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Trump reportedly says he wants to wipe German cars off the U.S. map

BERLIN/FRANKFURT — A report that U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to pursue German carmakers until there are no Mercedes-Benz rolling down New York's Fifth Avenue dented shares in the luxury car manufacturers on Thursday. An excerpt from German magazine Wirtschaftswoche's article, which cited several unnamed European and U.S. diplomats but did not include any direct quotes, could not be independently verified, while a U.S. Embassy spokesman in Berlin referred questions to Washington. The news and current affairs magazine said Trump had told French President Emmanuel Macron in April that he aimed to push German carmakers out of the United States altogether. Macron's administration in Paris declined to comment on the report. The Trump administration last week opened a so-called Section 232 trade investigation into vehicle imports, which could result in a 25 percent tariff on cars on the same "national security" grounds Washington used to impose metals duties in March. This could destroy exports by German carmakers, which control 90 percent of the U.S. premium market and are the biggest European Union exporters of cars to the United States. BMW owns Rolls-Royce, while Daimler has Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen controls Bentley, Bugatti, Porsche and Audi. Daimler, BMW and Audi declined comment. Porsche was not immediately available for comment. BMW shares were trading 0.5 percent lower at 0939 GMT, while Daimler and VW's shares were down 1 percent and 1.6 percent respectively, underperforming Germany's blue-chip DAX. Trump has railed against German carmakers before. And in early 2017, in an interview with German newspaper Bild, he said he would impose 35 percent tariffs on imported cars. At the time, the president called Germany a great car producer but said that the business relationship with the United States was an unfair one-way street. Germany's auto industry association VDA says its members exported 657,000 vehicles to North America last year, with total exports of vehicle components, cars, engines, as well as second-hand vehicles totaling 31.2 billion euros in 2016. Imports from the United States to Germany amounted to 7.4 billion euros, meaning a trade deficit of 23.8 billion euros the VDA's latest available figures show. However, German brands also have huge factories in the United States, where they built 804,000 cars last year, VDA said, providing jobs for U.S. workers. Berlin has reacted angrily to the U.S.

Production 4.0: Audi plans for the smart factory

Automotive production is becoming more integrated and at the same time has to be more intelligent and more efficient. Flexible production of customized vehicles is one of the big challenges for the future, especially for a premium carmaker like Audi. How will the "Vorsprung durch Technik" brand meet its aim of offering premium quality with added custom flexibility? The company sees the "smart factory" as the key. Whether it's body-color moldings or light-alloy wheels in a special size, almost every car is ordered with some kind of customization, and the demands are increasing. This requires of course already a lot of flexibility. While the variety of models and quality demands are increasing, automotive manufacturers such as Audi are eager to make production sustainable. In an Audi interview, innovation management members Alois Brandt and Henning Loser talk about "production 4.0" and the upcoming "smart factory." How will Audi manage the production site with its very high standards of quality, efficiency, and environmental acceptability? Will the so-called "smart factory," which should be the intelligent factory of the future, only employ robots? Alois Brandt: "With a deep look into the production, I am convinced that our employees and not machines are the relevant working forces behind the Audi brand. Machines can be bought anywhere." Increasing digitalization is paving the way for the smart factory – the intelligent, digitally connected production facility. New high-tech solutions in manufacturing should further increase the high level of quality, while at the same time the assembly work should be easier and result in better ergonomics. Can you give us a clearer imagination of the "smart factory"? Alois Brandt: "There are a lot of ideas. But the big question at the moment is: Which one is really needed and leads into the right direction?" Can you tell us a little bit more about "production 4.0"? Alois Brandt: "The assembly line as we know it in the present will no longer play the same role. If it makes sense, it will be terminated and replaced by – let's call it – a virtual assembly line. The production will be more modular than before and the car will be directed to a production point – a so-called 'island of competence' – where it is needed." Henning Loser: "If the vehicle is to be assembled to the customer's wishes, it is obvious that efficient programming of robots and coordinating with the human workers is needed.

'Rich Kid of Instagram' victim of supercar arsonists

A 19-year-old in the UK is smarting after the possibility that his prolific social media use may be at the heart of four family-owned supercars going up in flames in barely a week. Aleem Iqbal has thousands of followers on Twitter and Instagram paying attention to his frequent posts about the high-priced cars he's driving. He's even been featured on the Tumblr page Rich Kids of Instagram. It appears that some people might not be so smitten with him, though.
According to his Twitter profile, Iqbal owns Platinum Executive Travel, a luxury car rental company in the England, and UK newspaper The Telegraph claims the company is also owned by Iqbal's father. On June 6, cameras caught three hooded men setting fire to a Lamborghini Aventador Roadster leased by the company for a wedding. A few days later, two Audi R8 Spyders and a Bentley Continental Flying Spur from Platinum also got the torch, and two men were caught on camera setting the blaze. Nobody was hurt in either of the attacks, and the Aventador appeared to be repairable with the fire causing most damage to the passenger seat and dashboard. Police are still investigating both of the crimes.
According to The Telegraph, Iqbal believes that the arsons could have stemmed from jealousy towards him and his family's business. Regardless, setting fire to a bunch of cars that are likely insured isn't a great way to show displeasure.