How Autogroup International Engineer Right Hand Drive Vehicles

It may seem relatively simple to offer a right-hand drive version of an American SUV, Pickup or Muscle car such as a GMC Yukon Denali, Ford F-250 or a Dodge Challenger however the reality is vastly different.  With between 500-1000 parts requiring re-engineering, design and production, no ability to buy parts off the shelf (we manufacture/design them all ourselves) and no instruction manual to follow – the only way possible is through vast experience, 20-years’ worth of intellectual property and an immensely talented Engineering team at Autogroup International.

Our ever-increasing team of over 40 talented engineers at Autogroup International lead the world in the design, development and production of right-hand drive vehicle conversions for our amazing range of over 140+ vehicles we convert and ship worldwide.

Our engineers work across multiple teams and functions including:

• Vehicle Research & Development – Autogroup International R&D team, known as our ‘Skunk Works’ group are tasked with evaluating all new vehicle models and how we can convert and transform our vehicles.  Working across vehicles platforms including SUVs, Muscle Cars, Pickup trucks and special purpose vehicles including both ICE and EV powered vehicles; this team is responsible approving vehicles that we commit to transforming legally, safely and to the highest quality.
• Mechanical Engineering – The Mechanical engineering team work throughout our vehicle conversion process from the first of each new model line during the initial design phase as well as owning engineering oversight on all mechanical engineering related tasks on production vehicles.
• Electrical Engineering – Engaged to design, develop and install all facets of electrical engineering in our vehicles this team works across the wiring loom redesign, exterior lighting redesign to meet country specific compliance standards, electric seating, door switch panels, privacy partitions, reprograming ECM’s and managing the complete vehicle power system for EV vehicles.
• Reserve Engineering team – Utilising the latest 3D Digitizing solutions including imaging technology accurate to 0.04mm all OEM left-hard drive components are scanned and then using software platforms including Geomagic and Solid Edge the reverse engineering team based in our inhouse Design Studio reverse engineer all parts.
• Engineering design & Specification – All manufactured parts undergo an engineering design finalisation, testing and material specification process to identify the type of manufacturing process required and exact material requirements for all metal and plastic components.   All designs are developed using the latest 2D and 3D CAD software tools.
• Rapid Prototyping – Reverse engineered components enter our proven rapid prototyping stage where they are 3D printed to ensure design, fitment, and functionality.  Once successfully exceeding the design requirements all parts enter our ISO 9001:2015 manufacturing phase.
• Compliance & Conformity of Production (COP) – A critical phase of engineering design and production is the Conformity of Production specification, design, and testing phase.  The COP process ensures that every single part that is manufactured meets the necessary design requirements to meet all global compliance regulations and that every component manufactured is identical.
• Quality Assurance – The Quality Assurance team deploy and manage our coveted ISO 9001:2015 controls throughout every element of vehicle design, manufacture and testing to ensure the safety and quality of our vehicles.
• Engineering Documentation team As a large scale automotive manufacturer with both quality assurance certification and government compliance regulations, the Engineering Documentation team play a vital role in documenting every design, development and production decision and process.