September 08, 2025
Volkswagen and its sister brands, Cupra and Škoda, have unveiled three interpretations of the previously announced ID.Polo, designed to move the group’s EV strategy into the mainstream. Shown on the eve of the IAA Mobility show, the Volkswagen ID. Cross, Cupra Rava,l and Škoda Epiq preview a family of affordable, small EVs that will enter […]
September 05, 2025
Dacia is pushing deeper into electrified drivetrains with the debut of its new Hybrid-G 150 4×4 system, an LPG-compatible, all-wheel-drive hybrid setup. It will be available on both the Duster and the Bigster by the end of the year. At the heart of the new system is a 1.2-liter three-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine, producing 140 […]
September 04, 2025
Volvo is preparing to launch what could become its most important EV yet. The EX60, a midsize electric SUV set to debut January 21st, 2026, in Stockholm, will deliver the most extended range of any Volvo to date and go head-to-head with the Tesla Model Y, Porsche Macan EV, and Mercedes-Benz GLC with EG Technology […]
September 03, 2025
Toyota announced on Wednesday that the first battery electric vehicle (BEV) to be built in Europe will come from the Czech Republic. It pumps an additional €680 million into its Kolin facility to expand it for BEV production. Currently, this plant builds the Aygo X and Yaris Hybrid. The carmaker previously indicated plans to launch nine […]
September 01, 2025
Chinese electric vehicle maker Leapmotor has selected Stellantis’ assembly plant in Zaragoza to establish its first European manufacturing base. While the car group’s Tychy plant had already produced some vehicles from Leapmotor, Poland has politically fallen out of favour and seems to have lost its assembly slot to Spain. The rumors were growing over Leapmotor’s […]
September 01, 2025
Anyone driving a camper or motorhome weighing more than 3,500 kg will soon no longer be required to hold a category C driver’s license. With a short training course or exam, a category B driver’s license will soon be sufficient for campers up to 4,250 kg. With a trailer, this can even reach up to […]
September 01, 2025
BYD, the world’s biggest maker of electric vehicles, is selling record numbers of cars but has reported its first fall in profits in more than two years. The toll of a fierce price war in China’s car industry turns BYD’s strategy into a balancing act. The Shenzhen-based carmaker sold almost 2.2 million vehicles in the […]
August 29, 2025
Lotus Cars’ reputation for navigating from one crisis period to another doesn’t seem to come to rest under Geely’s Chinese ownership. The company confirmed to the BBC that it will reduce its workforce at its headquarters in Hethel by more than 40%. The company cites that US tariffs, rising costs, and faltering demand are the […]
August 29, 2025
Belgian employees spend an average of one hour (57 minutes, to be specific) traveling to and from work. Some even spend more than an hour and a half commuting. This is evident from international research by human resources specialist SD Worx among 16,000 employees in 15 European countries and the UK. According to a survey […]
August 28, 2025
Volvo Cars’ new XC70 plug-in hybrid SUV will not be limited to China after all. The automaker has confirmed that the long-range model, originally unveiled with a focus on the Chinese market, will also be offered in Europe, expanding its role within the brand’s global electrification strategy. The XC70 revives one of the most familiar […]
August 28, 2025
Suzuki Motor Corporation has begun shipping its first battery-electric vehicle, the eVitara, worldwide. The company hosted a dispatch ceremony at its Gujarat facility in India, where the compact SUV is produced. The event drew high-level participation, underscoring the importance of the launch for both Suzuki and India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gujarat Chief Minister […]
August 27, 2025
In a letter addressed to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, European automotive manufacturers (ACEA) and suppliers (CLEPA) outlined their expectations for the upcoming Strategic Dialogue on the future of the European automotive industry, scheduled for 12 September. The associations ask for a new ‘transformation plan’ to save the European automotive […]
August 27, 2025
China’s BYD has started exporting electric cars from its Thai factory to Europe. In anticipation of the start of its production site in Hungary, the Chinese EV maker uses this bypass to skip its 17.4% excess tariffs. As products imported from Thailand into the EU are exempt from import levies, the new route is expected […]
August 26, 2025
Northern Lights, a Norwegian project for storing CO2 under the seabed, has stored its first quantities of carbon dioxide. The international consortium, involving energy companies Equinor, Shell, and TotalEnergies, is the world’s first commercial carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage service (CCS). “We have reached an exciting milestone: We now injected and stored the very first […]
August 26, 2025
German car manufacturer Opel, part of the Stellantis Group, has cancelled its plans to sell only electric vehicles in Europe from 2028. The Rüsselsheim-based German company said on Monday that it will continue to rely on its current “multi-energy” strategy, delivering vehicles powered by batteries, plug-in hybrids, or combustion engines, until customer demand changes. No […]
August 26, 2025
A new online survey by the market research access panel, PanelWizzard, with 1,010 drivers, shows that one in three Dutch people prefers driving a Chinese car over an American car like Tesla or Ford to date. “Chinese brands are on the rise in Europe. We see that in our showrooms as well, and to be […]
August 26, 2025
The EU and the US have signed a joint statement to retroactively reduce US tariffs on cars and car parts from 27.5% to 15%. The reductions were technically part of an agreement in July, but were never implemented. That will now change. After weeks of uncertainty following the political agreement between European Commission President Ursula […]
August 25, 2025
After a break of almost four years, there’s a successor for the Nissan Micra. The small car will only be launched on the market with an electric drive and is set to be the start of a major product offensive by the Japanese manufacturer in Europe. The starting price in Belgium will be €29,250. The […]
August 25, 2025
We already knew that Nissan would also have its version of Renault’s smallest EV, the Twingo, coming in 2026. After earlier rumors suggesting that Nissan might revive the Pixo badge, it now seems that the small electric city car will be called Wave. After redesigning the Alliance, Renault and Nissan are leveraging their agreement to […]
August 22, 2025
The Flemish public transport company De Lijn is testing a new, intelligent driving assistance system in Antwerp to warn tram drivers of potential hazards, such as pedestrians, cyclists, or obstacles on the tracks. The system uses cameras, sensors, and artificial intelligence (AI), and was developed by the Ghent-based technology company OTIV. The tests are part […]
August 22, 2025
Windrose Technology, the Chinese electric truck developer headquartered in Antwerp, might face insolvency. One of its senior executives publicly accused the company of failing to pay employees, while staging misleading announcements. Windrose’s Director of Customer Success and Operations, Kyle Maki, wrote on LinkedIn that the company is now 90 days behind on payroll and has […]
August 22, 2025
Chinese electric cars tend to be sold at half the price in their homeland than in Europe. If a company like China EV Marketplace announces it is launching a new door-to-door service for European customers, enabling them to purchase road-legal EVs directly from China, and handling most of the annoying stuff for you, is it […]
August 21, 2025
The most polluting way to travel is almost always the cheapest. Or: Trains are often slightly cheaper than planes. It’s a matter of interpretation or wording, but these are two headlines about a new Greenpeace study on the fact that flying in Europe is cheaper than talking the train in more than half of all […]
August 21, 2025
This year, 967,026 hectares of nature have already gone up in flames in the European Union – four times the average (244,011) since measurements began in 2006. Spain stands out with a staggering 4.4 times increase, or nearly 392,000 hectares of devastated land (and record fire emissions). Portugal is also severely affected (2.2 times its average), […]
August 21, 2025
South Korean carmaker Kia has started production of its EV4 full-electric hatchback at its Žilina plant in Slovakia. It’s the first Kia electric vehicle to be manufactured in Europe, although the factory itself opened in 2004, in a land that has rapidly become a ‘magnet’ for car factories. And there are good reasons why. Designed […]
August 20, 2025
As the saying goes: Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. And with the still marginal market share of electric trucks, odds are that many transporters haven’t yet experienced them in real life. That’s why Scania is bringing its fully electric range to 14 European cities between mid-August and mid-December. As not many incentives are […]
August 14, 2025
According to Bloomberg, BNP Paribas is in late-stage negotiations with Mercedes over the acquisition of its European leasing subsidiary Athlon. The deal would further consolidate the fleet management landscape after ALD Automotive and LeasePlan merged to Ayvens. Earlier this year, news broke that Mercedes was scouting for a possible buyer for its leasing arm, Athlon, […]
August 14, 2025
Polestar has etched its name into the record books, with a standard version of the 3 covering 935.44 kilometers on a single charge, claiming the Guinness World Record for the longest distance driven by an electric SUV without recharging. Sedans like the Lucid Air or the Mercedes EQS covered even more distance in the past. […]
August 13, 2025
A new kind of charging station is cropping up in the US — and you can’t miss it. Quite literally. Dubbed ‘EV totems’, these tall poles pair electric vehicle chargers with high-definition advertising screens mounted several meters above the ground. The idea is part infrastructure upgrade, part digital billboard. Blink, the American firm rolling out […]
August 13, 2025
The European Space Agency (ESA) has successfully launched an Ariane 6 rocket from French Guiana, placing the four-ton MetOp-SG-A1 satellite into orbit around the Earth. The satellite will monitor weather, climate, and air pollution, marking an important step toward greater European independence in space and meteorology. More accurate measurements The MetOp-SG-A1 is equipped with six […]
August 12, 2025
The head of German carmaker Mercedes-Benz has highlighted the challenges facing the company in an interview with the German business newspaper Handelsblatt. CEO Ola Källenius, also the current President of ACEA, warns of a European car market collapse if the ban on ICE vehicles in 2035 is implemented. Källenius proposes to drop an actual date […]
August 12, 2025
The United Kingdom is considering plans to introduce a mandatory eye test for older road users to reduce road deaths and injuries. According to news media BBC and Sky News, people over 70 may face a driving ban in the future if they fail a mandatory eye test. In 2024, 1,633 people were killed in traffic and […]
August 11, 2025
BYD’s luxury performance brand Yangwang is preparing to unleash one of the most powerful electric cars ever built. New regulatory filings in China reveal a Track Edition of its U9 supercar boasting more than 3,000 hp. Lotus Evija and Rimac Nevera: beware! China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) regularly discloses models ahead of […]
August 08, 2025
Lyten, a US-based battery start-up backed by Stellantis, has agreed to acquire the remaining assets of the collapsed Swedish battery maker Northvolt. The company stated that it aims to continue the plans already in place by previous management. The buy-in restores Europe’s faltering ambitions of building a homegrown battery industry, although under American wings. The […]
August 07, 2025
The Italian government has approved the project to build a 3.3-kilometer suspension bridge across the Strait of Messina. It will be the longest suspension bridge in the world, connecting Sicily to the Italian mainland. The project, scheduled for completion by 2032, has a price tag of € 13.5 billion. The arrival of the bridge, already […]
August 05, 2025
The best-selling Mercedes-Benz SUV is going electric, and it’s bringing a new style with it. Mercedes promises the new GLC EV “redefines” the face of the luxury brand. At the same time, it serves as a signal of Mercedes’ powertrain diversification. It’s no secret that Mercedes-Benz’s somewhat egg-shaped EQ electric cars haven’t caught on. Despite […]
August 05, 2025
Baidu, the Chinese internet giant and pioneer in autonomous driving, is set to bring its robotaxi service to European streets in 2026. The announcement marks one of China’s most ambitious international moves in the field of self-driving transport to date. In a deal announced on Monday, Baidu said it will partner with US ride-hailing firm […]
August 05, 2025
Volvo has been producing the European version of the EX30 in Belgium since April. Now it is gearing up the production of the model in its Ghent factory. Meanwhile, Volvo’s July sales were down again, 14% less than in the same period last year. The production acceleration of the EX30 in Ghent is not only […]
August 01, 2025
Lufthansa more than doubled its profits in the second quarter of this year despite recent trade tensions. “The Lufthansa Group remains on track,” says CEO Carsten Spohr, referring to the net profit of 1.2 billion euros. Air France-KLM also reported significantly higher profits in the past quarter compared to the same period a year earlier. […]
July 31, 2025
Starting October 12, the European Union will begin the gradual rollout of a new electronic border control system, known as the entry and exit system (EES). Under this automated control system, third-country nationals wishing to enter or exit the EU (or Switzerland and Liechtenstein) will be required to provide their biometric data, fingerprints, and a […]
July 30, 2025
An analysis by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) of CO2 fleet emissions for new cars in H1 of 2025 shows that the car industry currently exceeds the EU limit by nine percent. This breach should actually trigger fines payable to the European Union. Due to the recent flexibilisation, that will not happen. The […]
July 30, 2025
Every category of commercial vehicles has faced negative results in the first half of 2025 in Europe. Vans and trucks suffered the most, but buses have remained relatively stable, thanks to their large share of electrification. However, the sector warns that the conditions are still not suitable for the mass adoption of electrified heavy commercial […]
July 29, 2025
Global sales of electric cars are picking up speed again, driven by strong growth in China and renewed momentum in Europe, according to a new analysis by consulting firm PwC. In the first half of the year, more than 5.9 million battery electric vehicles (BEVs) were registered worldwide, a 37% increase compared to the same […]
July 29, 2025
It was already known that the Flemish government provides compensation support to major CO2 emitters. But according to the newspaper De Standaard, that support has increased from 36 million euros in 2019 to almost 270 million euros today. The top 10 beneficiaries include large companies, such as ArcelorMittal, BASF, ExxonMobil, and TotalEnergies. The support concerns the […]
July 28, 2025
Qatar is threatening to stop gas supplies to the European Union. The threat comes in response to the European duty of care law on forced labor and environmental damage. This is evident from a letter from Qatar to the Belgian government, which was seen by Reuters news agency. Qatar is the world’s third-largest exporter of […]
July 28, 2025
The long-awaited trade deal between the European Union and the U.S. was concluded yesterday. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and U.S. President Trump found an agreement when they met in Scotland. The general import tariff in the U.S. for the EU will be fixed at 15%. According to von der Leyen, the 15% […]
July 25, 2025
Car manufacturer Stellantis, with brands such as Peugeot, Citroën, Opel, Jeep, and Fiat, will cease production of combustion engines at its Douvrin facility in the northern French department of Pas-de-Calais. The approximately 350 employees at the site will be transferred to the nearby ACC gigafactory, a joint venture for battery production, or to other sites […]
July 25, 2025
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized plans, according to the German newspaper Bild, that the European Union is working on prohibiting car-rental firms and large corporations from buying non-electric vehicles for their fleets starting in 2030. The European plan is still a proposal and draws inspiration from Belgian regulations that stipulate that by 2026, all new […]
July 24, 2025
The Board of directors of the Belgian public railroad company NMBS/SNCB has finally chosen Spanish train builder CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles) as the preferred bidder for the supply of new train carriages. It concerns a contract for up to 600 new train sets by 2034, for an estimated sum of between €1.7 billion […]
July 24, 2025
In the first half of 2025 (H1 2025), new EU car registrations dropped by 1.9% compared to the same period last year, according to the data of ACEA. With a strong 7.3% year-on-year (YOY) decline for June, this is indicative of the challenging global economic environment for automakers. The battery-electric car market share for H1 […]
July 22, 2025
Because the Netherlands has awarded domestic train traffic to Dutch Railways NS, the European Commission is going to the European Court of Justice. Such a direct allocation is contrary to the European rule that requires several transport companies to be able to apply for the main domestic train traffic. The court may decide to fine […]
July 17, 2025
Renault Group has named its recently appointed CFO, Duncan Minto, as interim CEO to replace Luca de Meo, who is leaving the automaker to run the luxury group Kering. Minto will run the company alongside Renault Group Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard, Renault said in a news release on July 15. It said the search for a […]
July 16, 2025
The French government has announced a second season of its social leasing scheme for EVs. An envelope of €370 million is destined for subsidising the rental of at least 50,000 EVs for three years or more. Social leasing of (smaller) EVs has been a significant success in France last year. Even overwhelmingly so, because 50,000 […]
July 15, 2025
Good news, EV Belgium, the sector federation for electromobility, heralds: Europe will officially have more than one million public charging points this summer. This also means that traveling with an electric car has never been easier. According to the European Alternative Fuels Observatory, every EV driver can enjoy a carefree holiday this summer with their […]
July 14, 2025
The number of international train travelers at the Belgian public railroad company NMBS/SNCB is increasing year after year. Since 2019, the number of bookings through NMBS/SNCB International has risen by over 50%. The most popular countries are France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. NMBS/SNCB sells tickets to more […]
July 11, 2025
More and more EU countries are concerned about the new European tax on CO2 emissions, but there is no support for postponing it. ETS2 is the European Union’s carbon tax, planned for introduction in 2027, which will make the use of fossil fuels more expensive for consumers. The new tax is an extension of the existing […]
July 09, 2025
German truck maker Daimler Trucks, one of the leading companies globally in the sector, has announced that it will cut 5,000 jobs in its homeland, Germany, by 2030 to become more market resilient and improve its profitability. In Germany, the company employs around 35,500 employees, of whom around 28,000 in its Stuttgart hub. Sluggish economic […]
July 08, 2025
Stellantis is launching the new Jeep Compass 4xe, in Europe, a successor to the current PHEV, which promises enhanced off-road capability. That includes a 195 hp engine, a 10 mm raised suspension, a dedicated off-road driving mode, dual off-road bumpers, an anti-scratch Bumper Shield, a matte anti-glare hood sticker, a rear tow hook, and 19-inch […]
July 08, 2025
According to a new study by the clean transport and energy lobbying group Transport & Environment (T&E), the European car industry, which is responsible for €330 billion of the EU’s GDP and employs three million people directly or indirectly, faces an agonizing choice. It can boost and ramp up EV production with proper EU support, […]
July 07, 2025
Will we soon have self-driving Teslas in Belgium? The American carmaker has already applied to the European Commission in March for approval of autonomous driving (Full Self Driving), and more specifically, supervised hands-off driving. According to the Vers L’Avenir newspaper, Federal Minister of Mobility Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés), unlike his predecessor, is already in favor. […]
