August 01, 2023
The spirit of Saab might prevail, finally. An unknown investor has probably purchased the NEVS Emily GT project; hope is glimmering for the ill-fabled manufacturer. There is now a slight chance that a purely electric Saab sedan will occupy the streets again. The mismanagement of owner General Motors and the horrendous fumbling of potential overtakers […]
July 31, 2023
Last Friday, the Vietnamese car manufacturer held the groundbreaking ceremony of its electric vehicle factory in Chatham County, North Carolina, its first car plant in the US. It should produce 150 000 cars annually in phase 1 and employ some 7 500 workers by 2025. The planned $4 billion investment was reeled in by North […]
July 31, 2023
After announcing the electric car cooperation between VW and Audi with the Chinese manufacturers Xpeng and SAIC, Group CEO Oliver Blume gave more details. He spoke about the opportunities for the VW brand with the Xpeng cooperation and what Audi plans to do with the SAIC technology. VW’s own PPE and SPP platforms are not […]
July 31, 2023
The Belgian manufacturers association Febiac has lost its communication director (again). Gabriel Goffoy, who came over from BMW Belux to succeed Joost Kaesemans in September 2021, is returning to its old barn to become General Manager of Mini Belux. Goffoy started his career at BMW in 2003 and introduced Mini (the newly created brand under […]
July 28, 2023
A Brussels Court of First Instance has ordered Volkswagen to pay damages to those affected by the cheating software scandal in which it is embroiled. The German carmaker must reimburse them 5% of the purchase price of their car. Consumer organization Test Aankoop/Test Achat (TA) had filed a class action or group claim for this, […]
July 28, 2023
China exported 2,34 million vehicles in the first half of the year, up 73% from last year, according to data released Thursday by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). Exports of new energy vehicles (NEVs) in the first half of the year amounted to 800 000 units, up 105% year-on-year, accounting for 34% of all […]
July 27, 2023
Elia, the operator of Belgium’s high-voltage grid, wants to introduce higher grid tariffs to finance its 15,9 billion euros planned investments, increasing electricity bills for households and businesses. According to Elia, this tariff increase is essential for the vast infrastructure investments the company faces to tackle the energy transition, which is proceeding much faster than […]
July 27, 2023
The first half of 2023 saw an increase in registrations for new vans (LCVs) and trucks compared to 2022, although the pre-corona figures are still out of reach. The market share of electrified commercial vehicles is also growing relatively quickly. The worst of the supply chain issues seems to have passed, as new EU van […]
July 27, 2023
Renault will cease production of its Zoe electric car on 30 March 2024. It was already clear that there would be no new Zoe generation, but now the date has been set for the end of production at the Flins plant. The electric Renault pioneer is making room for a new generation of Renault electric […]
July 27, 2023
The Belgian VUB University (Brussels) is developing a charging technology “to make electric driving more pleasant and efficient”. Researchers at EPOWERS, a research group that works at the VUB MOBI research center, have developed a technology that significantly extends the range of electric vehicles (up to 1 000 km) with a limited number of recharges. […]
July 27, 2023
Seven of the world’s leading carmakers have created an alliance to jointly invest in fast-charging infrastructure for electric cars in North America. BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and Stellantis intend to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles in North America by making EV charging more accessible, reliable, and convenient. Together, they aim to […]
July 27, 2023
The Volkswagen brand has concluded a technological framework agreement for long-term cooperation with the Chinese electric car start-up Xpeng. The Wolfsburg-based company is also taking a stake of about 5% in Xpeng, and the Audi deal with SAIC was also confirmed by the Group. With the new collaboration with Xpeng, Volkswagen wants to further advance […]
July 26, 2023
Stellantis posts strong growth again in the first half of 2023 and sets new records in net revenues, adjusted operational income (AOI), and net profit. Net revenues of €98,4 billion are up 12% compared to H1 2022, primarily due to higher shipments. The adjusted operating income of €14,1 billion is up 11% compared to H1 […]
July 26, 2023
Porsche has followed its sister brand Audi in opening its Charging Lounge, allowing Porsche EV owners to replenish their batteries while enjoying snacks, drinks, and a comfortable lounge. The Charging Lounge also offers quick charging at a reasonable price. Porsche wants to lower the barrier to entry for electric mobility, although this does not mean […]
July 26, 2023
Renault Group and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. today announced that they have entered into the definitive agreements contemplated by the binding framework agreement announced in February 2023. Jean-Dominique Senard, Chairman of The Alliance (Mitsubishi, Nissan, Renault), commented: “The agreements that have been signed today allow us to step into the next chapter of the Alliance. […]
July 26, 2023
Mercedes-Benz is trying to improve its sluggish BEV sales, especially in China, but also in other markets. The answer of CEO Ola Kälenius and his management team is to heighten the investments. “Sales may be slow for the moment; changing strategy would be really dangerous,” he says in an interview with the German Handelsblatt. According […]
July 25, 2023
Alliance partner Mitsubishi is discontinuing its China business. The Japanese carmaker justifies withdrawing from the Chinese market by saying that the shift from internal combustion to electric vehicles in China has hit its existing range, and sales have fallen far short of expectations. Production at the Changsha plant in Hunan province was already halted in […]
July 25, 2023
Stellantis, the French-Italian-American automotive manufacturing corporation, and Samsung SDI, the Korean battery and electronic materials manufacturer, have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a second battery factory in the US. The plant should start production in 2027 with an initial annual production capacity of 34-gigawatt hours (GWh). Last year, in May 2022, both partners […]
July 25, 2023
Two months after it was introduced to the world, the newest generation of the BMW 5 Series started production in BMW’s Dingolfing factory. The combustion-powered model is produced alongside the all-electric i5 thanks to a flexible production process. With the i5, the Dingolfing plant is now producing three electric models, including the iX and i7. […]
July 25, 2023
The JLR Group (previously Jaguar Land Rover) has finally appointed Adrian Mardell as its new permanent CEO. Mardell had already held the post on an interim basis since the resignation of former CEO Thierry Bolloré at the end of 2022. A new chief financial officer has also been appointed. The brand Land Rover is dissolved. […]
July 25, 2023
For weeks already, there have been rumors that VW’s daughter Audi is considering buying an electric car platform from a competitor in China. This comes as the VW Group’s SSP platform accumulates delays, and Audi can’t (and does not want to) wait longer. The company Audi is talking to is the Chinese SAIC Motor Corp. […]
July 24, 2023
Last week, the BMW Group further expanded its R&D footprint in China with the opening of a new R&D Center in Shanghai. China is already home to BMW Group’s largest R&D system outside of Germany, with locations in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, and Nanjing. Based on the concept of open innovation, all of BMW’s R&D functions […]
July 24, 2023
It’s going further downhill with the French hydrogen car fairy tale of racing pilot Olivier Lombard, the Hopium Māchina that once was called the ‘French Tesla of hydrogen’ by the former Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari. The Paris court granted the start-up a judicial recovery procedure for six months, eventually to be extended to twelve. In […]
July 24, 2023
The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimatschutz, or BMWK in German) will increase the budget for the environmental bonus this year. It had initially earmarked €2,1 billion for this purpose in 2023. That will now be increased to at least €2,5 billion. The information comes from a report […]
July 20, 2023
Volvo Cars reported a 39% increase in operating profits, excluding joint ventures and associates, and a corresponding EBIT margin of 6,3% for the second quarter of 2023. Regarding its operational performance during the second quarter, Volvo Cars recorded an increase of 43% versus the same period in 2022. It also saw a solid global sales […]
July 20, 2023
The Tata Group will build its first battery cell factory outside India in the UK. The British government has now officially confirmed what had already become apparent. At the beginning of February, it became known that Tata Motors was looking for a location for its European battery cell factory in Spain or the UK. However, […]
July 19, 2023
The Renault Group is recovering swiftly from the difficult years behind and the problems encountered. Its worldwide sales amounted to 1 133 667 vehicles in the first half of 2023, up 13% versus H1 of 2022. In Europe, Group sales were up 24% in a market up almost 18%. The Group’s sales policy, focused on […]
July 19, 2023
Seat has reconfirmed its wish to keep producing cars in the electric age in its Martorell production facility by announcing a €300 million investment in a new battery plant. This will provide the battery packs for the VW Group’s compact electric models, which Seat will produce in Martorell. Seat is committed to its Martorell production […]
July 19, 2023
It has become somewhat common these days for the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MITT) to leak pictures of future vehicles. The latest is the future Cadillac Optiq, a new entry-level electric SUV that will take place under the Lyriq and be built in China. Expected to go on sale in 2024, it’ll […]
July 19, 2023
“VanMoof on the verge of bankruptcy,” we wrote just a week ago. Last Wednesday, the company was granted a two-month payment postponement by the Amsterdam court, but, in the meantime, the court has declared the Dutch e-bike manufacturer VanMoof bankrupt. Despite their ambitious plans to develop the perfect city bike and “get as many people […]
July 19, 2023
Ford is slashing the price of its F-150 Lightning in the US. Depending on the variant, the electric pickup now costs up to 10 000 dollars less. The new base price for the F-150 Lightning is $49 995. According to the manufacturer, it is “taking advantage of increased plant capacity, continued work on scaling production […]
July 19, 2023
In June 2023, the EU car market grew by 17,8% to 1 million registered units, according to the figures of the European car manufacturers association ACEA. In the first half of 2023, new EU car registrations increased significantly (+17,9%), reaching 5,4 million units. The growth in June can be attributed to the region’s rebound from […]
July 18, 2023
Ford’s electric cross-over Mustang Mach-E is about to get a rally-inspired version unveiled in a camo suit at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Ford promises the freedom and fun of the regular model, with the possibility of venturing off-road, although no specifications have yet been revealed. The Goodwood Festival of Speed has seen its fair […]
July 18, 2023
According to an official Tesla tweet, the ‘first Cybertruck’ electric pickup was built at the Texas gigafactory this week. Whether that means the company is ahead of production schedule or this is, just a first unit to fine-tune upcoming volume production isn’t clear. Normally, the first deliveries were scheduled for ‘around the end of the […]
July 18, 2023
Nissan will invest 100 billion yen (± €650 million) in Ampere, the future electric daughter of the Renault Group, planned to go IPO at the beginning of 2024. It will own less than 10% of the new company. According to the Japanese daily newspaper Yomijuri, the investment amount has been decided and will be announced […]
July 18, 2023
The automotive design house Makkina created a new fully electric concept car, the TR25, to remember the British sports car brand Triumph and its iconic TR2 record breaker. Unveiled in London on Thursday last week, the TR25 created by Makkina is a celebration of the great British roadster, paying homage to the record-breaking ‘Jabbeke’ Triumph […]
July 17, 2023
Volkswagen Group increases its BEV deliveries by 48% in the year’s first half. Also, it ups its total sales worldwide to 4,37 million (+13%) but stays prudent on forecasts because of the slower results in China and diminishing orders for BEVs in the future. Meanwhile, there’s an actual ‘musical chair’ going on at the top […]
July 17, 2023
Federal Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) wants a total ban on night flights from 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. for Zaventem airport. As expected, many political parties, concerned companies, and interest groups reacted sharply and negatively to Gilkinet’s striking proposal to do away with the 16 000-night flights that currently take off from Brussels Airport. […]
July 17, 2023
Hyundai has unveiled the high-performance version of its Ioniq 5 electric model at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The launch of the new electric Ioniq 5 N is expected in the second quarter of 2024. The basic concept of the Ioniq 5 N and the Kia EV6 GT is the same: both E-GMP models rely […]
July 17, 2023
Mazda Motor Corp. will launch its first electric-vehicle-only model in 2027, the new CEO Masahiro Moro said in a recent interview in Tokyo, to speed up its electrification efforts and catch up with global rivals. Mazda already has a BEV; in 2021, it started selling an electric model of the compact MX-30 sports utility vehicle, […]
July 14, 2023
In a proposal announced on Thursday, the European Commission said it wants to ban scrap cars that are not roadworthy from being sold to countries outside the European Union. The Commission said the prohibition is part of plans to reduce carbon emissions, create more jobs, and improve access to raw materials like steel and aluminum […]
July 14, 2023
MG Motor is reacting to the price reduction for the VW ID.3 in China and has lowered the price of its competitor model MG Mulan (MG4 in Europe). For the time being, until the end of July, Chinese customers will receive a discount of 24 000 yuan (± €3 000) for the compact electric car. […]
July 14, 2023
Sixteen carmakers committed at Shanghai Auto Forum to fend off the ongoing price war in China. Among the underwriters was also the brand that kickstarted the spiral: Tesla. The agreement was an intention of good faith, not legally binding. Two days later, the deal was withdrawn, without any publicity, by the Chinese Association of Automotive […]
July 14, 2023
Porsche marks the 30th anniversary of the famed Goodwood Festival of Speed with the Porsche Vision 357 Speedster. The new concept car is the sister model to the closed Porsche Vision 357, with which the sports car manufacturer launched its own anniversary-year celebrations recently. In design terms, an homage to the 356, technologically, the all-electric […]
July 13, 2023
The all-new Renault Scénic E-Tech Electric will make its world premiere during the IAA Mobility 2023 event in Munich on September 4. The car starts to reveal its final silhouette as a fleet of pre-production cars will be driven on open roads this summer by Renault engineers. Made in the Douai ElectriCity factory, the pre-production […]
July 13, 2023
The first electric truck built in the Volvo Trucks Ghent plant in Belgium rolled off the assembly line on Wednesday. Katoen Natie is the first Belgian client to use this Volvo FH Electric, while the assembly line will get up to speed after the summer break. Volvo has been building electric trucks in its Tuve […]
July 13, 2023
The British sports car manufacturer Caterham has presented Project V, a lightweight, fully electric coupé concept car. The aim is for a market launch of the series version in late 2025 or early 2026 at prices under £80 000 (€93 000). Unlike the electric version of the Caterham Seven, which the company presented as a […]
July 12, 2023
‘Dacia goes extreme’ is the new slogan of Renault’s daughter Dacia. ‘Extreme’ is, in fact, the new top-of-line version for all Dacias, but the Spring gets a second, more powerful variant with it. We drove it on Belgian roads. Until now, the Dacia Spring, the cheapest EV on the Belgian market, had a 188 kg […]
July 12, 2023
Renault recently gave a glimpse into readying the production version of its next-generation EV model. The Renault 5 is on a prototype production run in a ‘secret and high-tech miniature plant’. As a part of the brand’s Technocenter engineering complex near Paris, the location itself is not so secret. Created 25 years ago, the Global […]
July 12, 2023
Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars more than doubled its sales of battery-electric cars in the second quarter to 56 300 units (+123%). This growth was mainly due to demand in three model series. The van division also posted gains in Q2, but not as strong as the passenger car business. With these 56 300 fully electric vehicles […]
July 11, 2023
To mark the 150th anniversary at the Audi site in Neckarsulm, twelve brand apprentices have electrified the iconic, classic EP4. The ‘E’ in the name of this futuristic one-off stands for the electric drive, and ‘P4’ refers to the NSU Prinz 4, a model that the former NSU Motorenwerke brand built in Neckarsulm from 1961 […]
July 11, 2023
Following the framework agreement announced in November 2022, Geely Holding Group and Renault Group have signed today a binding 50/50 joint venture agreement to launch a new powertrain technology company. It aims to become the global leader in developing, manufacturing, and supplying best-in-class hybrid powertrains and highly efficient ICE powertrains. Aramco, which signed a letter […]
July 10, 2023
VW plans to put self-driving cars on the streets of Austin, the capital of Texas, later this month. It is the first time that the company is tackling such a project in the USA. A total of ten units of the VW ID. Buzz with autonomous driving technology will be deployed. Tests in Germany are […]
July 10, 2023
Dutch contract car manufacturer Nedcar says it has signed a new declaration of intent with a new non-disclosed client to assemble or build cars again in Born near the Belgian border from 2026 on. That would provide 3 000 jobs in the de long term. But het 1 800 lay-offs scheduled in November this year […]
July 10, 2023
In the battle for the top spot in the German electric car market, Tesla was ahead again in the first half of the year, but its lead over the Volkswagen (VW) brand is shrinking. Analysts see a price war coming up in Europe on the EV market, also as a result of the Chinese price […]
July 10, 2023
The BMW Group delivered 88 289 fully electric vehicles of the BMW and Mini brands to customers in the second quarter. This means the company again succeeded in more than doubling BEV sales compared to last year’s period (+117,5%). Plug-in hybrid registrations, on the other hand, are falling behind at the moment. According to the […]
July 10, 2023
Mercedes-Benz just became the first German carmaker to join the NACS or North American Charging System initiated by Tesla in the U.S. The company will integrate it into its EV fleet in the US and Canada in 2025. At the same time, Mercedes is sticking to its plans for its own HPC network. Mercedes-Benz follows […]
July 07, 2023
The final Ford Fiesta will roll off the production line today, Friday, 7 July, following the company’s decision late last year to axe the popular B-segment car after 47 years and eight generations. The final two Fiestas will remain with Ford. One will join the firm’s international heritage fleet, based at the Cologne, Germany, plant […]
July 07, 2023
In November, Mercedes-Benz will bring the CLE on the market, a Coupe that uses the technology of both the C- and (recently updated) E-Class. Later (in 2024), there will also be a cabriolet version and a PHEV variant. Although coupes and cabriolets seem to be an extinguishing species in car land, premium manufacturers like Mercedes […]
July 06, 2023
Car sector federation Traxio has been studying the latest registrations (first six months of 2023) of new and second-hand cars in Belgium and concludes there’s a real (double) schism in the market between B2B and B2C and between regions. 65% of all new cars have been registered as B2B company cars (companies, leasing, VAT liable), […]
