January 16, 2024
Maserati gains a new showroom in Belgium with Maserati Center Antwerp, a new concept store built in collaboration with D’Ieteren. The Belgian VW importer is expanding its business into the luxury segment, including creating dealerships of brands outside the Volkswagen Group portfolio. D’Ieteren may be best known as the Belgian importer of VW Group brands […]
January 16, 2024
The future Lancia Ypsilon has been photographed in all its glory and without camouflage during a promotional photoshoot in Italy. The new model will surely come with a fully electric variant and will be launched later this year. The first new Lancia for over a decade showcases a new brand design inspired by the recent […]
January 16, 2024
BMW chief financial officer Walter Mertl said in a recent media roundtable BMW has passed the tipping point for combustion engine vehicle sales and now generates most sales growth from electric cars. “The tipping point for the combustion engine is already there,” the CFO said, adding that, in his view, it had been passed last […]
January 16, 2024
Lufthansa Group plans to hire around 13 000 new employees this year. These include pilots, cabin crew, technicians, and IT specialists, according to the German airline group, which also has airlines Eurowings, Brussels Airlines, Swiss, and Austrian Airlines. According to Aviation24, at least 380 of them will be recruited for Brussels Airlines. Lufthansa is looking […]
January 15, 2024
Volkswagen has published its Group-wide sales figures for the past year. According to the figures, the Volkswagen Group delivered 771 100 fully electric vehicles worldwide in 2023. Across all drive types, Volkswagen achieved total sales of 9,24 million vehicles in 2023, an increase of 21% compared to 2022. The 771 100 fully electric vehicles delivered […]
January 15, 2024
Since Monday, production at the Ghent factory of Volvo Car has come to a standstill, as supplies got exhausted due to container ships having to choose an alternative 10-day longer route to avoid the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. Volvo hopes to be able to restart on Thursday. Earlier, Tesla told Reuters it would […]
January 15, 2024
Kia has shown its vision of the future of mobility at CES 2024 in Las Vegas, with a modular ‘Platform Beyond Vehicle’ (PBV) that takes another stab at creating a continuously customizable vehicle. But this is no simple fantasy: the first model, the Kia PV5, will enter mass production in 2025. Kia’s Platform Beyond Vehicle […]
January 15, 2024
After signing last year a contract with Qbuzz, a public transport operator in the Netherlands, to deliver 54 battery-electric buses of its latest type A battery-electric city bus, Belgian bus builder Van Hool may deliver another 112 before the end of this year. That’s a gift from the gods, as up to 65% of the […]
January 15, 2024
The French start-up company Tiamat Energy is planning a factory for sodium-ion battery cells with an annual capacity of 5 GWh in northern France and is receiving financial support from Stellantis, among others. Tiamat Energy is a sodium-ion cell developer spun off from the French National Research Centre CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique). […]
January 12, 2024
According to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), renewable energy production capacity has increased by 50% in the past year. The IEA says the increase is faster than ever in the last thirty years. Due to the rapid growth, there is a real chance that global capacity will triple by 2030. Last […]
January 12, 2024
After a brief flirtation with warmer months, the North American International Auto Show NAIAS), also known as the Detroit Auto Show, is returning to its original January exhibition month. Rod Alberts, executive director of the Detroit Auto Dealers Association (DADA), told the Detroit Free Press on Thursday that the 2025 Detroit auto show will begin […]
January 12, 2024
Harald Seidel, President of DAF Trucks, takes over from Martin Lundstedt (Volvo Group) as the new chairman of the Commercial Vehicle Board of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) for 2024. He will be in charge of defending the truckmakers’ interests in Europe. The ACEA unites the European vehicle manufacturers, including commercial vehicles. Luca de […]
January 12, 2024
Since September last year, Wolfgang Bremm von Kleinsorgen (52) has been CEO of Mercedes-Benz Benelux. He took the alternative Mercedes motor show event ‘Defining Class Star Days’ in his own headquarters as an opportunity to talk to the outside world for the first time. The new CEO originates from Aachen, Germany, and knows Belgium fairly […]
January 11, 2024
By the end of 2027, BMW will no longer manufacture combustion-engined models in the plant in Munich near its headquarters. The premium automaker introduces the production of the revolutionary New Class in 2026 and will gradually fade out the ICE version as the line will be reserved exclusively for the electric range. BMW broke the […]
January 11, 2024
At CES 2024 in Las Vegas, Vietnamese electric carmaker VinFast revealed two new models. The VF Wild, a mid-size zero-emission pickup truck, wants to challenge the F-150 Lightning and Rivian RR1T, while the small VF3 takes on a more global role as an affordable two-door ‘mini-eSUV’. Indeed, the VF Wild is the more noticeable of […]
January 11, 2024
Honda has decided to start again from a blank sheet of paper for its next-generation electric vehicles. The 0-Series concept cars, the Saloon and Space-Hub, represent this new approach with a light and nimble design to bring back the joy of driving in the EV era. We should be able to discover the results in […]
January 10, 2024
The BMW Group sold a total of 376 183 all-electric vehicles in 2023. That is 74,4% more than in 2022, with the BMW core brand achieving even stronger growth thanks to several new models, while Mini only saw a slight increase. In 2022, the BMW Group sold 215 755 fully electric vehicles of the BMW […]
January 10, 2024
As reported by the German car magazine Auto, Motor und Sport, customers eager to get their hands on the ID.2 will have to exercise patience, waiting almost two and a half years before significant deliveries commence.At the CES in Las Vegas, VW managers now denied the delay. Currently, Volkswagen’s cheapest battery-powered model costs roughly 40 […]
January 09, 2024
Yanfeng, a Shanghai-based multinational automotive supplier specializing in interior components, has presented its vision of the EV interior of the future at CES 2024 in Las Vegas. The Smart Cabin Seat integrates most controls, entertainment, safety systems, and even climate control directly into the seat. Yanfeng claims this Smart Cabin Seat results from multiple studies […]
January 09, 2024
Germany has been given the green light by the European Commission to allocate 902 million euros in subsidies to a battery plant by Sweden’s Northvolt in Heide, in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. The plant in northern Germany, positioned to produce the cleanest batteries for EVs in continental Europe with a capacity of up to 60 […]
January 09, 2024
The in-car digital experience of both the present day and the future is the dominant theme of the BMW Group’s presence at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2024 in Las Vegas, U.S. New infotainment products for the current BMW model portfolio will be shown at the event. At the same time, the BMW Group is […]
January 09, 2024
Toyota Belgium, one of the market leaders in the segment of individual buyers with its Yaris model, ordered a survey showing great uncertainty reigning in this market segment about when and what to buy. Toyota Belgium asked marketing research specialist Ipsos to investigate the buying intentions of individual car buyers. 1 000 respondents (only potential […]
January 09, 2024
CO2 emissions from Germany, Europe’s leading industrial nation and the largest energy consumer in Europe, have reached their lowest level in around 70 years, thanks to a stronger-than-expected decline in the use of coal. Greenhouse gas emissions reached 673 million tons of CO2 last year, “the lowest level since the 1950s” and significantly down from […]
January 08, 2024
Nikola Motor’s 2023 has been tumultuous, to say the least. But the American zero-emission semi-truck manufacturer has closed out the year with its first hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks being delivered to customers. The outlook for 2024 should follow soon. Nikola’s 2023 year in review was not an easy one. The troubles started (or continued, […]
January 08, 2024
According to market research ordered by Mobia, the Belgian car buyer will be more impacted by a premium to buy an electric car than by the eventual expansion of LEZ zones. Mobia, the overarching association of car sector federations Febiac (new car market), Traxio (second-hand car market), and Renta (car leasing and renting), has done […]
January 08, 2024
China’s top-selling automaker has started constructing a factory for sodium-ion batteries in the Xuzhou region. The plant will be scaled up to produce 30 GWh annually, with packs primarily intended for use in scooters, motorcycles, and smaller vehicles. The factory collaborates with the Chinese tricycle brand HuaiHai through BYD’s subsidiary Findreams Battery. Both partners are […]
January 08, 2024
Volvo Cars set a new global sales record as the company reported full-year sales of 708 716 cars during 2023, an increase of 15% compared to the entire year of 2022. Volvo Cars will also get a €420 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to develop a new electric car platform. Volvo Cars […]
January 05, 2024
NanoFlowcell, a Swiss flow cell battery research company founded by Nunzio La Vecchia, promises 2 000 km of all-electric range for passenger vehicles thanks to flow batteries with an exceptionally high energy density. But a finished product still hasn’t come out, even after nearly ten years… NanoFlowcell was founded in 1996 and claims to have […]
January 05, 2024
The California based EV car manufacturer Fisker Inc. today announced that the company is developing an innovative Dealer Partnership model in North America. In Europe, Fisker intends to pursue a hybrid of direct sales and dealer arrangements. “As we saw throughout 2023, the EV market has changed dramatically, said Chairman and CEO Henrik Fisker. “As […]
January 05, 2024
Last year’s new car sales in the United States are nearing pre-pandemic times, with +13% more vehicles sold in 2023, or 15,5 million units in total, compared to peaks of 17 million cars in 2015-2019. Despite the biggest six-weeks-long automotive strike America has ever seen, supply has normalized, and prices dropped by 2 to 3% […]
January 05, 2024
Flemish public transport operator De Lijn orders 92 standard electric buses from Chinese bus maker BYD. The order, representing an investment of over 43 million euros, follows the award by De Lijn’s board of directors of a new framework agreement of up to 500 standard e-buses to BYD Europe. The order earned De Lijn a […]
January 05, 2024
Last year, 2,84 million cars were sold in Germany, or 7,3% more than in 2022. Electrified vehicles, however, struggle to find buyers, primarily due to the disappearance of practically all incentives for buying them. 979 000 of the cars sold were simply gasoline engine powered, and that’s a 13% growth, while the pure electric cars […]
January 04, 2024
In the US, Hyundai has secured a patent for an all-solid-state EV battery system equipped with a ‘pressurizing device’ and significantly improved operating temperatures. The automaker describes the technology as enhancing stability and energy density while reducing production costs. Like most automakers, Hyundai considers solid-state packs as the next-generation battery technology. In October last year, […]
January 03, 2024
At least 22% of new cars sold by manufacturers in the UK this year must be zero-emission. New rules requiring car manufacturers to sell a minimum proportion of zero-emission vehicles have come into force, the Department for Transport (DfT) in the UK announced. The mandate became law on Wednesday. Zero emission means, in practice, that […]
January 03, 2024
Under Joe Biden, the US has become the world’s largest oil producer and is producing more oil than any country ever has. According to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), US oil production has even increased by 21% over the past five years, and it settled in December a new annual production record with […]
January 03, 2024
Porsche is returning to the Nürburgring with its electric Taycan. In-house development racing driver Lars Kern has managed to beat the electric Porsche’s previous record by 25 seconds, recording a lap time of 7 minutes 07,55 seconds. Kern was at the wheel of a still unnamed, more powerful, and track-ready Porsche Taycan. Porsche refers to […]
January 03, 2024
In 2023, the car market in Belgium and Luxembourg (Belux) booked its best result since the pandemic broke out and ended close to the sales average of the last ten years (476 675 cars registered compared to 483 670 as the decade average). In December 2023, 25 715 new cars were registered, which is still […]
January 03, 2024
Volkswagen Anhui – former JAC-Volkswagen – has started building Seat’s sporty daughter Cupra’s second EV, the Tavascan, in the Anhui province in China, to be launched in 2024 in Europe. Based on the Volkswagen Group MEB platform, the Cupra Tavascan will be available with either 210 or 250 kWh of power and a WLTP range […]
January 03, 2024
The Chinese car manufacturer BYD (Build Your Dreams) has a very ambitious goal: to become the world’s biggest car manufacturer and overtake Toyota and other VWs by 2030. It is now the biggest producer of electrified cars in the world. BYD sold a record number of new energy vehicles (NEVs) in December, reaching its full-year […]
January 02, 2024
European aircraft maker Airbus has a much better financial year than its US rival Boeing. In December alone, 500 orders were placed, accounting for a record 1 880 new aircraft orders for 2023. This makes Airbus the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer for the sixth time in a row, a position it owes mainly to its […]
January 02, 2024
How do you make hydrogen more appealing to petrolheads? Perhaps outfitting a 1976 Jeep Cherokee Chief with a 6.2-liter V8 hydrogen combustion engine and some tasty modifications will allow you to have all the fun without any pollution. This is the French energy technology group GCK’s approach, together with motor oil specialist Motul. Consolidated in […]
January 02, 2024
Volvo Cars is working on an electric version of its luxury saloon, which will probably launch in 2025 as the ES90. According to media reports, the carmaker has already built the prototypes at its plant in Shanghai. Deliveries will kick off in mid-2025. According to information from the specialized site motor.es, the Volvo ES90 will […]
December 29, 2023
Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi has unveiled its very first car in China. The new SU7 is a mid-size electric sedan powered by two electric motors up to 673 hp. Not only does Xiaomi claim it can reach 100 kph in only 2,78 seconds, but it also has a range of 800 km (CLTC). Xiaomi is […]
December 29, 2023
Some EV experts and sector federation Traxio say there is an urgent need for a reliable battery test and the appropriate certificate to regulate upcoming sales of second-hand electric vehicles. Recent tests of battery packs in second-hand full-electric vehicles have shown that batteries still can be in good shape after years of use and can […]
December 29, 2023
American powertrain manufacturer Cummins has to pay almost $1,7 billion as a fine for selling devices that can bypass emissions sensors. The US Department of Justice sees this as a direct violation of the Clean Air Act and has imposed a fine, which is the second-largest in the history of the Act, which was installed […]
December 27, 2023
Toyota Motor Corp. said on Wednesday that its global output from January to November reached 9,23 million vehicles. That’s a new single-year record with still one month left in 2023. The result is also achieved thanks to robust demand in North America and Europe. The all-time high came as the automaker’s worldwide production for November […]
December 27, 2023
Royal HaskoningDHV, a global consulting engineering company, has reported that the lithium levels in the river Rhine near Lobith, in the Dutch province of Gelderland, are already higher than the risk limit. Users of Rhine and Meuse water may now or in the future suffer from higher lithium levels. The lithium concentrations in river water […]
December 27, 2023
Last Friday, DATS 24, Colruyt Group’s fuel and energy provider, opened up two additional hydrogen filling stations in Belgium, one in Erpe-Mere and the other in Herve. The latter is also the first hydrogen station in Wallonia for passenger cars. In addition to the ones in Halle, Haasrode, Wilrijk, and Ollignies, DATS 24 now counts […]
December 27, 2023
The Chinese car manufacturer BYD, the world’s number one in building and selling electrified cars, will build a car plant in Hungary as part of its plan to conquer Europe. “BYD is preparing to build its first car manufacturing plant in Szeged, Hungary, and is hereby making an important step towards green mobility in Europe,” […]
December 26, 2023
Toyota is not experiencing its best week ever, on the contrary. At its daughter Daihatsu, part of the Toyota Group, serious fraud has been discovered running already for decades. Toyota has recalled more than one million vehicles in the US with a possible airbag safety issue. On Thursday, the Japanese Ministry of Transport started an […]
December 22, 2023
The Russian car manufacturer Avtotor has released the first pictures of a new electric prototype called Amber. It’s 100% made in Russia and has been developed in partnership with the Russian Polytechnic University of Moscow (MAMI). Since the start of the Ukrainian war, the Russian industry has been almost entirely on its own since all […]
December 21, 2023
South Korean carmaker Kia has announced that Marc Hedrich, the current CEO of the brand in France, will join the European regional headquarters in Frankfurt as President and CEO of Kia Europe, starting on 1 January 2024. He succeeds Won-Jeong Jeong, who held the position for the last four years. His primary assignment will be […]
December 21, 2023
BMW Belux will be celebrating its 50th anniversary of presence in Belgium and Luxembourg with the third consecutive number-one place in the market in 2023. At a press meeting, Belux CEO Alexander Wehr and his colleagues looked forward to consolidating this success. The fact that three premium brands are in the top five of car […]
December 21, 2023
Belgian Alain Visser, founder and driving force behind Swedish-Chinese Lynk & Co, is unexpectedly leaving the company “to pursue other opportunities outside the company”, according to a press release surfacing on Thursday. He will leave his European CEO chair to Nicolas Lopez Appelgren, a Volvo veteran for 28 years and current Head of Retail Operations […]
December 21, 2023
Swedish-Swiss multinational ABB will supply Volvo’s factories in Torslanda (Sweden) and Daqing (China) next year with 1 300 robots to build the carmaker’s next generation of electric cars. These robots will cover various production tasks, from spot-welding, riveting, and dispensing to flow drilling and ultrasonic weld inspection. ABB, a historic partner for its compatriot, claims […]
December 21, 2023
After intense negotiations, Volkswagen managers and employee representatives have agreed on key points in a paper for the ‘Accelerate Forward/Road to 6.5’ plan announced in June. The 6.5 describes the key target, a return on sales of 6,5% for the core brand of the VW Group by 2026. It was first announced in June when […]
December 21, 2023
The harmonization organization SAE International (created by the Society of Automotive Engineers) published a corresponding document that turns Tesla’s de facto North American Charging Standard (NACS) into a harmonized connector standard. The development prompted the Department of Transportation (DoT) to look into infrastructure funding. Volkswagen is also joining the band for good. The ‘SAE J3400 […]
December 20, 2023
Giant Chinese automaker group Geely is launching its first Galaxy-branded EV in its home market. The E8 is a large electric sedan that claims to have the lowest drag coefficient of any production vehicle but also one of the lowest prices seen so far in the Chinese EV market at 180 000 yuan or under […]
December 19, 2023
North Sea Port, the merger company behind the ports of Ghent, Terneuzen, and Vlissingen, is taking a minority stake (20%) in Pipelink, a subsidiary of Port of Antwerp-Bruges. This new partnership will develop and build local, national, and international pipeline projects – essential steps forward in the modal shift and energy transition. In 2026, the […]
December 19, 2023
Giant carmaker group BYD has launched its new Song L electric crossover in China. It can be equipped with a 71,8 kWh or 87 kWh battery offering up to 662 km of range and 517 hp. The Song L packs BYD’s specific technologies, such as the Disus-C suspension and cell-to-body battery integration. With a design […]
