December 16, 2021
After nine months of formation and debate, the new to form Dutch government (still to be accepted in the Parliament) has presented its major guidelines. One of them is the introduction of a kind of road pricing, taxing the use of the car, not its possession. The system is to be fully operational in… 2030. […]
December 16, 2021
The development of the BMW i7 is entering its final phase with a test program under extreme road and weather conditions. The electric motors, all-wheel drive, and high-voltage battery prove their performance and reliability under maximum loads. The car is currently tested in the world’s extreme weather regions. Currently, it’s primarily hot-region testing that takes […]
December 10, 2021
BMW’s CEO and Chairman of the Board, Oliver Zipse, has been confirmed for a second term as president of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA). That’s no surprise, as the federation’s president is elected by its members annually for a year-long term, which can be renewed once. He is facing a challenging next year, with […]
December 08, 2021
In a recent worldwide survey conducted by the Cetelem Observatory on the popularity of SUVs, it emerges that sales are expected to continue growing. Out of the 11 000 web respondents from 17 different countries, only 33% consider that SUVs pollute more, and 29% of them say their next purchase will be an SUV. For […]
December 02, 2021
After already being indicted in France, Peugeot, and Citroën, members of the Stellantis Group, have opened a jurisdictional inquiry against them in Germany. After almost all the German manufacturers and suppliers like Bosch and Continental, the German court now turns to foreign carmakers in the wake of dieselgate. The latter is a software fraud with […]
November 29, 2021
After consultation of its members, the Belgian car manufacturers and importers federation Febiac has decided to cancel the coming Brussels Motor Show (14 till 23 January 2022) given the rising concerns about the corona pandemic. “We anticipate on the fact that the alarming sanitary situation and the probable introduction of more restrictive measures won’t allow […]
November 16, 2021
Toyota Vice-President Shigeru Hayakawa takes up the cudgels for hybrid cars. According to Toyota, hybrid cars – HEV and PHEV – will still play a crucial role in reducing emissions in worldwide transport. Hayakawa is, therefore, pointing at South-East Asia and Africa, where he sees a vital role for hybrids. He states that countries with […]
November 03, 2021
The possible plan of the Flemish government to force all new cars sold by 2027 to be electric is provoking many reactions. Although we’re still talking about propositions, these reactions are numerous and vehement. Because of the COP26 climate gathering in Glasgow, the Flemish government is brooding on possible green measures to have something to […]
November 02, 2021
In its frantic search to have something to show at the COP26 climate gathering in Glasgow, the Flemish government is thinking of an obligation to buy electric cars by 2027. Second-hand ICE cars would then be forbidden to be sold by 2030. Inside the Flemish government, there is an ongoing search to see what trophies […]
October 19, 2021
Dacia has just launched the Spring, the cheapest pure electric car on the market. For just over 17 000 euros, you can buy an EV with a range of 225 km. Initially intended for use in shared car platforms, the car is also available on the consumer market. The Dacia Spring is already existing and […]
September 27, 2021
More than two-thirds of the Belgian car buyers consider purchasing an environmentally friendly car within two years. That’s the result of a study held by the ING Belgium bank at the end of the European mobility week. More than half (57%) of the 1 200 Belgians interrogated think that politicians have to consider the electrification […]
September 17, 2021
The Brussels Motor Show (BMS) in January 2022 will take place. VW Group importer D’Ieteren is still dropping out, but the Stellantis group has decided to participate. Organizer Febiac hast just announced that there will be a 2022 edition. For a while now, motor shows have been having problems seeing everyone on their exhibit platforms. […]
September 17, 2021
MG is a Chinese brand that can launch the right product at the right time, as today the brand is bringing out a semi-premium SUV at a starting price of €40 000. MG is one of the new players in the Belgian and, by extension, European car market. The manufacturer is of Chinese origin and […]
September 13, 2021
Between Tuesday the 5th of September and Sunday the 12th, the German IAA Motor Show in Munich took place. It not only changed location, but it also intended to be ‘another show’. Was this the ‘motor show 2.0’ everyone is looking for? It’s no coincidence that the IAA now has an add-on. From now on, […]
September 09, 2021
At the IAA Mobility, Porsche presented its purely electric customer motorsport vision with the Mission R concept. The concept car is intended to be more than just a design study, and a rolling chassis is already being tested. Porsche already showed a Mission E concept in 2015, launched in 2019 as the Taycan, the first […]
September 07, 2021
212 km, or about the distance between Brussels and Ostend, both ways. That is the number of kilometers of traffic jams in Belgium yesterday morning. Between 30 August and 3 September, congestion on Flemish motorways was even 14% higher than in the same week in 2019. It is the first time since the start of […]
August 06, 2021
Hyundai launches the Ioniq 5 on the Belgian market today. The basic version of this striking and fully electric SUV is for sale from €45 999 onward, and even this version gets a battery with a capacity of 58 kWh, which gives an autonomy of over 400 km. Moreover, with the 800 V technology, the […]
August 05, 2021
The biggest problem with PHEV cars is the charging discipline of the user. BMW wants to do something about that. In the UK, it is rewarding its PHEV customers for each electric mile driven. BMW has launched its program ‘BMW Points’ in the UK, rewarding PHEV customers for the electric miles they’ve driven with their […]
July 22, 2021
Volkswagen AG delivered more than twice as many electric cars (BEVs) in the first half of 2021 as in the same period last year (+165,2%). The Group sold 170 939 battery-electric cars worldwide by the end of June, 110 991 of them in Q2 of this year alone. In addition, the Group delivered a total […]
July 15, 2021
The dieselgate saga continues: Volkswagen has been condemned in the Netherlands to pay indemnities to 150 000 owners of VW products. Last week, there was a similar verdict in Italy. The consumer organization Stichting Car Claim has been vindicated by the Amsterdam Court. Car Claim sued Volkswagen, software supplier Bosch, VW-importer Pon, and the VW […]
June 23, 2021
Oliver Zipse, CEO of the BMW Group, is defending his strategy to sell only half of its cars with all-electric drive in 2030. Compared to what competitors (like Audi) are putting forward, BMW’s strategy has been categorized as ‘unambitious”. In an interview with the German newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Zipse comments: “If a manufacturer no longer […]
June 18, 2021
Mazda has revealed its new technology and product strategy up to the year 2030. Between 2022 and 2025, the Japanese automaker plans three purely electric models, five plug-in hybrids, and five hybrid models with Toyota technology, based on the ‘Skyactiv Multi-Solution Scalable Architecture. Last year, Mazda introduced its first electric car, the MX-30. In 2025, […]
June 14, 2021
The Swedish car manufacturer Volvo, part of the Chinese Geely Group, will not be present at the 2022 Brussels Motor Show (BMS). Volvo was one of the pioneers in giving motor shows the cold-shoulder. Meanwhile, Febiac CEO Andreas Cremer has confirmed that there will be a 2022 edition of BMS. The Belgian Alain Visser, now […]
June 08, 2021
A mobility expert from the Brussels University VUB pleads for zones in the cities where no SUVs are allowed. The reactions to the proposal are very mitigated. Most of them consider it unfeasible. Mobility expert Eva Van Eeno (VUB) thinks it’s time for action. According to sector federation, Febiac, 48% of the newly registered vehicles […]
June 01, 2021
Charging electric vehicles will be a major challenge in the coming years as fiscal policy measures in particular will increase the sales and thus the use of 100% electric vehicles. Intelligent use of the limited charging infrastructure, but above all a clear understanding of the costs that a charging session will generate, is imperative. Charging […]
May 28, 2021
After the decision of a Dutch court that oil company Shell has to reduce its CO2 emissions by 45% in 2030 (compared to 2019), the fossil fuel companies feel threatened from all sides. Where political decision-makers are failing, justice is taken over. Inside the companies, there is also questioning about the course to follow. Action […]
May 25, 2021
The Dutch province of Utrecht plans to build up to ten hydrogen filling stations by 2025 and to put a total of 1 800 hydrogen-powered Hyzon Motors vehicles into services. The initiative is part of the province’s agreement and overall strategy for infrastructure cooperation supported by the Hyzon Zero Carbon Alliance. EnergyCollective Utrecht Businesses (ECUB), […]
May 20, 2021
The agreement on a new taxation system for company cars provokes a lot of reactions. They come from all kinds of sources, inside and outside the sector. We listed and commented on some of them. Of course, the most fundamental criticism is that the company car’s ‘greening’ will not change much for the underlying problems. […]
May 18, 2021
Today, Skoda launches its first large electric car, the Enyaq iV. It’s no surprise that Skoda delivers this important product with a spacious SUV body that is perfectly comparable in proportions to the Kodiaq, Skoda’s largest SUV model with classic internal combustion engines. The Enyaq iV is built on a completely different platform than its […]
May 11, 2021
At its formation, the so-called Vivaldi coalition forming the Belgian federal government had big plans to ‘green’ the company cars. As of 2026, the fiscally attractive regime for company cars with an internal combustion engine (ICE) would be banned. Now, difficulties and differences arise about the implementation of these measures. For the second time already, […]
May 10, 2021
Last year, Car Pass received mileage readings for the first time from vehicles imported into Belgium from abroad. This revealed that fraud in an adjusted odometer was involved in 2,4% of the imported cars. This is to be compared with the 0,2% registered with non-imported cars. On average, 55 000 km less than the actual […]
April 27, 2021
A few months ago, Hyundai amazed the world with its Ioniq 5. Hyundai has become one of the car manufacturers that features the most current engine technologies without making much noise. And with the Belgian Luc Donckerwolke, the group attracted one of the most influential design gurus. In about 30 years, the Hyundai group has […]
April 23, 2021
For the first time since its existence (starting in 1954), there will be no Tokyo Motor Show in the fall of 2021. The Japanese car manufacturers association JAMA has announced the decision due to the new outbreak of the coronavirus registered in Japan recently. “We decided to annul this year’s Tokyo Motor Show,” announced Akio […]
April 09, 2021
The car industry supplier Punch Powertrain in Sint-Truiden (east of Belgium) is having serious problems again. After 138 people leaving the company last year, another 245 jobs are at stake. The news was issued by the regional newspaper Het Belang van Limburg on Thursday and confirmed to Belga news agency by the metal union ACV […]
March 30, 2021
Ford of Europe’s electrification program will make long-time icon Mondeo disappear at the beginning of next year. The Galaxy and S-Max MPVs will stay in production. Of course, the fact that Ford needs production capacity in its Valencia plant for new electrified engines is not the main reason for Mondeo’s demise. The so-called D-segment sedan […]
March 22, 2021
In June last year, we talked to you about the advent of a new pure electric car from Ford, the Mustang Mach E. Meanwhile, Ford has launched a sportier GT version of this car (to better cope with the Mustang aura?), and the ‘normal’ Mustang Mach E has arrived in the showrooms. We were able […]
March 02, 2021
The Car of the Year 2021 is the new Toyota Yaris. For the second time, Toyota’s bestseller, produced in the north of France (Valenciennes), is elected the most interesting new car in Europe for 2021. A 59-member jury, composed of automotive journalists from 22 European countries, selected the winner from seven models that had made […]
February 23, 2021
2020 has been an ‘annus horribilis’ for Renault. It lost € 8 billion last year and the yearly turnover shrunk by 21,7% to € 43,5 billion. Nevertheless, CEO Luca de Meo sees the light at the end of the tunnel but can’t say exactly yet when this light will shine fully. After Carlos Ghosn’s demise […]
February 18, 2021
The new CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, Thierry Bolloré (ex-Renault), has just revealed a new global strategy for the Indian-owned British carmaker. JLR wants to ‘reimagine’ itself as an all-electric luxury brand from 2025 and strives to become a net-zero carbon business from 2039. Meanwhile, it has also announced to cut 2 000 jobs worldwide. […]
February 16, 2021
In 2012, Opel launched its small SUV, Mokka. In eight years, it sold more than a million of them. The new Mokka lost its X (no 4WD anymore) bit got an e instead, for purely electric. We had the opportunity to drive it. In 2018, an ailing Opel was bought from GM by PSA, and […]
February 12, 2021
Car manufacturer federation Febiac, the federation of car rental companies Renta, and the car sector federation Traxio join forces to create Mobia, a mobility platform that will develop, communicate, defend common views, and provide services to members of the three founding organizations. Mobia doesn’t mean that the three federations will merge; it’s an umbrella structure […]
February 10, 2021
The Dutch charge point locator MultiTankcard and MoveMove not only offer insight into the location of the charge points through their app, but they also indicate the price of recharge so that the consumer can choose the cheapest solution. But shouldn’t we evolve to a system where the price per kWh is shown on the […]
February 08, 2021
The launch of the all-new Volkswagen ID.3, fully electric and based on the dedicated MEB-platform, didn’t run like VW had hoped. Finally, it has appeared on the market, and the first figures suggest that it will be an instant success. We drove the Golf of the next decades. The ID.3 has already caused a lot […]
January 11, 2021
The coming year will see a small avalanche of new Chinese brands on European markets, a lot of them producing electric vehicles. Aiways is one of them, and with a little delay due to corona, the first product, a full-electric SUV called U5, has finally landed. We give you a first impression. The U5 is […]
December 31, 2020
Until now, the major obstacle for the electric car was its price. That may change in 2021. A lot of brands are coming with new, fully electric vehicles at more affordable prices, starting around € 20 000. This should give the EV market a serious boost. Of course, there will be other problems to tackle. […]
December 28, 2020
Finally, there is a deal between the EU and the UK. But behind the sigh of relief, there are also the first analyses that the differences will be minor. The difference won’t be that big, especially not for the UK. Many economic analysts note that the UK will suffer much more than the EU, simply […]
December 22, 2020
The big motor shows of the past have been suffering lately, and the corona pandemic may sound the death knell for them. These shows’ virtual counterparts are popping up everywhere, surfing on the new habits of the corona-struck, confined consumer. To be clear, the pandemic has just been accelerating an already engaged movement of waning […]
December 21, 2020
At a news conference on Thursday last week, Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota’s founder, Kiichiro Toyoda, and now President and CEO of the company, said Japan would run out of electricity in the summer if all cars were running on electric power. The infrastructure needed to support a 100 percent EV fleet would cost […]
December 16, 2020
The energy transition is inevitable. The sooner manufacturers are adapting themselves to it, the better for them. Nevertheless, manufacturers of real luxury cars seem to have many problems to adapt themselves, Porsche being a notable exception. For many of those traditionally-thinking companies, the energy transition won’t be a piece of cake. By the look of […]
December 03, 2020
For a while already, there’s an ongoing rumble at the Volkswagen top. Group CEO Herbert Diess has already been deprived of his Volkswagen responsibility, now his plans for further restructuring of the group are colliding head-on with many other board members. The head of electric development, Thomas Ulbrich, has decided to leave. The slumbering conflict […]
November 10, 2020
In his 2016 election campaign, President Trump made big statements about reviving and restructuring the American car industry. We try to give a short analysis of what happened and what didn’t. In fact, it was President Obama who saved the American car industry back in 2009 after the financial crisis. With big state loans and […]
November 04, 2020
Many car manufacturers are trying online sales. Apart from certain brands, like Tesla, this hasn’t been a big success yet. But the venue of several new brands and the corona pandemic may see this change. For the moment, internet sales are booming. The question is, will it stay like that when things are getting normal […]
November 04, 2020
In March of this year, Belgian car designer Luc Donckerwolke seemed to be leaving Hyundai through the back door. Today, he’s coming back as Chief Creative Officer (CCO), a new prominent position apparently created for him. Donckerwolke resumes his career as Executive Vice president, but his office will now be located at the Hyundai Motor […]
October 27, 2020
The Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) has become the most popular sort of vehicle in the world. Nevertheless, the criticism is increasing as well: too big, too heavy, too polluting, too intimidating, too… What to think about this split? Until now, the market stays predominantly insensitive to these critics. The SUV represented one fifth (20,9%) of […]
October 23, 2020
According to the Swiss bank UBS, the expected battery cost will drop under the ‘magic’ barrier of $100 per kWh by 2022. This will trigger a faster switch to electric vehicles than previously expected. Undoubtedly it will also cause a relentless fight for the production of the heart of an electric car, the battery. Matthias […]
October 20, 2020
As November approaches, many car users think of changing their tires from summer to winter tires. In contrast to the US, where all-season tires are top-rated, the European customer was no fan yet. This seems to be changing due to the warm winters and the increasing quality of the newest all-season propositions. “Many people choose […]
October 15, 2020
Several players in the dealer service and maintenance sector for cars sound the alarm bell. The electrification of the European car park will cost many jobs in the sector because the maintenance of an electric motor is far less complex. The Dutch organization of dealers and repair shops Bovag confirms: “The maintenance needs of an […]
October 13, 2020
With the announcement that the 99th Brussels Motor Show won’t take place in January 2021, one of the last successful shows won’t be there next year. Is there still a place for a traditional motor show in our rapidly changing society? Ten years ago, the hierarchy was still obvious: there was Geneva. Every year, there […]
September 23, 2020
Car analysts all over the world agree that in the future, there will be fewer manufacturers and products because of the increasing costs. Considering the number of different brands, they’re less sure. Creating and repositioning brands has become one of the most important pass-times of the marketeers. An example? Rumors have it that Maserati will […]
September 21, 2020
Last week, the plans of the Vivaldi coalition for a Belgian federal government leaked: one of the items that caused turmoil was the obligation to electrification for new company cars, starting in 2026. Of course, the reactions on this plan went in all directions. We try to list all criticisms and give an overview. The […]
