Premium audio system sales in new vehicles are expected to grow from just over 8.6 million units globally in 2014 to more than 11.6 million units in 2021, with branded speaker system sales expected to grow from more than 8.7 million units to 11.1 million units in the same time frame, according to the IHS Automotive forecasts for these systems.

It is no longer a question of if but when autonomous vehicles (AVs) will hit the road. In the auto industry's most significant inflection in 100 years, vehicles with varying levels of self-driving capability - ranging from single-lane highway driving to autonomous valet parking to traffic jam autopilot - will start to become available to consumers as soon as mid-2015 or early 2016. Development of autonomous-driving technology is gaining momentum across a broad front that encompasses OEMs, suppliers, technology providers, academic institutions, municipal governments, and regulatory bodies.

Vehicles with stop-start capability will account for 55 percent of all light-duty vehicles sold by 2024, increasing from 22 percent in 2015, according to Navigant Research.

By 2020, the average car will incorporate nearly 350 kg of plastics, up from 200 kg in 2014, according to analyst IHS Chemical. Meanwhile, the market for carbon fiber in car manufacturing will increase to 9,800 tonnes in 2030, up from 3,400 tonnes in 2013.

Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL), a global carrier of roll-on/roll-off cargoes and provider of logistics services, has opened a third vehicle processing center (VPC) in China.

Ford Motor Co. is moving to automatically update its cars' infotainment systems using Microsoft's Azure cloud service.