Europe

TOKYO — Valeo, a pioneer in commercializing lidar technology, is developing a more advanced version of its laser-emitting safety systems for debut in 2024 that promises a twelvefold increase in resolution, a tripling of range and a much wider viewing angle that can see details the human eye, cameras and radar cannot. The lidar lineup,

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

TOKYO – Nissan and Mitsubishi took an important next step in their electric vehicle ramp up plans with the start of production of a pair of jointly developed mini-EVs for the Japanese market. The sibling nameplates, the Nissan Sakura and Mitsubishi eK X EV, aim to tap huge domestic demand for tiny runabouts in the

The four-door Vision AMG show car previews full-electric models from the Mercedes-Benz Group‘s high-performance brand that will be sold starting in 2025. The Vision AMG – which Mercedes calls an “electric supercar — is based on the automaker’s AMG.EA platform, which will be used for full-electric performance models. “With this study, we are now offering

HAMBURG – Volkswagen Group supervisory board has called on management to present a reworked plan for the automaker’s software division, which forms the backbone of its strategy but has run into problems, two people familiar with the matter said. The board is expecting an update at the last supervisory board meeting before the summer break,

Russia could resume production of the Soviet-era Moskvich brand using a Chinese platform from automaker JAC in partnership with truckmaker Kamaz, two sources said. Kamaz is in talks with its partner, China’s JAC, about using its design, engineering and production platform to produce the brand, the sources told Reuters. Kamaz and Moskvich declined to comment.

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

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.

TURIN — Stellantis is aiming to make 50 percent of Lancia sales online as the automaker gears up to relaunch the premium brand across Europe, Lancia CEO Luca Napolitano said. The 116-year-old brand, which had shrunk to just one model in one market — its home of Italy — plans to launch a new Ypsilon

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

LOS ANGELES — Swedish electric car maker Polestar teased an expansion of its premium performance lineup with a swoopy roadster concept. The Polestar O2, revealed Tuesday on the rooftop of a Beverley Hills office building, is a hardtop convertible that reflects the brand’s next-generation design aesthetic and features a new aluminum platform. “The concept combines

Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday will announce a reorganization under which its electric and internal-combustion engine businesses will be run separately in a move meant to allow the EV business to maximize profits and move with greater speed, three people familiar with the plan told Reuters. The EV and ICE businesses will remain under the

Stellantis said on Tuesday that it aims to double its net revenue to 300 billion euros ($335 billion) by 2030, while maintaining double-digit adjusted operating margins as the automaker speeds up the electrification of its sprawling model lineup across brands including Jeep, Ram, Peugeot and Fiat.  Presenting its new strategic plan called Dare Forward 2030

BERLIN — The environmental ministry in the German state of Brandenburg is in the final phase of the approval process for Tesla‘s planned factory, a spokesperson said on Monday. Tesla is awaiting approval for a licence to begin production at its EV factory and adjacent battery plant in Gruenheide, outside of Berlin. Numerous public consultations

Volvo Cars said it will suspend car shipments to the Russian market until further notice, becoming the first international carmaker to do so as sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine continue to bite. Volvo said the decision had been made because of “potential risks associated with trading material with Russia, including the sanctions imposed by

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine presents a “substantial risk” to the recovery of global light-vehicle sales this year, auto industry consultants J.D. Power and LMC Automotive said in a joint forecast on Friday. The consultants cut their sale forecast by 400,000 to 85.8 million units, also due to rising oil and aluminum prices that could discourage

Volvo Cars unveiled an ambitious product road map at its annual dealer meeting on Wednesday as the Swedish automaker accelerates toward an all-electric future. At the conference in Miami, attended by about 800 Volvo retailers from across the Americas, company executives laid out plans to introduce seven new and redesigned electrified models over the next

PARIS — Stellantis will have to find ways to offset the additional costs of building electric vehicles, CEO Carlos Tavares said, describing it as “the gorilla in the room” that could weigh on profits for at least the next five years. “We can expect electrification to represent an additional total production cost of around 40

With the Tonale, Alfa Romeo’s first new model since it launched the Stelvio midsize SUV in 2016, the Stellantis subsidiary is joining the compact SUV segment for the first time. In Europe alone, this segment accounts for 2.5 to 3 million sales a year, Alfa CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato said, which is why he believes a

Volkswagen Group says the many of the 4,000 cars from its multiple brands aboard the Felicity Ace are a total loss because of a fire on board that forced the crew to abandon the container ship in the Atlantic Ocean last week. “We fear that the fire on the ship has damaged a large number

LONDON — The number of cars made in the UK fell by 20 percent in January from already weak output levels in the same month last year as the industry struggled with an ongoing shortages of semiconductors and the pandemic. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said in a statement that 68,790 cars

FRANKFURT/BERLIN — Volkswagen Group and its top shareholder Porsche Automobil Holding SE have entered a framework agreement for a possible stock market listing of iconic sports car brand Porsche, edging closer to what could become one of the world’s largest stock market debuts. “The automotive industry is changing fundamentally. Volkswagen is determined to play a

Aluminum rallied to a record in London and nickel surged to the highest in more than a decade, pacing gains in industrial metals markets, as the deepening Ukraine crisis added to supply risks in an industry already facing critical shortages. The gains will heap fresh inflationary pressure on buyers who use aluminum in everything from

BERLIN — Audi is recalling 100,000 cars due to a problem that may not have been properly repaired in an initial call back and could now potentially lead to alterations in the wheel alignment of the rear axle. Audi recalled some A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, Q5, Q7, Q8 and e-tron models built between 2019

Volkswagen Group subsidiary Cupra aims to double sales in 2022. That would lift Cupra’s sales to nearly 160,000, up from 79,300 last year, according to company figures, a level that would challenge Jeep and Mazda in Europe, based on their volumes last year. In the first month of 2022, Cupra’s sales in Europe were up

Former Opel CEO Michael Lohscheller has been hired by Nikola as president and tasked with helping the U.S. electric truck maker ramp up production. Lohscheller joins Nikola after a short stint as CEO of VinFast Global, the automotive arm of Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup. Lohscheller arrived at VinFast in July 2021 but stepped down five months

PARIS — Any sanctions imposed on Russia for its actions in Ukraine by the U.S. and allies could affect Europe’s biggest automakers, including Renault Group, Volkswagen Group and Stellantis. All three have significant operations in Russia. Renault Group has the most exposure with its controlling stake in AvtoVAZ, maker of Lada, long the market leader

The cargo ship that caught fire last week carrying about 4,000 Volkswagen Group vehicles could cost the automaker at least $155 million, according to one consultant’s estimate. Of the roughly $438 million total value of goods aboard the Felicity Ace, which went up in flames off the coast of Portugal’s Azores Islands, Russell Group said

LISBON — A fire which swept through a cargo ship carrying thousands of luxury cars and adrift off the coast of Portugal’s Azores islands has lost its intensity, probably because there is little left to burn, a port official said. The Felicity Ace, carrying vehicles including VWs, Porsches, Audis and Bentleys, some electric with lithium-ion

Ford Motor is looking at ways to separate its electric-vehicle operation from its century-old legacy business, hoping to earn the sort of investor respect enjoyed by Tesla and other electric-only brands. CEO Jim Farley wants to wall off Ford’s electric operations from its internal combustion engine business and has even considered spinning off one or