WCA May 2014

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Wire & Cable ASIA – May/June 2014
From the Americas
grounds that only the automaker’s official dealership is
authorised to correct any problems. Almost every domestic
automaker has agreed to start making available to outside
mechanics nearly all the information available to shops run
by their own franchisees.
A memorandum of understanding, made public in
December by two associations that represent automakers
and two that represent independent repair shops, ends an
impasse of more than a decade in Congress and in state
legislatures. Christopher Jensen of the New York Times
summarised the agreement:
“In addition to unlocking the access to computer codes
and diagnostic information vital to the complex mechanical
and electronic systems of modern cars, automakers also
agreed that, starting with the model year 2018, they would
standardise diagnostic tools to work on all vehicles, not just
those from one maker.” (“Carmakers to Share Repair Data,”
31st January).
Information on security systems and in the category of
trade secrets will continue to be withheld. But now all but a
few boutique car companies are to provide non-dealership
shops with access, on “fair and reasonable terms,” to the
same diagnostic and repair information furnished to their
dealers. Models back to 2002 are included, enabling owners
whose vehicles are out of warranty to use outside repair
shops.
In exchange for the automakers’ pledge, the aftermarket
groups agreed to stop financing and promoting
right-to-repair legislation. Mr Jensen observed that a
factor in the declaration of peace was the right-to-repair
law passed late last year in Massachusetts, which strongly
motivated the automakers. If other states were to follow suit
they would soon be compelled to contend with “a legislative
quilt” of mismatched regulations.
“This effectively announces a stand-down,” Daniel Gage,
a spokesman for the Washington-based Alliance of
Automobile Manufacturers, told the Times .
The 12 members of AAM are BMW Group, Chrysler Group
LLC, Ford Motor Co, General Motors Co, Jaguar Land
Rover, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz USA, Mitsubishi Motors,
Porsche, Toyota, Volkswagen Group of America, and Volvo
Cars North America.
 There was some cautious early praise for the agreement
from consumer advocates – and more than a little
scepticism. “[It] has the potential to improve competition
in the marketplace,” said Ami Gadhia, senior policy
counsel for Consumers Union. “But time will tell if it will
work as advertised.”
The air lanes
A Norwegian airline formulates an
ambitious flight plan: Ireland, the US, Asia
Norwegian Air International, whose Norwegian Air Shuttle
specialises in low-cost flights within Europe and hopes
to export its pared-down model to the US and Asia, has
approval from the Irish Aviation Authority to move its
long-haul operations to Ireland. Also from Dublin, NAI
received its air-operating licence from the Commission
for Aviation Regulation and in February filed it with the US
Transportation Department. If the application for a foreign
air carrier permit is granted, it will enable NAI to operate its
Boeing 787 Dreamliners between any point in the European
Union and the United States.
In addition to the shift from Norway to Ireland, the
Norwegian carrier is hiring flight attendants in the US and
basing some pilots and crew in Bangkok, thus clearly
laying the groundwork for a broader reach. The projected
expansion is seen as a test of the “Open Skies” agreement
between the European Union and the US, introduced in two
steps in 2008 and 2010.
Critics assert that NAI is seeking to take advantage of the
liberalising intentions of that pact even though Norway is
not a member of the European Union. The airline’s plans
have angered American carriers, pilots, and labour groups
who see in it an attempt to recruit cheaper labour and
undercut competition.
“Complex is not a good word here for what they are
trying to do,” Lee Moak, president of the Air Line Pilots
Association, told the New York Times (6th February). “I’d say
it’s convoluted.”
 According to Aviation Week & Space Technology, the
most substantive effect of Open Skies, to date, has
been the opening up of London’s Heathrow Airport
when the legacy Bermuda II agreement was superseded
by new rules. Occasional attempts to establish flights
from remote bases have been failures, all, and quickly
abandoned. The sole European airline now operating
from an EU member state other than its home country is
a British Airways offshoot – in fact named Open Skies –
that operates two Paris-New York round trips daily.
“Only a fraction of [NAI’s] capacity will touch Oslo,
its original home base,” noted Aviation Week
(22nd February). “Instead, the airline’s 787s might
soon be flying from Barcelona to New York, much as
it is already operating to the US from Copenhagen,
Denmark, and Stockholm.”
In brief . . .
 Boeing Co of the US said that its deliveries to the
Chinese market hit a record high of 143 planes last
year, up 60 per cent from 2012, and that it expects to
match that total in 2014. As reported by Tu Lei in the
Global Times (Beijing) on 22nd January, according to
Marc Allen, president of Boeing China, 28 per cent of the
Boeing 737s made in the US last year went to China.
Boeing in March 2013 delivered its 1,000th airplane
to China, the second market after the US to reach
that threshold. In June, the Chicago-based company
delivered its first 787 to China Southern Airlines,
followed by the delivery of a 737-800 to Xiamen
Airlines in November: the 100th plane in that airline’s all-
Boeing fleet.