Category Archives: Automotive industry

Vauxhall owner warns on profits amid falling sales and tougher Chinese competition

Posted on by

Stellantis slashes growth forecast, with Aston Martin maker also warning of problems as car industry’s woes deepen

The owner of Vauxhall, Fiat and Peugeot has issued a profit warning, blaming a hit to sales from a deterioration in the global automotive market and increased competition from Chinese rivals.

Stellantis shares plunged by 14% on Monday after it said it expected profit margins to be between 5.5% and 7% for the year, down from the previous forecast of double-digit growth.

Continue reading...

Jaguar Land Rover to invest £500m in Halewood car plant

Posted on by

Upgrade to Merseyside site will allow it to build hybrid cars and prepare for electric vehicle production

Jaguar Land Rover has said it will spend half a billion pounds to upgrade a Merseyside factory to build hybrid cars and prepare for electric vehicle production.

Britain’s largest automotive employer – officially known as JLR – said it has already spent £250m on new car production lines, machinery, people and digital technology at the Halewood plant, with plans for £250m more over the coming years.

Continue reading...

Batterymaker Northvolt to cut 1,600 jobs amid electric car ‘headwinds’

Posted on by

Move comes after weeks of uncertainty over reports of financial problems as green vehicle sector struggles

The Swedish batterymaker Northvolt is to cut 1,600 jobs, in response to “headwinds” blowing through the electric car industry.

The battery company announced redundancies across three of its sites on Monday, including 1,000 in Skellefteå, in northern Sweden, where it is suspending the expansion of Northvolt Ett, Europe’s first homegrown battery gigafactory.

Continue reading...

BMW shares fall to four-year low as recall of 1.5m cars announced

Posted on by

Mini and Rolls-Royce models also affected by potential braking system fault likely to cost BMW almost €1bn

Shares in BMW tumbled as the carmaker revealed it will have to recall 1.5m vehicles over a braking problem, costing it almost €1bn (£0.84bn).

The German manufacturer said its annual earnings would be considerably lower than expected, with the fault in the braking system now discovered to be far more widespread than first thought.

Continue reading...

VW slams production into reverse as industry faces battles on all sides

Posted on by

Plan to cut German factories is politically fraught but makes sense economically

When Bernd Pischetsrieder attempted to cut jobs at Volkswagen in the early 2000s, he was forced out. When Herbert Diess tried the same, he got the same result, leaving in 2022. Yet now Volkswagen appears to be deliberately grasping the nettle.

“This time it’s different,” says Matthias Schmidt, a Berlin-based automotive analyst. Chief executive Oliver Blume is “VW through and through”, and his actions likely reflect the desires of the controlling Porsche and Piëch dynasties, Schmidt said. The course is set for a historic clash over the future for Germany’s largest carmaker.

Continue reading...

Volkswagen has ‘a year, maybe two to turn around’, financial chief warns

Posted on by

Carmaker defends plan to close German plants as Volvo ditches target to sell only electric cars by 2030

Volkswagen says it has “a year, maybe two” to adapt to a slump in European car sales, as it seeks to justify proposals to close factories in Germany for the first time in its history.

Separately, the Swedish automaker Volvo said it had ditched a target to sell only electric cars by 2030, opting instead to continue selling some petrol vehicles alongside battery models.

Continue reading...

Volkswagen considers German plant closures to save billions in costs

Posted on by

Plans underline European carmakers’ problems in switching from petrol and diesel vehicles to electric models

Volkswagen is considering shutting two German factories, in what would be the carmaker’s first closures ever in its home country, as it struggles with the transition away from fossil fuels.

The Wolfsburg-based manufacturer on Monday informed its works council, which represents employees, that it was looking at closing “at least one larger vehicle manufacturing plant and one component factory in Germany” in order to find cost savings worth billions of euros.

Continue reading...

Hyundai to double hybrid range as demand for ‘pure’ electric cars slows

Posted on by

Carmaker increases portfolio to 14 and will also launch challenge in large and luxury vehicle sectors

The carmaker Hyundai has said that it will double the range of its hybrid car models amid a wider slump in consumer demand for “pure” electric vehicles.

Hyundai, which is increasing the number of hybrid vehicles in its portfolio to 14, also plans to move beyond making compact and mid-size electric vehicles (EVs) and challenge in the large and luxury vehicle sectors.

Continue reading...

Canada to follow US lead in imposing 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles

Posted on by

Trudeau also announces 25% tariff on imported steel and aluminum and says ‘China is not playing by the same rules’

Canada, following the lead of the United States, on Monday said it would impose a 100% tariff on the import of Chinese electric vehicles and also announced a 25% tariff on imported steel and aluminum from China.

The prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said Ottawa was acting to counter what he called China’s intentional, state-directed policy of over-capacity. But he did not specify whether tariffs would be softened or would be the same on Tesla, whose shares were down over 3% on Monday after the announcement.

Continue reading...

From cars to coffee machines, here’s how Australian spending habits are weathering the high cost of living

Posted on by

Retailers like Temple & Webster have slashed their pricing and tweaked their product range to lure gen Z and millennials – and it’s working

Many Australian businesses are feeling the pinch as customers can no longer afford the armchairs, gadgets, clothing brands and new bathrooms they could before the cost of living shot up.

But spending patterns remain uneven, and at times counterintuitive, leading to a mixed corporate earnings season marked by subdued but not collapsing demand.

Continue reading...

Big polluters targeting esports industry with advertising deals, report reveals

Posted on by

Oil firms, petrostates, airlines and carmakers ‘doubling down’ on sector that is popular with young people

Oil companies, petrostates, airlines and carmakers are among the big polluters bombarding the esports industry with adverts, a study has found.

Esports, short for electronic sports, are competitive video games watched by spectators, with multiplayer games such as League of Legends and Defense of the Ancients 2 attracting peak viewer figures in the millions.

Continue reading...

Hundreds of Ulez non-compliant vehicles sent from London to Ukraine

Posted on by

Transport for London confirms 330 vehicles approved for donation to help country’s war effort

More than 200 vehicles that fell foul of London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) have been sent to Ukraine to aid the country’s war effort, despite initial legal concerns over the plan.

Transport for London (TfL) said on Friday that 330 vehicles had been given the green light to be sent to Ukraine under the Ulez vehicle scrappage scheme. More than 200 are already in the eastern European country.

Continue reading...

Chinese firms win record 11% EV share in Europe as buyers rush to beat tariffs

Posted on by

State-owned SAIC, parent of the British brand MG, was responsible for biggest jump in sales in June

Chinese carmakers secured a record 11% of the European electric vehicle market in June, as buyers raced to beat EU tariffs on imported EVs that came into force this month.

The figures, which include the UK, show that about 23,000 battery electric vehicles were registered in June, up 72% on the previous month as consumers raced to beat the price hike in the EU.

Continue reading...

Tesla earnings nearly halved as price cuts put pressure on profits

Posted on by

CEO Elon Musk blames ‘bit of a hangover’ from rivals’ discounting but insists challenges are ‘fairly short-term’

Earnings at Tesla almost halved as discounts and price cuts pile pressure on the electric carmaker’s profit margins.

Elon Musk, the company’s CEO, blamed “a bit of a hangover” after rivals cut prices “very substantially, which has made it a bit more difficult for Tesla”.

Continue reading...

Elon Musk claims Tesla will start using humanoid robots next year

Posted on by

Billionaire says Optimus will start performing tasks for carmaker in 2025 and could be ready for sale in 2026

The Tesla chief executive, Elon Musk, has claimed the company will produce “genuinely useful” humanoid robots to start working in its factories next year.

The world’s richest person, who has a penchant for making overambitious claims on social media, posted on his platform X, formerly Twitter, that he also hoped to expand into “high production” mode to make robots with a humanlike form available sell to other companies in 2026.

Continue reading...

China to hold hearing into brandy imports as tension grows with EU over tariffs on EVs

Posted on by

Ministry will discuss investigation into claims that European producers are selling goods below market rates

China has ramped up its anti-dumping investigation into European brandy imports in what appears to be a retaliatory move as the EU imposed higher tariffs on imports of Chinese electric vehicles from Friday.

The commerce ministry in Beijing said it would hold a hearing on 18 July to discuss an investigation into claims that European brandy producers are selling products in China below market rates.

Continue reading...

EU brushes aside risk of China trade war over electric vehicle tariffs

Posted on by

Higher levies on Chinese EV imports to come into force despite carmakers’ fears of retaliation

The EU’s top trade official, Valdis Dombrovskis, has brushed aside concerns of trade-war retaliation from Beijing against European business, after the European Commission imposed duties on Chinese electric vehicles.

Dombrovskis, a European Commission vice-president, told Bloomberg Television that talks with China were ongoing, adding: “We are not seeing the basis for retaliation as what we are conducting is indeed in line with WTO [World Trade Organization] rules.”

Continue reading...

Ford chief says Americans need to fall ‘back in love’ with smaller cars

Posted on by

Jim Farley says country is ‘in love with these monster vehicles’ but big cars are not sustainable in the age of EV

It is time for the US to “get back in love” with smaller cars, according to the chief executive of Ford.

In an wide-ranging interview at the Aspen ideas festival, Jim Farley said the auto industry needs to focus on smaller EVs and commercial vehicles. He acknowledged that American consumers are in “love with these monster vehicles” but said they need to “get back in love” with small cars.

Continue reading...

General Motors names new CEO of troubled self-driving subsidiary Cruise

Posted on by

Robotaxi service recovering from gruesome collision with pedestrian that triggered suspension of California license

General Motors on Tuesday named a veteran technology executive with roots in the video game industry to steer its troubled robotaxi service Cruise as it tries to recover from a gruesome collision that triggered the suspension of its California license and the removal of all its robotaxis from the state’s roads.

Marc Whitten, one of the key engineers behind the Xbox video game console, will take over as Cruise’s chief executive nearly nine months after one of the service’s robotaxis dragged a jaywalking pedestrian – who had just been struck by a vehicle driven by a human – across a darkened street in San Francisco before coming to a stop.

Continue reading...

Tesla recalls majority of Cybertrucks for fourth time

Posted on by

Windshield wiper and trunk bed trim problems cause more delays in the truck’s promised mass launch

Tesla said on Tuesday it was recalling most Cybertrucks in the United States over issues with their windshield wipers and exterior trim.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says Tesla has now issued four recalls for its 2024 Cybertruck.

Continue reading...