Category Archives: Automotive industry

Stellantis and Renault back UK to get EU car industry protection

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Bosses of Citroën owner and French carmaker also urge UK government to consider limiting imports from China

Stellantis and Renault have backed the UK car industry for inclusion in proposed rules to protect EU industry, but urged the British government to consider limiting imports of Chinese cars.

Emanuele Cappellano, who leads Stellantis’s European brands including Fiat, Citroën, Opel and Vauxhall, and François Provost, the chief executive of France’s Renault, said the UK should effectively be counted as one of the EU’s 27 member states for the purposes of the proposed “Made in Europe” legislation.

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Volkswagen boss backs EU plan to bolster domestic European industry

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Oliver Blume says ‘Made in Europe’ rules to counter rapid rise of lower-price Chinese brands ‘must reward real value creation’

The boss of Volkswagen has backed EU proposals to boost its domestic industry, arguing European carmakers need to be able to “compete under comparable conditions” with Chinese rivals.

Oliver Blume said “Made in Europe” rules from the EU “must reward real value creation in Europe”, speaking in Paris before the motor show this week.

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Jaguar targets young Americans with Type 01 EV – but it’s too long for UK parking spaces

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Latest model is launching in New York to target rich US buyers – and is more than 5.2 metres long and 2 metres wide

It has no rear window, will not fit into a UK parking space and – starting at £130,000 – ($172,000) is aimed squarely at rich tech industry buyers driving the wide open roads of America.

Jaguar’s electric car, the Type 01, was launched in New York on Tuesday night and marks the culmination of a two-year rebrand that has been one of the most scrutinised in automotive history.

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UK car industry faces ‘difficult trade-off’ between Chinese and EU markets

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Britain under pressure to put tariffs on cheap Chinese vehicle imports ahead of protectionist trade measures

Britain’s car industry is grappling with a “difficult trade-off” between China and Europe, as manufacturers struggle to balance the benefits of both markets ahead of looming trade measures that could restrict UK exports to the EU.

The UK is an outlier in choosing not to put import taxes on Chinese vehicles, even as the US has shut them out almost entirely, and the EU imposes duties of up to 45%.

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Tech in cars can be used to snoop on you, Dutch spy chiefs warn

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Hostile states could access cameras, microphones or GPS, says intelligence agency amid concerns over Chinese imports

Drivers have been warned that the smart features built into modern cars such as microphones, cameras and GPS trackers could be used by hostile states to spy on them.

The Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) called for “awareness of espionage risks around modern vehicles”, including microphones that can by switched on remotely to listen to conversations.

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Three-quarters of UK’s popular plug-in hybrid cars unable to use rapid chargers

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Only 26% of PHEVs sold across top 20 models can use chargers with power of 50kW or more, analysis finds

Three-quarters of the 20 top-selling plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) in the UK cannot use rapid chargers, research has found, amid concerns that many are essentially “petrol cars pulling round a heavy battery”.

The cars, which can run on electric batteries as well as combustion engines, have been promoted by carmakers as a way to cover long distances in a single drive – unlike fully electric cars – while still reducing emissions.

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High-mileage electric cars are more reliable than petrol ones, study finds

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EVs with 90,000 to 120,000 miles on the clock are more likely to pass MOTs than petrol models of the same age

Motorists buying a secondhand car with a lot of miles on the clock are likely to find an electric vehicle (EV) ultimately more reliable than a petrol vehicle, according to a study.

An analysis of 47.4m MOT tests found that after cars were driven 90,000 to 120,000 miles, EVs were about 25% less likely to fail than petrol models of the same age (based on a failure rate of 16.5% versus 22.1%).

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Former French culture minister goes on trial over corruption charges

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Rachida Dati accused of lobbying for carmaker Renault-Nissan when she was member of European parliament

Rachida Dati, a former French culture minister, has gone on trial in Paris on corruption charges linked to dealings with the Renault-Nissan carmaking group.

Dati, 60, is accused of illegal lobbying when she accepted €900,000 (£770,000) in lawyer’s fees from a Netherlands-based subsidiary of Renault-Nissan while she was a member of the European parliament. The court will have to decide what the money was for.

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Jaguar Land Rover in talks to sell Defender to Nato countries

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Carmaker builds on relationship with British armed forces by seeking to cash in on Europe’s rearmament drive

Jaguar Land Rover is in talks with Nato countries about selling them the newly revamped Defender military vehicle, as the UK-based carmaker seeks to tap into Europe’s defence spending boom.

It is also among carmakers bidding for a UK defence ministry contract worth £900m to replace an ageing fleet of Land Rovers that have been out of production since 2016, competing with General Motors and the UK’s Ineos Automotive, which builds the Grenadier 4x4 for the civilian market.

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Jaguar Land Rover in talks to sell Defender to Nato countries

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Carmaker builds on relationship with British armed forces by seeking to cash in on Europe’s rearmament drive

Jaguar Land Rover is in talks with Nato countries about selling them the newly revamped Defender military vehicle, as the UK-based carmaker seeks to tap into Europe’s defence spending boom.

It is also among carmakers bidding for a UK defence ministry contract worth £900m to replace an ageing fleet of Land Rovers that have been out of production since 2016, competing with General Motors and the UK’s Ineos Automotive, which builds the Grenadier 4x4 for the civilian market.

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Supercar maker McLaren to create 1,000 UK jobs as part of £450m tech investment

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New roles at Woking-based manufacturer will include positions for indirect and agency workers

The British supercar manufacturer McLaren is to create 1,000 jobs in a welcome boost to the UK’s struggling automotive industry.

The carmaker is creating the jobs as part of a £450m investment in its technology centre in Woking, near to the plant where it manufactures all of its vehicles.

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No bailouts for Jaguar Land Rover amid reports of thousands of job cuts, says minister

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Carmaker, which is battling Trump tariffs and Chinese competitors, faces talks with union leaders and government

The government has signalled that it will not invest taxpayers’ money to limit job losses at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), after it emerged that the UK’s biggest carmaker is planning up to 4,000 redundancies.

Before crunch talks on Tuesday between JLR, union leaders and government officials, the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, said it was not his job to “intervene and run businesses”.

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VW workers boo boss as he urges them to ‘pull together’ amid job cuts

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Oliver Blume faces workforce at German HQ as carmaker struggles against Chinese competition and US tariffs

The chief executive of Volkswagen has faced boos and whistles of protest at the company’s headquarters after telling thousands of workers that a comprehensive reorganisation, which could include job losses and factory closures, is vital for its future.

As Oliver Blume urged more than 10,000 workers on Tuesday to “pull together”, saying drastic restructuring measures at the struggling manufacturer were essential, they held up banners and shouted slogans, including: “Our jobs are not your balance sheet adjustments”.

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Jaecoo owner Chery takes ‘next step’ in UK push with R&D centre

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Owner of firm behind ‘Temu Range Rover’ will open facility in Bedfordshire in autumn

The Chinese carmaker behind the irreverently nicknamed “Temu Range Rover” is plotting further UK expansion with a major research and development centre in England.

Chery, which makes the Jaecoo and Omoda car brands, said the launch of a new R&D site was “the next step in our long-term plan” for Britain as it also moves towards manufacturing its cars in the UK.

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Driver who broke the sound barrier sets another speed record in hydrogen-powered car

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British driver Andy Green reached 406.320 mph in car powered by two hydrogen internal combustion engines

The only person to break the sound barrier in a car earned another world record Tuesday in a show of force for hydrogen power.

British driver Andy Green reached 406.320 mph (653.908 kph) in a car powered by two hydrogen internal combustion engines with a combined 1,600 horsepower, setting the record for that vehicle category, according to the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, the international governing body of motor sports.

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Chinese EV sales surge to new high in Europe putting tariffs under scrutiny

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Imports this year now account for 14% of the market amid claims vehicles are being dumped in the EU and UK

Chinese electric car sales have risen across Europe to a record high driven by strong demand and low tariffs in the UK and a surge in buyers in Italy.

Against a backdrop of claims that Chinese carmakers are “dumping” state-subsidised vehicles in the EU and UK to gain market share, the figures will give impetus to calls for quotas and higher tariffs to protect European manufacturers.

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Boss of £300m used-car firm was ousted after ‘orchestrated plan’ by investors, judge rules

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Multimillionaire Peter Waddell is also found to have been properly dismissed from Big Motoring World for gross misconduct

A multimillionaire used-car salesman was ousted from his £300m company after “a pre-conceived and orchestrated plan” devised by private equity investors that had backed his business, a high court judge has ruled.

Peter Waddell, 60, was forced out as the chief executive of the Kent-based dealership Big Motoring World in 2024 in a coup that resulted in “more-or-less open warfare” at the car seller and caused “unfair prejudice” to the investment company that held Waddell’s majority stake.

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BMW to cut ‘as many as 8,000 jobs’ under pressure from Chinese rivals

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Layoffs will come in admin and development divisions in Germany, with production operations unaffected

BMW is planning to cut as many as 8,000 jobs in Germany, according to reports, in the latest sign of Europe’s largest carmakers reducing costs under pressure from Chinese rivals.

The Munich-headquartered company has started a voluntary redundancy programme agreed with employee representatives, a BMW spokesperson said on Wednesday.

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Mass job cuts loom at VW as profits fall steeply on China sales slump

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Carmaker expects to sell 3% fewer vehicles this year as it pushes through a programme that could eliminate 100,000 roles

Volkswagen has reported a steep fall in profits and cut its revenue forecast amid a sales slump in China, as the German carmaker pushes through a brutal cost-cutting programme that includes axeing up to 100,000 jobs.

VW said it expects sales to fall by up to 3% this year, a reversal of a previous forecast for a 3% increase on last year’s €321.9bn (£275.3bn), because of a sales slump in the highly competitive Chinese market.

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High court rejects most of ‘dieselgate’ claims brought by 1.6m UK car owners

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Carmakers welcome ruling against suit claiming manufacturers including Nissan, Ford and Peugeot fitted devices to defeat emission tests

Car manufacturers have welcomed a high court verdict that rejected most of the allegations in a “dieselgate” claim brought on behalf of 1.6 million UK owners of polluting cars.

In her judgment, Lady Justice Cockerill said that “in the majority of instances, the court found that the relevant strategy did not constitute a prohibited defeat device” – software that enables the engine to behave differently in tests.

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