PAGE 22 · www.autonewseurope.com December 8, 2008

Car Cutaway

STEERING COLUMN:TRAVEN TECHNOLOGY

POWER CONVERSION UNIT:ARENS CONTROLS

ABS BRAKING SYSTEM:CONTINETAL TEVES

REAR SUSPENSION:PEUGEOT CITROÊN MOTEURS

TRANSFER CASE:OERLIKON GRAZIANO

INDUCTION MOTOR:LEROY SOMER

COOLANT RESERVOIR:TEMA

HORNS:FIAMM

FLUID PUMPS:ROBERT BOSCH

REAR FRAME:THAI SUMMIT

POWER DOOR WINDOW:CASTELLON

BATTERIES:MES-DEA

TRANSFER CASE:OERLIKON GRAZIANO

UPPER FRAME:HYDRO

POWER STEERING:TRW CONEKT

TRAKYA CAM SAN:DOOR GLASS ASSEMBLY

ACCELERATOR PEDAL:DRIVESOL

SPOILER:POLYTECH HOLDEN

REAR-VIEW MIRRORS:FICOSA

RADIATOR/CONDENSER UNITS:RAAL HOLLAND

TIRES:MICHELIN

SOUND DEADENING:ANTIPHON

WIPERS:THE MATADOR COMPANY

AIR CONDITIONING COMPONENTS:SANDEN INTERNATIONAL

HVAC:VALEO SYSTEMES THERMIQUE

SEALS:CABSEAL

GEAR SHIFTER:ADIATOR

SEATS:LEAR

DRIVESHAFT:GKN

TRANSFER CASE:OERLIKON GRAZIANO

FUSES:LITTELFUSE

ELECRICAL HARNESSES:LEWDEN ELECTRICAL INDUSTRIES

SEALS:OTTO OLSEN

FUSES:LITTELFUSE

AIR EXTRACTOR:WEGU

THERMAL COVER:POLYFORMES

CONNECTORS:TYCO ELECTRONICS LOGISTICS

COOLING PIPES:ERICH KUCHLER

BRAKE LINES:TI AUTOMOTIVE

IGNITION STARTER SWITCH:METHODE ELECTRONICS

STABILIZER BAR:ASIAN AUTOMOTIVE STEELS

STEERING WHEEL:DALPHIMETAL

GEARBOX:GRAZIANO

FRONT STRUTS:SAPURA AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRIES

DRIVER AIRBAG:AUTOLIV

GLASS/BODY BONDING:DOW AUTOMOTIVE

INSTRUMENT CLUSTER:VISTEON SYSTEMAS AUTOMOTIVOS

Norway’s Think City has three battery suppliersThe new Think City electric car gets its power from a trio of batterymakers. Swiss company MES DEA supplies the nickel-sodium batterywhile US partsmaker A123 Systems provides the City lithium-ion bat-tery. In early 2009, a second lithium-ion battery option will be offered,

supplied by Enerdel of the US. Think Global’s assembly plant inAurskog, Norway, has no press or paint shops. The car’s high-tensilesteel crash structure is produced by Thai Summit Autoparts while theTurkey-based Lider group provides the car’s colored plastic car body

panels. The City is on sale now in Norway priced at about €23,000.Launch dates for the rest of Europe have yet to be determined.

Steven Wingett

Suppliers wanted: If you are a supplier and have questions or want your information considered for our cutaway features, contact Steven Wingett at automotivenews@supplierbusiness.com or through www.supplierbusiness.com

Infiniti, it’s not another LexusNissan’s luxury brand uses a different way to enter European market

Wim Oude WeerninkAutomotive News Europe

MARSEILLE, France � Nissan luxurybrand Infiniti has chosen a differentpath to enter Europe than Japaneserival Lexus.

Infiniti is charging into Europewith a range of models that includesthe lower-premium G sedan andcoupe as well as two premium SUVs,the EX and FX crossover.

The cars went on sale in France,Spain, Belgium, Italy, Bulgaria andPoland in October. The brandlaunches in Germany and UK in thefirst half of 2009.

When it launched in Europe in1990, Lexus’ only model was theLS400, a high-priced sedan.

The brand’s second model, theGS300, arrived three years later.And it took until 1999 for Lexus tolaunch its first model design specif-ically for European tasted, theIS200.

Lexus continues to struggle inwestern Europe, where sales weredown 28.1 percent to 22,655 through10 months.

Infiniti aims to sell 25,000 cars a year in Europe, including Russia, by 2011.

Infiniti Europe communicationshead Wayne Bruce said the brand,which debuted in North America in

1989 and launched in Russia twoyears ago, delayed its start in Europeuntil it had the right mix of products.It also has tuned the cars to give Eu-ropeans what they want, such as aharder suspension and better-per-forming brakes.

V-6 diesel for 2010

All of the Infinitis for Europe offer320hp 3.7-liter V-6 gasoline engines.The FX also has a 385hp 5.0-liter V-8. The engines are mated to seven-

speed automatic transmissions. A new 230hp V-6 diesel engine is

due in 2010. Bruce said that because it is target-

ing entrepreneurs who want high-performance luxury cars, Infinitidoes not consider Lexus and Mer-cedes-Benz its main competitors.

“We focus on BMW and Audi dri-vers,” Bruce said, “and less [on] Mer-cedes-Benz, whose customers aremore the safe-choice type.”

Infiniti will add a G convertible tothe range in 2010. ANE

Key facts on Infiniti’s lineup for Europe

Platform Nissan FMSegments G37, lower-premium;

EX37, FX37/50 premium SUV

Main rivals BMW 3 series, X3, X5; Audi A4, A5, Q5

Starting prices G37, €41,420; EX37,€48,620, FX50, €74,950

Where built Tochigi, JapanSales target 25,000 by 2011CO2 emissions 247g/km to 310g/km

Inside lookInfiniti says its G37 lower-premium sedan (above) and coupe will compete withAudi and BMW rather than “safe-choice” cars from Mercedes-Benz and Lexus.

Amy Wilson & Kathy JacksonAutomotive News Europe

Ford may be giving up control ofMazda, but it won’t give up access tothe Japanese automaker’s engineer-ing and product developmentknow-how.

Executives from both companiessaid Mazda and Ford will continuejoint ventures and the sharing of ve-hicle platforms and powertrains.

Ford raised $540 million by cut-ting its stake in Mazda from 33.4 per-cent to just over 13 percent.

The sale reflects Ford’s increas-ing financial troubles, not a dissat-isfaction with its relationship withMazda.

Ford executives determined theycould sell a large part of Mazda with-out sacrificing advantages gainedfrom the collaboration.

Engineering benefits

Mazda will continue to be a modelfor Ford’s product development sys-tem. Ford copied the Japanese au-tomaker’s template for engineeringand building vehicles.

Mazda has delivered significantplatform engineering benefits toFord, including the Ford Fiestawhich is based on a platform engi-neered at Mazda. In the US marketthe Ford Fusion is an update of theoriginal Mazda6. ANE

Ford to retain Mazdaexpertise

20081208-0022-ANE.qxd 12/3/08 3:39 PM Page 22