Genesis, the luxury brand of the Hyundai Motor Group that launched back in 2015, will have a lineup of vehicles that will be closer to what is trending in the automotive world, with intentions adding three crossovers in the next two years- one of them will be a fully electric vehicle. This is good news, because Genesis’s models so far consist of only sedans such as: the G70 which was the 2019 MotorTrend Car of the Year, the G80, and the recently improved G90. Only having a car lineup in an SUV world could be restricting the brand’s growth.

Genesis only unveiled its first SUV in the midsize GV80; it’s the first vehicle on a new rear-wheel-drive platform known as M3 and which will soon also be categorized under the next-generation G80. The current G80 was launched back in 2016. In addition to the new fully electric Genesis there will be a new smaller GV70 compact crossover that shares a separate rear-drive platform with the G70 sport sedan; this model was introduced in 2017.

Genesis executives have previously stated the lineup is planned to have six vehicles by 2021. The plan has three sedans, two crossovers, and a coupe. Since that plan has been created, Genesis has seen changes in leadership and market tastes. The new lineup plan contains and even split consisting traditional sedans and crossovers. This results to the coupe being on the back burner for right now. Genesis displayed the Essentia electric two door concept with butterfly doors at the 2018 New York auto show.

Infiniti recently announced there will be a delay to start the production of its QX55 by five months. The original projected date was supposed to be in the beginning in June. Now the date has been now moved to November of 2020. Nissan’s North America’s manufacturing team in Aguascalientes, Mexico sent out a letter to its suppliers dated January13th to inform them about the change of date. The letter vaguely disclosed that the plant needed “to ensure production capability.” A U.S. spokesman for Infiniti did not expand on the situation, except this was noted in the letter “from the production facility to supplies, operational efficiencies drive projects to move- sometimes forward, sometimes backward- as we progress toward the start of production of a new model.”

The Infiniti QX55, like the QX50, will also be assembled at the $1.4 billion joint-venture Aguascalientes plant co-owned by Nissan and Daimler. The inspiring first-generation FX performance crossover influenced the designs for the QX55. Even though the models QX55 and QX50 share similar design elements, there are some differences between the two such as the fascia and the grille has a new sporty design. The QX55’s audience targets mostly couples and singles who are willing to give up some space for style in return.

The coupe-like derivative is a low investment way to try and get interest from new customers into the brand. The launch of the model QX50 did not have a very successful launch. Executives held the QX50 at high steaks because it was considered to be the brand’s most important product since the original Q45 luxury sedan three decades ago. The model was unsuccessful and failed to gain market traction. U.S. sales of the crossover decreased 27 percent last year. Last year the brand’s management recognized that the QX50 was not launched with the correct configurations.

Smartglass technology is known for producing noise reduction glass for the interiors of aircrafts and other commercial vehicles. One of the things that the auto industry is very proactive about is decreasing the internal sound pollution, even if it is only a few decibels.

Paring Smartglass with electric vehicles could spur a new level of sound reduction. As autonomous vehicle technology continues to expand, so will passenger experience.

Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are making glass a much bigger focal point on developing “AV-First” passenger experiences. For example, instead of using traditional windows, the use of Smartglass could transform the interior of the vehicle into an entertainment hub for the passenger to enjoy. The technology may also aid in allowing or blocking interaction between occupants and the outside environment, or make use of the windows as forms of external communication.

In today’s day and age, turning up the radio is the norm.  However future AV passengers may want to take advantage of their traveling time to do work or sleep. Research on noise reduction is expected to continue at a rapid rate. Noise reductions not the only feature that smartglass can provide.

Not only is Smartglass effective in noise reduction, it’s considered sustainable.  Due to increasing demand and new regulations that require sustainable technology, the glass was also created with this benefit in mind. New Environmental regulations, primarily in Europe, require new vehicles to have some level of sustainability. 

In addition to being sustainable, the technology has the ability to raise the EV driving range by over 5% and reduce CO2 emissions by four grams per kilometer. 

BMW recently announced that they had a record year for car sales and that 2020 could be even better. The automaker sold 2.52 million vehicles in 2019, sales chief Pieter Nota said in an emailed statement. The result is a 1.2 percent increase over 2018, when BMW sold 2.49 million cars.

“We look at the coming year with confidence and aim to increase sales again in 2020,” Nota said in the statement.

The company is optimistic as high-end utility vehicles like the flagship X7 and an upgrade to the stalwart M8 performance coupe are their bread-and-butter.

German car production fell to its lowest in almost a quarter of a century last year as Europe’s biggest economy suffers from the fallout of a global trade war, according to the country’s VDA car lobby group.

Like many of their competitors, BMW had to balance their reliance on gasoline-powered vehicles and shift toward electric cars to avoid emissions fines from the EU, who recently enacted strict emissions laws. The rules will sharpen again next year, leaving automakers potentially facing billions in fines if their fleets don’t meet the average emission targets.