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...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 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...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...Union drive will cover nearly 150,000 workers at factories largely in US south
Less than two weeks after ratifying new contracts with Detroit automakers, the United Auto Workers union announced plans on Wednesday to try to organize workers simultaneously at more than a dozen non-union auto factories.
The UAW says the drive will cover nearly 150,000 workers at factories largely in the south, where the union has had little success in recruiting new members.
Continue reading...AI-ovens, dual-display or 3D screen laptops and satellite SOS texting shine at Las Vegas tech show
From colour-changing cars, dual-screen laptops and satellite emergency texts to AI-ovens and a urine-scanning smart toilet upgrade, the annual CES tech show in Las Vegas had more concepts of the future on show than ever before.
The biggest consumer gadget show of the year was still quieter than pre-pandemic levels, with the global economic slowdown biting big tech along with everything else.
Continue reading...Flotation on Frankfurt stock market would be one of the largest European public offerings to date
The luxury carmaker Porsche could be valued at as much as €75bn when it floats on the Frankfurt stock exchange later this month, which would make it one of the largest European public offerings to date, according to the pricing of shares by its parent company, Volkswagen.
Volkswagen, which is planning to float 12.5% on 29 September, has priced the shares in Porsche at between €76.50 (£67.14) and €82.50.
Continue reading...Porsche’s Oliver Blume will take over after difficulties managing electric transition during Diess’s four years in charge
Volkswagen’s CEO, Herbert Diess, is stepping down and will be succeeded by the current head of Porsche, Oliver Blume, Europe’s top carmaker has said, after a four-year tenure in which Diess pushed VW’s electric vehicle ambitions and clashed with its work council and board.
Sources with knowledge of the matter said the Porsche and Piëch families, who own over half the voting rights and a 31.4% equity stake in Volkswagen, pressed for a change at the helm.
Continue reading...Estimate by insurers comes as Felicity Ace is ‘still assumed to remain on fire south of the Azores’
An abandoned ship that caught fire in the mid-Atlantic last week was carrying $401m (£295m) worth of cars, including Porsche, Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini models, an insurance estimate has revealed.
Felicity Ace, a specialist cargo ship carrying more than 4,000 cars, caught alight near the Azores on Wednesday evening. The vessel’s 22 crew members were evacuated but the fire continued to burn for several days, fuelled by lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles on board.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Investigation uncovers evidence of contaminated air and water from one of Indonesia’s largest nickel mines
A Guardian investigation into nickel mining and the electric vehicle industry has found evidence that a source of drinking water close to one of Indonesia’s largest nickel mines is contaminated with unsafe levels of hexavalent chromium (Cr6), the cancer-causing chemical more widely known for its role in the Erin Brockovich story and film.
The investigation also found evidence suggesting elevated levels of lung infections among people living close to the mine.
Continue reading...Volkswagen embraces the future with €35bn investment, including in its Zwickau plant
Two bronze statues that guard the entrance to Zwickau train station in Saxony tell the tale of Germany’s struggle to wean itself off fossil fuels.
A crouching miner cradles a lamp in a nod to the lignite, a particularly dirty form of coal, that was dug from this part of former East Germany, fuelling its factories and power stations. His companion, an engineer, represents the car industry that dominates Germany’s industrial heartland.
Continue reading...eCall contacts emergency services in an accident – but it is causing problems for some drivers
The Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda group has been accused of knowingly selling cars with defective SOS warning systems that in some cases failed before the new owner had left the dealership.
Since 2018 all new cars sold across the EU have been required to have an eCall system that automatically contacts the emergency services with the vehicle’s location in the event of a serious accident. It is a sophisticated set-up using the car’s navigation system and airbag sensors, and it has its own mobile phone sim card.
Continue reading...In what was initially thought to be an April Fool’s prank, company confirms name change to reflect its investment in electric cars
For 65 years, Volkswagen has been one of the most popular and best-known names in American motoring, its iconic VW Beetle snaring generations of enthusiasts and helping sell millions of vehicles.
But now, in North America at least, the Volkswagen brand is no more. In what was initially thought to be an April Fool’s prank, apparently thanks to a premature announcement by an overeager publicist, the German auto giant has confirmed its metamorphosis into Voltswagen – an attempt to reflect its investment in the growing electric vehicle (EV) market.
Continue reading...Brazilian investigation found company was one of several that secretly worked with 1964-85 military government
The German carmaker Volkswagen has agreed to pay millions in compensation to former employees in Brazil who were persecuted during the country’s military dictatorship.
A Brazilian government-appointed investigation found that Volkswagen was one of several corporations that secretly collaborated with the 1964-85 military government to identify suspected “subversives” and trade unionists.
Continue reading...Carmaker must pay compensation to motorist who bought minivan fitted with emissions-cheating software
Volkswagen has lost a landmark legal battle in Germany’s highest civil court over compensation for the buyer of a secondhand minivan fitted with emissions-cheating software.
The world’s largest carmaker must take back the plantiff’s manipulated car and pay him €28,257.74 (£25,325), in a case that will lead to the company paying compensation to 60,000 German VW owners.
Continue reading...Carmaker has compensated VW owners in US and Australia over emissions-rigging scandal and faces class action in UK
Volkswagen is in discussions over an out-of-court settlement with more than 400,000 German owners of vehicles that were affected by the carmaker’s “Dieselgate” emissions-rigging scandal.
Germany’s VZBV – an umbrella group of consumer rights organisations – said it had entered talks about a “pragmatic solution in the interests of customers” but stressed that talks were at a very early stage and would remain confidential.
Continue reading...EU gives car manufacturers 10 weeks to respond to findings from antitrust investigation
The European commission has charged BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen with colluding to limit the introduction of clean emissions technology, in the preliminary findings of an antitrust investigation.
The car manufacturers have 10 weeks to respond and could face fines of billions of euros – up to 10% of their global annual turnover – if their explanations are rejected.
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