

Lynn Walford January 10, 2019

The Nissan Leaf e+: Does Bigger Mean Better?

The Nissan Leaf was a pioneer for modern electric vehicles when it first arrived in 2010, way before the influx of ‘green’ cars we see in front of us today. Seven years later, and when the rest of the automotive…

Read more

Alex Kreetzer January 9, 2019

Daimler Invests Half a Billion Euros in Automated Trucks

During CES, Daimler Trucks announced that it was to invest €500 million and create more than 200 new jobs over the next few years in its mission to bring highly-automated trucks to public roads within a decade. Currently testing trucks with…

Read more

Alex Kreetzer January 7, 2019

Veoneer Showcases Collaborative Driving at CES

At the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today, Veoneer is showcasing technologies, solutions and research that will support the evolution of cars well into the 2030s. It is predicted that in 2030 the vast majority of all cars…

Read more

Alex Kreetzer January 7, 2019

CES Returns

The Consumer Electronics Show has come around again, with even more automotive presence than before. Ever since the first automakers started to ditch the Detroit Motor Show for the Las Vegas technology event, CES has rapidly developed into one of…

Read more

Alex Kreetzer January 7, 2019

Quieter Vehicles, Hybrid Air-Taxis And More – Our CES Round-up

Unwanted sound in a car cabin caused by driving over rough roads, pot-holes, grooved concrete or uneven pavements can be annoying for drivers and passengers. That’s why Bose is introducing new technology that uses a combination of accelerometers, microphones, and…

Read more

Adrian Smith January 4, 2019

CES 2019 – Preparing for the Post-Autonomous Era

Now we all know that CES stands for Consumer Electronics Show. But increasingly it’s standing for connected, electric and self-driving. In early January there will be a number of major tech reveals in Las Vegas from the OEMs. For example, Kia…

Read more

Adrian Smith December 20, 2018

Mercedes Releases Sneak Peak of ‘Intelligent Automotive Specimen’

Mercedes has revealed a teaser image of the new Mercedes-Benz CLA Coupé which will go on show to the public for the very first time at CES 2019 in Las Vegas. Admittedly, the image doesn’t exactly reveal very much. But…

Read more

Adrian Smith December 18, 2018

Bosch to Showcase Shuttle of the Future at CES 2019

Driverless electric shuttles that are seamlessly connected with their environment will soon be a common sight on our city streets. That’s the forecast of Bosch. The German company will be presenting a concept shuttle and its mobility solutions at CES 2019 in…

Read more

Adrian Smith December 14, 2018

Honda to Showcase Autonomous Firefighting Vehicle at CES

At CES in Las Vegas in January, Honda will provide a first look at real-world testing of its all-terrain Autonomous Work Vehicle. The vehicle can be used in firefighting, construction, agriculture and search and rescue. It features GPS and sensor-based autonomy capable…

Read more

Adrian Smith December 12, 2018

It’s the Size of a SUV but with Wings…

Flying taxis will not replace the car any time soon. But they will start removing traffic from the streets of our cities in the near future. That’s the opinion of Oliver Le Lann, who’s the CEO of the French urban…

Read more

Adrian Smith December 6, 2018

Network

Alex Kreetzer (UK)

Alex Kreetzer is the Editor and Content Manager of Auto Futures at DMA Media and has been heavily involved within the great automotive technology boom, covering ground-breaking transport innovations and future mobility solutions emerging within the global market. Beginning his…

Thomas Achelis (Germany)

Thomas Achelis is a motor journalist and a well respected PR practitioner with more than thirty years of experience in the automotive industry. He was the editor-in-chief of Auto+Verkehr, the official member’s publication of Germany’s third biggest automobile club Kraftfahrer-Schutz…

Lynn Walford (USA)

Lynn Walford has been writing and editing for over two decades. Her credits include USA Today, Cars.com, GearBrain, Yahoo Autos, Investor’s Business Daily, TopSpeed, TechHive, The Los Angeles Times and Wireless Week. She currently is the editor of AUTO Connected…

Frank Horlbeck (Germany)

Frank Horlbeck started his career as a reporter for newspapers and magazines in Germany, before he became a television producer. Working as programme director and with world-wide reporter experience, he was later responsible for Pay TV channels and digital channels such as AUDI…

Adrian Smith (UK)

Head of Editorial for Auto Futures and its parent company DMA Media. Adrian is a business news expert, a channel launch specialist and a senior online video producer. He has has held senior TV production roles at SKY News, CNBC…

Eammon Atkinson (UK)

Eammon Atkinson is an Australian journalist based in London with experience in digital, print and television. Eammon has a strong interest in the automotive industry and blockchain technology. Recently he worked as a correspondent for Australian television channel Network Ten…