Europe

MILAN — Stellantis will again stop operations at its key Melfi plant in southern Italy next week, a union representative said, citing shortages of various parts, including semiconductors. Marco Lomio, local head of UILM metalworkers union, said chip shortage was the main problem. “Fortunately the plant has worked regularly all throughout May, but when chips

BMW is stepping up its challenge to Tesla with the iX1 full-electric compact crossover. The iX1 xDrive30, which goes into production in November, will compete against the Mercedes EQA, Audi Q4 e-tron and the Tesla Model Y. The crossover sits between its two German rivals at 4500 mm long versus 4463 mm for the EQA

Marelli Holdings, the auto supplier seeking to renegotiate its debt, selected current owner KKR & Co. as its sponsor in order to restructure the business. Hiroshi Watanabe, a spokesman for Saitama, Japan-based Marelli, confirmed the decision following a meeting with creditors on Tuesday. The company later issued a statement saying that a selection committee “concluded

BRUSSELS – The war in Ukraine and sanctions imposed on Russia will have a strong impact on Lexus, which generated about 30 percent of sales in its Europe region in those two countries, with Russia its largest European market overall. Lexus and parent company Toyota Motor include Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and a number of other

The humble wire harness, a cheap component that bundles cables together, has become an unlikely scourge of the auto industry. Some predict it could hasten the downfall of combustion-engine cars. Supplies of the part were choked by the war in Ukraine, which is home to a significant amount of the world’s production, with wire harnesses

Stellantis will build a large commercial van for Toyota in its factories in Poland and Italy starting in mid-2024, including a full-electric version. The collaboration will give Toyota a large van to sell in Europe for the first time. Stellantis currently builds compact and midsize vans for Toyota, in both commercial and passenger versions. No

BMW’s $1 billion Mexico assembly plant could become the automaker’s first dedicated electric vehicle production center. A source familiar with BMW’s product plans said the automaker is set to begin manufacturing the next-generation 3 Series electric sedan and iX3 electric crossover starting in 2027 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. The source said that production of

Maybach has big plans for the maximalist limousines it’s made occasionally for the past 113 years, a line that now includes the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class and Mercedes-Maybach GLS. There is the two-tone Mercedes-Maybach S680 sedan developed by Virgil Abloh, the late head of menswear for Louis Vuitton, which goes on sale globally later this year with a

Almost a decade after playing home to Europe’s first mass-produced electric car, the UK is at risk of becoming a footnote in the global auto industry’s shift to battery-powered vehicles. The UK lacks the battery cell and packaging factories automakers will need to support their transition away from the internal combustion engine. In what could be

SHANGHAI — The Chinese battery giant CATL said it will start supplying cylindrical cells to BMW from 2025 to power its new series of electric vehicles. The battery maker has signed an agreement with BMW in which it is nominated as the supplier of the cylindrical cells for the automaker, CATL said without elaborating. BMW

BERLIN — Germany’s Economy Ministry is refusing to provide Volkswagen with guarantees to cover new investments in China because of concerns over human rights, a German magazine reported. The report in Der Spiegel on Friday quoted a ministry spokesperson as saying that it had “for human rights reasons” rejected four applications from a company. The

BERLIN – Tesla has submitted an application to build on a further 100 hectares east of its plant in Germany, expanding the site’s area by a third, a local media outlet reported, citing the local mayor. The automaker, which already has 300 hectares of land for its auto factory and battery plant under construction, planned

Rolls-Royce is concerned ongoing supply chain issues could prolong waiting lists that already stretch into the second half of next year for some models. Parent BMW has prioritized feeding semiconductors Rolls-Royce’s way because of the contribution it makes to the group’s profitability, CEO Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes told Bloomberg Television. Recent lockdowns in China have forced the

DAVOS, Switzerland — Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess said he sees “clear improvement” in semiconductor supplies and expects the automaker’s global production can recover during the rest of this year. Diess, speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum conference in Davos, Switzerland, said disruptions to VW’s supply chain in Ukraine are also easing.

MODENA, Italy – The Maserati MC20 Cielo, the roadster version of the MC20 coupe, looks set to help Stellantis’ only luxury brand to return to a healthy profitability level.  The MC20 Cielo will be Stellantis’ most expensive model. In Germany, Europe’s biggest market, it will cost at 260,000 euros ($277,300). The supercar is expected to

PARIS — Renault has received several partnership proposals for the combustion-engine unit it plans to create alongside one dedicated to electric vehicles and software, two sources familiar with the matter said. Renault plans to separate its electric and conventional car businesses, creating two entities to manage the shift towards fossil-free vehicles. “The group has already

Sales of electrified cars – full-electric and plug-in hybrids — doubled globally in 2021 to 6.6 million, but that rapid growth has further stretched supply chains already threatened by the pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine, the International Energy Agency said in its annual electric vehicle outlook report. Essential materials such as lithium, nickel and

Vietnamese EV maker VinFast is shifting its headquarters to Singapore as the fledgling company readies for a public listing and the first production run of cars for U.S. and European markets, its CEO, Le Thi Thu Thuy, told Reuters. The three-year-old unit of conglomerate Vingroup JSC will start building its VF8 SUV next week, its

BMW’s production chief said the carmaker will meet its output targets for 2022 even as congestion at Chinese ports, closures in Ukraine and other supply-chain problems continue to weigh on sales. Speaking in an interview, Milan Nedeljkovic said BMW is switching to alternative Chinese ports and modes of transportation to deal with the disruptions caused

Audi’s China joint venture, FAW-Volkswagen Sales, apologized for text in an advertisement that allegedly infringed copyright and said it would remove the videos from all company platforms. The JV between VW, Audi and China FAW Group, said in a statement on Sunday that the video was produced by advertising agent M&C Saatchi. Audi has ordered

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,

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

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

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

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.

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

Mercedes-Benz will cut back its entry-level suite of cars as part of a strategic overhaul that will channel more than three-quarters of the automaker’s investment to its higher-end vehicles. Mercedes unveiled its plans to major investors on Thursday, placing the drive for greater profitability on its so-called Top End Vehicle segment, home to the iconic

SEOUL — Hyundai Motor Group plans to invest a total of 21 trillion won ($16.54 billion) through 2030 for the expansion of its electric vehicle business in South Korea. The South Korean auto group, which is parent to Hyundai and Kia, plans to annually build 1.44 million units of EVs in South Korea by 2030.

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has announced that prices for the ID Buzz electric van will start at 54,430 euros ($57,220) in Germany for the Cargo version and 64,581 euros ($67,891) for the five-seat passenger Pro version. Orders will open on Friday for the Buzz, with retro styling that evokes the original air-cooled, rear-engine VW Kombi (or

MLADA BOLESLAV, Czech Republic — Skoda is confident that its parent Volkswagen Group will take a decision on its fourth large battery factory in Europe by 2023 at the latest, the brand’s production and logistics chief, Michael Oeljeklaus, said. VW in October said it planned to decide in the first half of 2022 on the