Our Opinions and Tips » Automotive

Best Practices To Be Followed By The Automotive Industry While Purchasing

Marcel Duchamp — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:39:38 +0000

Increasing demands and decrease in the cost of the commodity and even the new advances in the technology are creating immense pressure on the purchasing departments. Roland Berger Strategy Consultants carried out a outlook on the Purchasing Departments of nine vehicle manufacturers. They followed all the present purchasing trends and suggested six best practices to be followed by the automotive industry.

Source should be low-cost countries: By purchasing in low-cost countries you can realize your increasing cost savings.
Create a global supplier: The decision should be taken depending on the best global supplier foot print for purchasing.
Ensure access to technological innovations: Manufacturers should research on the technological innovations and ensure for the accessibility.
Standardize: Manufacturers are focusing mostly for reducing the cost but at the same time they are improving the prerequisites of engineering.
Globalize structures and decision making: Manufacturers are improving their organizational structures and even the decision making to improve in their engineering.

For a perfect purchase, the companies should keep in mind the three factors like strategic fit, comprehensiveness and application. To ensure whether a company is strategic fit or not. The decisions in the business must be in complement with the other functional areas which have the same aims. The steps should be comprehensive so that for creating an impact on improving the cost. Finally the processes must be monitored constantly and are to be applied for success.

Know About Used Vehicle History Report

Henry Blodget — Wed, 19 May 2010 06:33:29 +0000

A report which gives full detail of cars specification, condition, ex-owner detail and other important information is known as vehicle history report. Once you have a vehicle history report then this will explain every terms and events of car. This report is broken into nine categories: report summary, vehicle specifications, accident check, mileage accuracy check, lemon check, ownership check, recall check, and warranty check and vehicle history details. All these data is summarized below which may reveal the car problem. When you have a vehicle history report then always check for the following thing:

Vehicle history score – This is score statement for a car and this is provided only by Experian’s AutoCheck. These number work like a credit score and boils down the vehicle’s history into an easy-to-understand number. It also provides a number range showing comparison against vehicles of a similar age and class. This facility helps to evaluate a vehicle’s history using a more relevant, apples-to-apples comparison.
Title check – This information will tell that whether the title is branded or not. Every state assign title brands to car to alert customers of past problems. Problem could be accident which results in total loss declaration or a vehicle that qualifies as a lemon under that state’s lemon laws.

These are the major thing in vehicle history which helps to judge a best used car before buying. This report provides value of money and product satisfaction to the customer. Hence, a vehicle history report has key role to check out used car status.
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Types Of Car Insurance

Marcel Duchamp — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:23:10 +0000

Insurance companies provides information regarding different types of auto insurance available to car buyers. These policies can include physical injury and liability, collision, comprehensive, full glace, liability, medical coverage, personal injury protection, and uninsured motorist.

Car insurance is mandatory, when a person is willing to buy a car. It is considered as violation under the Road Traffic Act to drive car on the public highway without insurance. This is because, while driving car there may be risk of damage to car, to the person and to third parties and their belongings. When trying to buy car insurance, a cheapest insurance cover may emerge like a false economy.

There are three types of car or auto insurance cover:
Third Party: Third party is treated as the least possible legal level of insurance. Third party insurance covers insured person liabilities when there is:

Injuries to others (to passengers in insured person’s car and other persons not inside insured person’s car).
Damage to other peoples’ property (the third party’s car, but not insured person’s vehicle).

Third Party, Fire and Theft: This insurance covers all the risks of third party insurance and also includes theft and damage to insured person’s car generated due to theft and fire.

Comprehensive: Comprehensive insurance covers third party, fire and theft risks along with:

Accidental damage to insured person’s vehicle
Malicious or mischievous damage to insured person’s vehicle
Personal accident
Medical expenses up to certain limit
Loss of, or damage to, personal property which is being carried in insured person’s vehicle, to certain limit
New for old substitute in the first year.
Glass replacement (windscreen, sunroof and windows).

What Are CO2 Cars?

Ian Flintoff — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 11:36:36 +0000

Co2 car is a very small sized car. The purpose of this car is to explain mechanical principles to engineering students. This car is driven by compressed carbon dioxide cartridge. The CO2 cars are also called as Land Speed Record Assault Vehicles (LSRAV). The car body is designed by wood and the wheels are manufactured with plastic.

The types of CO2 cars are rail cars, shell cars, hybrid cars, and shell revealed cars. The rail cars are constructed with the wheels that protrude outside. In shell cars, the wheels are located inside. The shell revealed cars contain wheels both inside and outside. The mixture of rail and shell cars is called as hybrid cars. The simple parts of the CO2 car are wheels, axels, CO2 cartridge, and body blank. The body blank is made with basswood, and balsa wood. It is easy to work with balsa wood and it is light weighted.

The CO2 cars are designed only for the purpose of engineering students. In addition, it is very easy to design a CO2 car.

Tips for Buying Used Car

Henry Blodget — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:33:03 +0000

Buying a used car is little more difficult task than buying a new one. Warranty is a problem of used car. Before buying an used car, invest time in considering various factors that would apply to a new car purchase like how you will use the vehicle, how long you plan to keep it, and your budget comprising of insurance, operation, maintenance, and repair costs. First and most important thing before buying used car is, check the papers, and verify the credentials of the previous owner. Make sure the number on the car and the serial number in registration card is same. Check for accidents, mileage the car has done, engine, paint, and tyres. It is better to take small car with less than 50,000 Kms on the reading or a larger car with less than 80,000 reading. Make sure the person who is selling the car genuinely owns it, and is not trying to sell a leased or stolen vehicle. Test drive the car and check the left and right hand steering, brakes, cornering, and controlling at speed. Also, check for the performance of the AC.

Automakers Get A $5 Billion Aid From Fed

Henry Blodget — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 06:01:02 +0000

The Federal treasury department announced an aid of $5 billion to aid the auto industry out of troubles. This could help all the (or most of them) companies of auto industry ranging from auto parts suppliers to giant carmakers like GM.

Mainly this aid is going to help the Big Three – General Motors, Chrysler LLC, and Ford Motors Corp, out of their recent troubles due to economic downturn.

The Fed is to provide the huge amount from its TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program). Automakers GM and Chrysler asked for a $25 billion aid to help them revamp themselves as well as the struggling industry. Till now they received an aid of $17.4 billion; but this big amount only helped the two industries to survive from bankruptcy. Now they are asking for an additional $21.6 billion in aid.

This entire program is to help the Suppliers of auto parts to these giants from getting affected due to payment delays or disrupts.
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Types Of Car Insurance
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Tips for Buying Used Car
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