4b0820539 - Temperature Sensor on 2040-parts.com

Mercedes signs joint venture to build carbonfibre parts

Not to be outdone by BMW’s joint venture with the SGL Group to manufacturer commercially viable carbonfibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) for the electric Megacity Vehicle, Mercedes has announced a joint venture with Japanese company Toray Industries to manufacturer and market its on CFRP automotive parts. The deal was signed in Germany today, with Toray taking a 50.1% stake, Daimler holding 44.9% and the remaining 5% being taken by other shareholders. The two companies started working together in March 2010, and while Toray has been working on the materials and moulding processes, Merc has designed the automotive parts and the technologies to join the parts together.

Nissan to open new Global Headquarters Gallery

Nissan, which opened its new global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, last weekend (coinciding with the unveiling of the automaker's new electrically-propelled Leaf), will open a new gallery dedicated to its products on August 8th. Just as German automakers BMW and Porsche have shrines dedicated to their respective brands, Nissan's new gallery will feature exhibits of its current products, classic models and cars from its racing heritage. The new gallery - which boasts an area four times larger than the previous Nissan gallery in the company's former headquarters in Higashi Ginza - occupies 4000m2 of space on the first floor of the new building.

Honda readies its jet airplane -- for real this time

Honda would like to remind you that while journalists have spent the last few years fretting whether the Big H has "lost its way," the company has quietly launched, shelved, resurrected, and all but waited out its plan to dominate the business-jet skies, which we are to assume are less friendly than United's. The HA-420 HondaJet has been kicking around for more than 10 years now, but the very first production-ready plane just rolled off the assembly line in Greensboro, N.C., this week -- and, Honda promises, the $4.5 million business jet should be delivered in the second quarter of next year. Honda began taking orders for the jet in 2006, but the long recession squashed the market for private jets.