Owner of Fiat, Chrysler and Peugeot brands pushes back against rules that force sale of more electric vehicles
The owner of car brands including Fiat, Chrysler and Peugeot has reported a steep fall in sales, blaming production delays and flagging European demand.
Stellantis reported revenues on Thursday of €33bn (£27.6bn) for the July to September quarter, a drop of 27% compared with the same period a year earlier.
Continue reading...US firm Wolfspeed and German car parts supplier ZF postpone plans over doubts about viability
A project to build a €3bn factory making microchips for electric vehicles once hailed as part of a “return of the industrial revolution” in Germany has been put on hold, as the crisis in the country’s hi-tech manufacturing industry deepens.
The US company Wolfspeed and the German car parts supplier ZF have postponed plans to build an EV chip factory, adding to problems caused by a delay to two large-scale factories belonging to the US chip giant Intel and possible factory closures being considered by Volkswagen.
Continue reading...Stellantis chief says company is nearing decision on Ellesmere Port and Luton amid row over EV quotas
The owner of the Vauxhall, Citroën and Peugeot brands has said a decision will be made on the future of its UK plants “in the next few weeks”, amid a row over government electric vehicle quotas.
Carlos Tavares, the outgoing chief executive of Stellantis, has said the company is nearing a decision on the future of Ellesmere Port and Luton.
Continue reading...Acquisition by Anglo-Australian miner comes despite global headwinds in electric car market
Rio Tinto is to buy the US company Arcadium Lithium for $6.7bn (£5.1bn), in a huge bet on the energy transition despite global headwinds in the electric car market.
The Anglo-Australian metals and mining company said it would pay $5.85 a share for the US-based lithium miner. That represents an almost 90% premium to Arcadium’s closing price of $3.08 a share on 3 October, the day before news of a potential deal emerged.
Continue reading...Decision opposed by five countries including Germany, where car firms say it could be ‘fatal’ blow for industry
EU leaders have given the green light to extra tariffs on electric vehicles from China despite opposition from five countries including Germany, where car manufacturers condemned the decision as a potential “fatal” blow for the auto industry.
The European Commission – which provisionally approved the step in June after an inquiry found that Beijing’s state aid to auto manufacturers was unfair – now has free rein to impose steep tariffs for five years from the end of this month.
Continue reading...Bridget McKenzie tells Insiders she is working on the opposition’s transport policy ahead of the next federal election – including EV plans
Liberal senator Bridget McKenzie has again left the door open for a Coalition government to level a road user charge against owners of electric vehicles, indicating concern about decreasing fuel excise and the impact on budgets for road repairs.
But the shadow transport minister also said the Coalition wouldn’t follow the US in banning Chinese-made EVs, which put her at odds with comments on Sunday from Nationals colleague, Barnaby Joyce. He invoked last week’s Hezbollah members’ pager explosions in raising his concern about technology he claimed could be made with a “malevolent purpose” by a “totalitarian state”.
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Continue reading...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...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...Trump promises to end electric vehicle mandate. Harris has been silent, risking swing state autoworkers’ critical votes
As the critical swing state of Michigan hangs in the balance, experts warn that Democrats’ poor messaging over the shift to electric vehicles could lose them the state in November’s election.
“I will end the electric vehicle mandate on day one, thereby saving the US auto industry from complete obliteration, which is happening right now,” Donald Trump told the Republican national convention in a speech this summer that would reach tens of millions of people.
Continue reading...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...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...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...Ex-president, who previously denigrated electric vehicles, says they are suitable for a ‘small slice’ of the population
Donald Trump has for months denigrated electric vehicles, arguing their supporters should “rot in hell” and that assisting the nascent industry is “lunacy”. He now appears to have somewhat shifted his view thanks to the support of Elon Musk, the world’s richest person.
“I’m for electric cars, I have to be because Elon endorsed me very strongly,” Trump, the Republican nominee for US president, told supporters at a rally in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday.
Continue reading...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...The country has long been the world’s biggest market – but the government’s interest is more geopolitical than environmental
When Kenzi, an advertising worker in Shanghai, bought an electric vehicle in November she wasn’t even thinking about the environmental benefits. She had read Elon Musk’s biography and thought the Tesla 3 looked good. She also knew that if she bought an EV she could bypass the long wait and cost of getting licence plates, which are rationed by the government.
“It’s not easy to get a licence plate in Shanghai, but you get a licence for free when you buy an EV,” she said.
Continue reading...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...There are just 300 electric HGVs in the 500,000-strong lorry fleet – and only one public charging point, says RHA
The road haulage industry is calling on the new government to urgently tackle investment in infrastructure for electric trucks, after pointing out there is just one public charging point for HGVs in the whole of the UK.
Takeup of electric cars is soaring, with about 1.1m fully battery-powered cars on British roads and about 63,000 charging units in 33,000 locations, according to Zapmap data.
Continue reading...Move, to be applied provisionally from July, would trigger duties of more than €2bn a year
The EU has notified Beijing that it intends to impose tariffs of up to 38% on imports of Chinese electric vehicles, triggering duties of more than €2bn (£1.7bn) a year and a likely trade war with China.
The tariffs will be applied provisionally from next month in line with World Trade Organization rules, which give China four weeks to challenge any evidence the EU provides to justify the levies on imported EVs.
Continue reading...White House levy to protect US makers from cheap imports likely to inflame trade tensions
The US president, Joe Biden, has announced a 100% tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles as part of a package of measures designed to protect US manufacturers from cheap imports.
In a move that is likely to inflame trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies, the White House said it was imposing more stringent curbs on Chinese goods worth $18bn.
Continue reading...President likely to add sectors such as electric vehicles, batteries and solar cells to range of levies set up under Donald Trump
Joe Biden is expected as early as next week to announce fresh tariffs on Chinese trade, with levies focused on strategic sectors including electric vehicles, in a review of measures first put into place under Donald Trump.
An announcement planned for Tuesday will keep the blanket tax rises introduced by the president’s predecessor but supplement them with targeted levies on industries connected to EVs, including batteries and solar cells, according to reports.
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