Europe

Sales of electrified cars – full-electric and plug-in hybrids — doubled globally in 2021 to 6.6 million, but that rapid growth has further stretched supply chains already threatened by the pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine, the International Energy Agency said in its annual electric vehicle outlook report. Essential materials such as lithium, nickel and

BMW’s production chief said the carmaker will meet its output targets for 2022 even as congestion at Chinese ports, closures in Ukraine and other supply-chain problems continue to weigh on sales. Speaking in an interview, Milan Nedeljkovic said BMW is switching to alternative Chinese ports and modes of transportation to deal with the disruptions caused

Mercedes-Benz’s new, more luxury-focused MMA entry-level platform will launch in 2024 with an all-electric model in 2024, the company said. The “electric first” platform, which can also accept internal-combustion engines, will debut a new generation of technology and set the standard for future Mercedes architectures to come, CEO Ola Kallenius said.  Mercedes briefly showed a silhouette

BERLIN — A German court has put a nationwide sales and production ban on Ford cars able to establish internet connection as part of a lawsuit over the violation of wireless technology patents. The verdict by the Munich regional court is not legally binding and can still be appealed, the court said, adding a 227

Mercedes-Benz can now focus exclusively on passenger cars following the Daimler Trucks spinoff in 2021, and strong first-quarter results appear to be proof that strategy is working.  Mercedes is achieving those results as it rolls out its lineup of dedicated full-electric cars, including the EQS sedan and SUV, and the EQE sedan and expected SUV.

Polestar cuts 2022 delivery forecast amid China lockdown Polestar has accelerated the introduction of a second shift at its factory in Luqiao, China, and plans to recover some of the lost production this year. Swedish EV maker Polestar cut its 2022 delivery forecast by 15,000 units to 50,000 vehicles on Thursday, blaming the hit on

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has announced that prices for the ID Buzz electric van will start at 54,430 euros ($57,220) in Germany for the Cargo version and 64,581 euros ($67,891) for the five-seat passenger Pro version. Orders will open on Friday for the Buzz, with retro styling that evokes the original air-cooled, rear-engine VW Kombi (or

BERLIN — Mercedes-Benz will incorporate a new, highly energy-dense battery in its upcoming electric G-Class from 2025, a solution to the problem of how to power large electric cars without weighing them down with heavy batteries. The battery, made by start-up Sila Nanotechnologies, uses silicon-based anodes and is 20 percent to 40 percent more energy

Renault’s Moscow plant will be repurposed to produce Moskvich cars that were last manufactured two decades ago. A Soviet-era car brand the “Moskvich” could make a surprise comeback in Russia, as Moscow takes over assets belonging to Renault following the French automaker’s exit from the country. Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said he would nationalize Renault’s

Nissan says net revenue from sales of the new Qashqai compact SUV in Europe is 38 percent higher than for the previous model, giving the company hope that it can reverse continuing losses in the region. Nissan posted an operating loss of 28.4 billion yen ($221 million) in Europe in the fiscal year ending March

If the worst-case scenario for Germany hits, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen Group would struggle to paint their cars and the air across the country would get dirtier. Europe’s largest economy is bracing for the prospect that Russian natural gas gets cut off suddenly, a shock that would trigger a form of martial law for energy

Polestar is preparing to go public next month in a reverse merger with a special-purpose acquisition company, Gores Guggenheim. The deal could peg the Geely electric brand’s market valuation as high as $25 billion, according to analysts. The move is part of a wave of potential spinoffs of EV brands or units, as automakers try to

PARIS — A key European Union committee’s decision to reject calls for much deeper emissions cuts has disappointed environmental advocates, who pushed for new targets in the run-up to a 2035 deadline for automakers to sell only zero-emissions cars. The European Parliament’s environment committee on Wednesday voted to ratify new rules for CO2 emissions from cars

BRUSSELS — Lawmakers on the European Parliament’s environment committee backed an EU plan to effectively ban new gasoline and diesel car sales from 2035, while voting against proposals for tougher targets to cut car CO2 emissions within this decade. The committee supported the proposal for a 100 percent cut in CO2 emissions by 2035, which

The latest Range Rover Sport gets a new platform, boosting its driving dynamics, along with a higher sticker price and a full-electric version arriving in 2024. Land Rover released details of the new generation of one of its most important models on Tuesday. The new Range Rover Sport “sets new standards as the ultimate sporting

LONDON – Renault CEO Luca de Meo said the automaker will decide in the coming weeks on the future of its operations in Russia, where it suspended operations in March following the invasion of Ukraine. “Negotiations are still ongoing,” CEO Luca de Meo said at the FT Future of the Car 2022 conference on Monday,

SHANGHAI — Quanta Shanghai Manufacturing City would seem like an ideal site to implement China’s “closed-loop” management system to prevent the spread of COVID that requires staff to live and work on-site in a secure bubble. Sprawled over land the size of 20 football fields, the campus houses factories, living quarters for 40,000 workers, some living

The announcement that Porsche and Audi want to lend their names to Formula One comes at a high point of popularity in the U.S. for the world’s most glamorous racing series. Miami’s first-ever F1 Grand Prix will run on Sunday. Race-day ticket prices hit $1,342 this week on the secondary market, more than prices for

BMW will focus its Neue Klasse (New Class) architecture on full-electric models for the midsize premium segment. The platform, which will go into production in 2025 at the automaker’s new factory in Hungary, will only offer a battery-electric drivetrain, BMW CEO Oliver Zipse said during the automaker’s first-quarter earnings call on Thursday. “When it hits

The first year of Stellantis’ life brought many changes to the former PSA Group and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles brands, including the realignment of the Europe region — now called Enlarged Europe. Within the region, nine main brands are coexisting: Alfa Romeo, Citroen, DS, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Opel/Vauxhall and Peugeot, covering a range of segments

Bosch will invest 500 million euros to develop components for hydrogen electrolysis, a technology that promises to speed adoption of so-called green hydrogen for use in transport and other sectors. The supplier said Wednesday at its annual news conference that it hopes to start production of electrolyzer “stacks” in 2025, with the expectation that the

FRANKFURT — Volkswagen Group’s Cariad software division said it will source chips from Qualcomm to develop autonomous driving software, which VW has made the core part of its future strategy. Qualcomm Technologies will supply system-on-chips (SoCs) from its Snapdragon Ride portfolio for Cariad’s software platform. The SoCs will be an important hardware component in its

MILAN — Stellantis has agreed with unions that it will cut 480 jobs this year at its Mirafiori facility in Turin through voluntary lay offs, Italy’s FIM-CISL union said. The deal was signed by all major metal workers unions with the exception of the leftist FIOM-CGIL. Stellantis had already reached a similar accord with unions

Mercedes-Benz is looking at energy alternatives should Russia cut gas deliveries and is working closely with German authorities to ensure energy supplies. “Every company is looking at options for diversifying energy sources,” CEO Ola Kaellenius told Reuters TV ahead of the company’s annual meeting on Friday. “It is still too early to say exactly which

BERLIN — As Germany speeds up investment in renewables, the energy consumption of its automakers reveals just how reliant the country’s most important industry is on fossil fuels, a Reuters analysis of environmental data shows. Their dependence lays bare the hurdles automakers face in transforming their own energy consumption while moving the transport sector, responsible

PARIS — Plastic Omnium has agreed to buy the European and North American lighting units of Varroc Engineering, a Tier 1 Indian supplier, for 600 million euros ($634 million). The French supplier said Friday that it will create a new lighting business unit with expected revenue of 1 billion euros, including sales from Osram Automotive Lighting

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio is seeking information from Volkswagen Group about a pair of planned joint ventures with companies accused of having a record of alleged human rights violations such as forced labor and human trafficking. The Republican party member, who is known for his hawkish stance on China, wants VW to explain its decision

LONDON –  Morgan Motor Company has hired Lamborghini executive Massimo Fumarola as CEO as part of an expansion push. Fumarola takes over from current CEO and Chairman Steve Morris, who becomes executive chairman of the niche sports-car maker, which is based in the UK. Morris described the appointment as “extremely important” for the company. “Massimo

Volvo Cars wants digital car retailer carwow to help it become better at selling vehicles online. The automaker needs a boost to reach its goal of having half its global sales transacted online, up from 4 percent in 2021. Volvo has taken a strategic minority stake in carwow, which is a leading online marketplace in

SHANGHAI — Volkswagen Group‘s Shanghai factory has started gradually resuming production, the automaker said. The company’s factories in the northeastern Chinese city of Changchun, which it runs in a joint venture with China’s FAW Group, continues to ramp up production volumes, it added. VW halted work at its factory in Shanghai, which is a joint