Europe

Volvo says the new EX30 small electric SUV is aimed at younger buyers who want sustainable solutions inside their vehicles. To meet that desire, Volvo used recycled and renewable materials such as denim, flax and wool inside the brand’s entry model. The person who has played a key role in doing this is interior design

STOCKHOLM — Autoliv is speeding up cost cuts, mainly in Europe, expecting to cut 6,000 jobs or 11 percent of its workforce, the world’s biggest maker of airbags and seatbelts said. The Swedish group said in a statement on Thursday that the measures across its operations included the closure of several sites in Europe, and

Automakers who faced skyrocketing prices for lithium and other battery metals last year could increasingly adopt sodium-based cells in the future, helping to alleviate strains on raw materials as sales of electric vehicles surge, according to BloombergNEF. In a new analysis of the technology, BloombergNEF said it expects sodium to take market share from the

MADRID — Tesla is in talks with the leaders of the regional government of Valencia in Spain to build a car factory, the Spanish newspaper Cinco Dias reported, citing unidentified sources close to the discussions. The company’s total investment in the factory could surpass 4.5 billion euros ($4.83 billion), the newspaper said in its report

 Bosch is embracing software as the future of its North American mobility business, the company said during a briefing Thursday. New software-based automotive features, including wrong-way driving warnings, distracted driving sensing and rental fleet monitoring, were among the technology Bosch displayed at its Software Day. Bosch is reorganizing its Mobility Solutions unit into Bosch Mobility

The California Department of Motor Vehicles has approved Mercedes-Benz’s automated driving system on designated highways under certain conditions without the active control of a driver. California is one of Tesla‘s largest markets, accounting for 16 percent of the automaker’s global deliveries last year, according to Reuters calculations. But Mercedes beat Tesla to become the first

The Chinese premium EV brand Nio will launch a station wagon version of the ET5 sedan in Europe by the end of this year, a source with knowledge of the matter has told Automotive News Europe. The ET5 Touring, which would be a rival to the coming BMW i5 Touring, was spied on a photo

Skoda has said it will not replace its Fabia Combi small wagon as originally planned, citing the coming Euro 7 emissions regulations. In 2020, Thomas Schaefer, who was Skoda’s CEO at the time and is now head of the Volkswagen brand, announced that Skoda would replace the Fabia wagon with a launch date of this

Mercedes-Benz has signed an agreement with H2 Green Steel, a Swedish start-up, to provide 50,000 tons of low-carbon dioxide steel for the automaker’s assembly plants in Europe and North America. Mercedes took an equity stake in H2 Green Steel in 2021, and the new agreement expands the strategic partnership with the aim of establishing a

Ford is nearing an agreement to sell a plant in Germany, with two groups of Chinese automakers among the three leading bidders at a time when Chinese investments in Europe are under growing scrutiny. One of the bids comes from BYD, the largest domestic automaker in China, while another involves several smaller Chinese car companies,

SHANGHAI — Volkswagen Group’s Chinese joint venture with SAIC has transformed one of its plants in Shanghai for production, research and development of electric vehicles, VW said. Production of internal combustion engine models at the main plant of SAIC Volkswagen in Anting of Shanghai will be relocated to other plants, VW said in an emailed

FRANKFURT — German new-vehicle registrations rose 19 percent in May, helped by strong demand for electric cars. Registrations of new passenger cars were 246,966 last month, according to data from the KBA motor transport authority Sales of full-electric cars increased 47 percent, continuing their bounce back after falling 13 percent in January when government subsidies

One of China’s top battery-makers reckons it has cracked a technology to provide even cheaper and more powerful packs for electric vehicles. Gotion recently unveiled a lithium-iron-manganese-phosphate battery — LMFP for short — which it says will power an EV for 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) on each charge. Until now, it’s largely the more expensive

PARIS –For French President Emmanuel Macron, it was a light-bulb moment. In an ornate ballroom at the Palace of Versailles last July, the head of Taiwan’s ProLogium took out a pair of scissors and cut one of its solid-state batteries the size of a credit card in half. The small bulb it was powering continued

PARIS — Renault could face prosecution in France over faulty engines as a group of customers plans to lodge a criminal complaint against the automaker next week, the group’s lawyer said. “We are going to file a complaint on Monday on behalf of at least several dozen people,” Christophe Leguevaques told Reuters on Friday, adding

Europe’s car-financing businesses are trading in their cheap bonds for more expensive debt — which means higher car loan rates for customers. BMW, Mercedes-Benz and others sold 8.45 billion euros ($9 billion) in bonds in European markets last month, marking the biggest month for auto debt issuance in six years, according to data compiled by

China is poised to extend incentives for EV purchases as part of broader efforts to shake off a sluggish post-pandemic period. The foundation for China’s economic recovery is not yet solid, the nation’s state radio reported late Friday, citing a State Council meeting chaired by Premier Li Qiang. China will therefore extend and optimize new-energy

The chance to name a new car is precious, a billion-dollar branding exercise with decades of potential staying power. Many vehicles have names that have been around for 20-plus years — even when the underlying car has changed. The Porsche 911 was introduced in 1965, one year after Toyota unveiled its first Corolla. Making its

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group is considering raising funds for the maker of London’s iconic black cabs, people familiar with the matter said, as the Chinese automaker looks to bolster its electric fleet. Geely may seek about 1 billion pounds ($1.2 billion) from private investors for London Electric Vehicle Company, the people said, asking not to

HUNTINGTON BEACH, California — Volkswagen will add a long-wheelbase three-row version of the ID Buzz full-electric van to its European and North American lineups in 2024. The retro-styled ID Buzz, based on the VW Group’s MEB platform, debuted in Europe last year in passenger and commercial versions.  Buyers will have a choice of a rear-mounted,

Stellantis will invest 160 million euros ($176 million) to prepare its factory in Rennes, western France, to build the next Citroen compact SUV, which will be mostly sold as a full-electric vehicle when it is launched in 2025, the automaker said. Stellantis will use the investment to set up a battery assembly workshop as well

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is heading to China to meet with tech executives in the world’s biggest chip market, despite rising tensions between Washington and Beijing, according to people familiar with the matter. Huang, who headlined a trade show in Taiwan this week, plans to travel to China for the first time in years in

MILAN — Stellantis has expanded its family of battery-electric microcars with the debut of the Fiat Topolino. Fiat revealed the car’s name and a photo Wednesday but provided no technical details or the car’s price. The quadricycle is a close sibling to the Citroen Ami and the Opel Rocks-e. The Citroen Ami quadricycle was unveiled

ISTANBUL — A Turkish court acquitted three people over former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn’s escape via Istanbul to Lebanon after fleeing Japan, a lawyer for one of the defendants said. A jet company executive and two pilots, who were detained for several months, were sentenced to four years and two months in jail in 2021

Tesla‘s Elon Musk joined Apple’s Tim Cook, Mercedes-Benz Group’s Ola Kallenius and other car and technology company bosses in emphasizing the importance of maintaining ties with China in his first visit to the country since before the pandemic. Musk met with Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing on Tuesday and said the interests of China

Bentley has named former Volvo styling head Robin Page its new director of design. Page will succeed Tobias Sühlmann, who will leave the Volkswagen Group subsidiary to pursue other opportunities, Bentley said in a release. Page, 51, will be responsible for defining Bentley’s design language as it transforms into an electric-only brand by 2030. Under

French brands Peugeot, Citroen and Renault and Italy’s Fiat benefited from a big rebound in rental cars sales last month in three of Europe’s most popular vacation destinations. Rental car sales in April rose 143 percent, 78 percent and 30 percent in Italy, France and Spain, respectively, according to an analysis done by market research

On June 13 and 14 in Paris, the 2023 Automotive News Europe Congress will host a series of top-level presentations, speakers and panel discussions on the theme of Making Sustainability Profitable. Speakers will include experts and executives from Renault Group, Toyota, Stellantis, Polestar, Ford, Hyundai and more. Join us in Paris to be part of

Washington in northeast England likes to boast of its U.S. connections. George Washington’s ancestral home lies at the heart of the old village; the family coat of arms greets visitors to the municipality; even the local golf club is named after the first U.S. president. Yet for all the historic affinities, government actions in the

Volkswagen Group and its Audi unit have agreed to an $85 million settlement in principle over violations of Texas environmental laws stemming from its diesel cheating scandal, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Thursday.  The settlement stipulates that the German automakers pay a civil penalty of $85 million for their unlawful actions, Paxton said. Earlier