MADRID, Aug 31 (Reuters) – French carmaker Renault (RENA.PA), like several of its rivals, will extend partial stoppages at its three assembly plants in Spain to the end of the year because of the global shortage of microchips, a spokeswoman for Renault Spain said on Tuesday.

The company plans to halt production at its plant in Palencia, where it assembles its Kadjar and Megane models, for as many as 61 days and its factory in Valladolid, where it makes Capture SUV crossovers, for up to 40 days, she said.

The engine plant in Valladolid could cease producing for as many as 17 days over the period.

Continue reading “Renault to extend Spanish output curbs owing to chip shortage”

Aug 31 (Reuters) – India’s biggest car maker Maruti Suzuki (MRTI.NS) warned on Tuesday its vehicle production in September will tumble by 60% due to a chip shortage, joining a slew of global automakers facing a pandemic-led paucity of critical components.

Maruti had flagged a partial production impact in August, but the output cut in its plants in the states of Haryana and Gujarat for September shows the problem is intensifying for Japanese automaker Suzuki Ltd’s (6785.T) flagship arm.

Total production volume in September across the two plants could be around 40% of normal output, Maruti said in a regulatory filing. The company produced 170,719 cars in July and 165,576 in June.

Continue reading “Maruti production to halve in Sept as chip shortage hits India’s top car maker”

Aug 30 (Reuters) – Uber Technologies Inc (UBER.N) on Monday proposed a plan for a flexible benefits fund for app-based ride-hail and food delivery drivers in Canada under which all gig industry players would share data on workers’ hours and earnings.

Under the preliminary proposal outlined in a company blog post, the fund would provide gig workers with cash benefits to put toward a retirement or life insurance plan, or to pay for educational or dental and health benefits not covered by Canada’s universal healthcare system.

The benefits fund would be enabled by Canada’s provincial governments, Uber said in the blog post without providing further details, but managed by ride-hail and delivery companies.

Continue reading “Uber proposes industry-wide gig worker benefits model in Canada”

NEW DELHI/HONG KONG, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Indian ride-sharing giant Ola plans to raise up to $1 billion through an initial public offering (IPO) and is finalising banks to advise on the fund-raise, three sources told Reuters, becoming the latest startup to join the capital markets boom.

Ola, backed by Japan’s Softbank Group (9984.T), has roped in Citigroup (C.N), two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. It has also brought Kotak Mahindra (KTKM.NS) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) on board, said two other people familiar with the plans.

The company, which competes with Uber Technologies (UBER.N), is also in talks with Bank of America (BAC.N) and JP Morgan (JPM.N), one of the people said.

Continue reading “Softbank-backed ride-sharing company Ola readies for up to $1 bln India IPO -sources”

BENGALURU, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Shares of Indian auto parts suppliers rose as much as 14% on Monday following a report electric-vehicle maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) was in talks with at least three companies to source critical parts for its planned entry into the country.

Tesla, which is looking to set up a factory in India if it is successful with imported vehicles, is holding early talks with some companies for the supply of components such as instrument panels, windshields, differential gears, brakes and power seats, the Economic Times reported on Sunday.

Bharat Forge Ltd (BFRG.NS), Sona BLW Precision Forgings Ltd (SONB.NS) and Sandhar Technologies Ltd (SNTL.NS) are understood to be among the Indian companies already supplying components to Tesla, according to the report. Shares of the three Indian firms rose as much as 6.2% to 13.7% on Monday.

Continue reading “Indian auto parts makers’ shares gain on report of talks with Tesla”

Aug 30 (Reuters) – Toyota Motor (7203.T) said on Monday it would resume operations of its self-driving e-Palette pods at the Tokyo Paralympic Games village with greater operator control and more safety staff to ensure they did not hit any more people.

The e-Palettes were halted after one of the vehicles collided with and injured a visually impaired Japanese athlete at a junction last week, prompting a YouTube video apology from Toyota Chief Executive Akio Toyoda.

“The vehicle’s sensor detected the pedestrian crossing and activated the automatic brake, and the operator also activated the emergency brake. The vehicle and pedestrians, however, came into contact before it came to a complete halt,” Toyota said in a statement on Monday.

Continue reading “Toyota to restart self-driving Olympic village vehicles with more safety staff”

OTTAWA/MEXICO CITY, Aug 27 (Reuters) – Canada has joined Mexico in seeking formal consultation with the United States over the interpretation of content rules for automobiles set out in the North American trade pact, Mexico and Canada said on Friday.

Mexico on Aug. 20 requested the formal consultation over the interpretation and application of tougher content rules for cars under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), after voicing disagreement in May over the issue in a virtual meeting when it cited differences with the United States’ methods.

Continue reading “Canada joins Mexico in seeking consultation with U.S. over USMCA content rules”

Aug 26 (Reuters) – U.S. auto retail sales are expected to fall in August, as the global semiconductor shortage coupled with the fast spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus squeezed inventory at dealerships, consultants J.D. Power and LMC Automotive said.

Retail sales of new vehicles are expected to fall 14.3% to 987,100 in August from a year earlier, they said in a report released on Thursday.

The chip shortage continues to weigh on manufacturing activity, with automakers cutting production despite strong demand for personal transportation during the COVID-19 crisis.

Continue reading “U.S. August auto sales to fall as supply constraints continue – J.D. Power, LMC Automotive”

BEIJING, Aug 27 (Reuters) – Zeekr, the premium electric vehicle brand by Geely, said on Friday it raised $500 million in its first external funding from investors including Intel (INTC.O), battery maker CATL (300750.SZ) and online entertainment firm Bilibili (9626.HK).

Zeekr said investors would jointly hold a 5.6% stake in the company, valuing it at around $9 billion.

The company makes the Zeekr 001 model in the eastern city of Ningbo and is expected to start delivering them later this year. It aims to sell 650,000 vehicles a year by 2025.

Continue reading “Geely’s EV brand Zeekr raises $500 mln in first external funding”

Aug 26 (Reuters) – Public support for stronger measures to require COVID vaccinations is strong, according to a new Reuters/IPSOS poll, but for Detroit automakers the debate over vaccination policy is far from over.

General Motors Co (GM.N) said on Thursday it has required its U.S. salaried employees to report whether they have received COVID-19 shots, the first such action by one of Detroit’s “Big Three” automakers.

GM said the information will help “determine when GM should relax or strengthen certain COVID-19 safety protocols as recommended by the CDC and OSHA, such as mask wearing, physical distancing and facility occupancy rates,” referring to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration.

Continue reading “Detroit highlights the tension over COVID vaccine mandates”

NEW DELHI, Aug 25 (Reuters) – India is open to discussing a change in tax rates on automobiles, the country’s revenue secretary said on Wednesday, indicating receptiveness over negotiation on a long-standing request from automakers for lower taxes.

India’s federal goods and services tax (GST) rate on automobiles, including cars, motorbikes and trucks, is as high as 28%, on top of which other taxes are imposed by states.

Company executives say this is making vehicles unaffordable for many buyers, especially as high raw material prices and upgrades to meet tougher safety and emission rules have already boosted prices.

Continue reading “India revenue secretary says open to ‘tinkering’ tax rates on automobiles”

DETROIT, Aug 25 (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co (F.N) will delay bringing most workers back to offices until January, and is still considering whether to require employees to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, the company’s chief people officer told Reuters.

Ford is joining a growing number of large employers that are delaying plans to reopen offices as the Delta variant of the coronavirus sweeps through many countries where the automaker does business. Ford said most office workers in North America, Latin America and International Markets groups will not come back to offices before January. The company is reassessing return to work plans every three to four months.

Continue reading “Ford delays a return to offices, weighs vaccine mandate”

LONDON, Aug 26 (Reuters) – British car output fell to its lowest July level since 1956 as a global shortage of semi-conductor chips and staff having to self-isolate due to COVID-19 hit the sector, a trade industry body said on Thursday.

Volumes dropped by an annual 37.6% to 53,438 vehicles last month, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which also blamed the timing of summer factory shutdowns.

As cases rose last month, hundreds of thousands of people were being “pinged” by the National Health Service’s contact-tracing app and instructed to self-isolate, although it has since been tweaked to reduce the numbers contacted.

Continue reading “UK car output falls to lowest July level since 1950s”

TAIPEI, Aug 24 (Reuters) – Taiwan is doing all it can to address the global shortage of semiconductors, Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua said on Tuesday after talks with the newly-appointed de facto U.S. ambassador in Taipei, a problem that has idled some auto production lines.

Democratic U.S. senators from Michigan and Ohio last week asked the Taiwanese government to help address the shortage, given that the island is a major semiconductor producer and seen as central to efforts to resolve the problem.

Wang said the top U.S. diplomat in Taiwan, Sandra Oudkirk, had raised the issue of chip shortages during a meeting on Monday.

Continue reading “Taiwan seeks again to reassure U.S. over tackling chip shortage”

Aug 24 (Reuters) – Akira Yoshino, a co-winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work on lithium-ion batteries, can take credit for the upheaval in both the automotive and technology industries.

Lithium-ion batteries have provided the first serious competition in a century to fossil fuels and combustion engines for transportation. Now an honorary fellow at Asahi Kasei, the Japanese chemical firm where he has worked for nearly 50 years, Yoshino sees more disruption ahead as transportation and digital technology become one industry, sharing lithium battery technology.

Yoshino spoke with Reuters about about the next generation of electric vehicle batteries, the potential for shared autonomous electric vehicles that can charge themselves, the prospects for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and the possibility that Apple could lead the convergence of the automotive and information technology industries in future mobility.

Here is an edited transcript:

Continue reading “Battery pioneer Akira Yoshino on Tesla, Apple and the electric future”

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 24 (Reuters) – Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Waymo has started taking a few San Franciscans on rides in its self-driving sport utility vehicles and hopes to open the robotaxis to anyone in the city in less than the three years it took to launch in its only other market.

Waymo’s announcement on Tuesday of its status and plans in San Francisco, a small peninsula of hills, trolleys, bicycles and narrow streets, shows the length that remains before driverless transport becomes commonplace.

The company’s all-electric Jaguar I-PACE SUVs initially are serving the more residential western and southern portions of the city, including Richmond and Bernal Heights. Operators are in driver’s seats with hands on their knees – but prepared to steer in an emergency.

Continue reading “Google self-driving spinoff Waymo begins testing with public in San Francisco”

BEIJING, Aug 24 (Reuters) – China’s Changan (000625.SZ) aims to sell 3 million vehicles a year in 2025, and 4.5 million annually in 2030, its chairman Zhu Huarong said on Tuesday.

Zhu said 35% of its sales in 2025 will be new energy vehicles (NEVs), including battery electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Sixty percent of its sales in 2030 will be NEVs.

Sales outside China will account for 30% of its business in 2030, Zhu added. Changan, which operates a joint venture with Ford Motor (F.N), sold 2 million vehicles last year.

Continue reading “Chinese automaker Changan aims to sell 3 million cars annually in 2025”

TOKYO/BEIJING, Aug 24 (Reuters) – Japanese automaker Mazda Motor Corp (7261.T) said on Tuesday it and two Chinese partners have agreed to form a new venture in which it will have a 47.5% stake.

State-owned Chongqing Changan Automobile (000625.SZ) will also hold 47.5% of the new joint venture, Changan Mazda Automobile Co Ltd (CMA). FAW will own the remaining 5%.

“The three companies aim to utilise every strategic and managerial opportunity in the new joint investment company and strive to make its business and management system optimal to adapt to the needs of the expanding Chinese market,” Mazda said in a statement.

Continue reading “Mazda restructures China car joint venture with Changan, FAW”

TOKYO, Aug 24 (Reuters) – Asia’s robust economic recovery from last year’s coronavirus low is losing momentum as a surge in COVID-19 cases sees shops empty again and factories close, dimming prospects for corporate profit growth after a blockbuster half year.

The rapid spread of the highly infectious Delta variant of the novel coronavirus and low vaccination rates have caught much of the region off-guard, especially in emerging markets, even as economies in Europe and North America reopen.

Continue reading “Delta blow knocks wind out of Asia’s economic recovery”

FREMONT, Calif., Aug 23 (Reuters) – Self-driving startups like Cruise and Pony.ai have begun testing their driverless cars in some parts of California in the past year, with an additional feature: Human operators.

While there is no driver behind the wheel, the passenger seat is occupied by a safety operator who “has a red button that can stop the vehicle just in case anything happens,” Pony.ai CEO James Peng told Reuters.

The operator will be removed next year when Pony.ai, whose investors include Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), plans to deploy its driverless ride-hailing vehicles in certain areas of California. Still, a remote operator will monitor vehicles and provide guidance when the vehicles run into trouble, Peng said.

Continue reading “A secret weapon for self-driving car startups: Humans”

STOCKHOLM/BEIJING, Aug 23 (Reuters) – AB Volvo said on Monday it had struck a deal to buy a heavy duty truck subsidiary of Jiangling Motors Corp (JMC) (000550.SZ) for about 1.1 billion Swedish crowns ($125.7 million) to make trucks in the world’s biggest vehicle market.

The acquired business includes a manufacturing site in China’s northern city of Taiyuan. Volvo said it aimed to start production of its new heavy duty Volvo FH, Volvo FM and Volvo FMX trucks there at the end of next year.

The plant will have an annual production capacity of 15,000 trucks within a few years, with the potential to increase capacity further, Volvo said.

Continue reading “AB Volvo buys Chinese truck business for about $125.7 million”

Aug 23 (Reuters) – General Motors Co (GM.N) has expanded the recall of its Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles due to a risk of fire from the pouch-type lithium-ion battery cells made by South Korea’s LG. read more

The recall, the second major one involving batteries made by LG Chem’s (051910.KS) battery unit LG Energy Solution (LGES) underscores the challenges facing battery firms in making a stable product to power electric cars.

HOW DOES A LITHIUM-ION BATTERY WORK?

Cells come in different shapes and sizes, but most have three key elements: Electrodes, electrolyte and separator.

Electrodes store the lithium. The electrolyte carries the lithium ions between electrodes. The separator keeps the positive electrode from coming in contact with the negative electrode.

Continue reading “Explainer: Are lithium-ion batteries in EVs a fire hazard?”

• GM expands Bolt EV recall over fire risk

• Battery supplier parent LG Chem shares drop nearly 10%

• Recall may delay LG Chem battery unit IPO -analyst

SEOUL, Aug 23 (Reuters) – LG Chem Ltd (051910.KS) shares closed down 11.1% on Monday after General Motors Co (GM.N) said it would recall an extra 73,000 Chevrolet Bolt cars that use the South Korean firm’s batteries, months after a similar recall by Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS).

GM on Friday expanded its recall of Bolt electric vehicles (EVs) due to fire risk from what it called battery manufacturing defects, saying the recall would cost $1 billion and that it would seek reimbursement from LG. read more

Continue reading “S.Korea’s LG Chem shares dive on GM electric car recall”

WASHINGTON, Aug 21 (Reuters) – General Motors Co (GM.N) said on Friday it would take a hit of $1 billion to expand the recall of its Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles due to the risk of fires from the high-voltage battery pack – a blow for the largest U.S. automaker as it seeks to ramp up EV sales.

The Detroit company also said it would indefinitely halt sales of the EVs due to the issue and will seek reimbursement from battery supplier LG. The latest recall covers 73,000 vehicles from model years 2019 through 2022.

“The reserves and ratio of cost to the recall will be decided depending on the result of the joint investigation looking into the root cause, currently being held by GM, LG Electronics and LG Energy Solution,” LG said in a statement, referring to its subsidiaries.

Continue reading “GM expands Chevy Bolt EV recall for fire risk, will take $1 billion hit”

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI, Aug 20 (Reuters) – Embattled Chinese property developer Evergrande Group (3333.HK) is in talks with smartphone maker Xiaomi (1810.HK) and Shenzhen state-backed investment firms as it looks to sell part of a 65% stake in its electric vehicle (EV) unit, three sources said.

China’s central bank, banking and insurance regulator summoned executives of Evergrande to a meeting on Thursday and issued a rare warning that the company ought to reduce its debt risks and prioritise stability. read more

The Evergrande New Energy Vehicle (NEV) Group (0708.HK) had a market capitalisation of $12.5 billion on Thursday and one of the sources said the consortium is looking to buy a significant minority stake.

Continue reading “EXCLUSIVE China Evergrande in talks with Xiaomi consortium to sell EV unit stake-sources”

MEXICO CITY, Aug 19 (Reuters) – Workers at a General Motors Co (GM.N) pickup-truck plant in central Mexico have voted to scrap their collective contract, opening the door for them to oust one of Mexico’s largest labor organizations as their union under a new trade deal.

The vote, with safeguards agreed upon by Mexico and the United States to ensure a fair vote, was the first test of labor rules under an accord that replaced the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The outcome marks a defeat for one of the most powerful unions in Mexico while representing an opening for workers to freely choose independent groups they feel will best fight for their interests.

Continue reading “GM workers in Mexico defeat union in first test of U.S. trade deal”

By Carl O’donnell

Aug 18 (Reuters) – The U.S. government said on Wednesday it plans to make COVID-19 vaccine booster shots widely available to all Americans starting on Sept. 20 as infections rise from the Delta variant of the coronavirus.

The White House is prepared to offer a third booster shot starting on that date to all Americans who completed their initial inoculation at least eight months ago, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.

The booster shots initially will be given primarily to healthcare workers, nursing home residents and older people, all of whom were among the first groups to be vaccinated in late 2020 and early 2021, the department said.

Continue reading “U.S. to start offering COVID-19 vaccine booster doses in September”

Aug 17 (Reuters) – A cybersecurity flaw in a software designed by BlackBerry Ltd (BB.TO) could put at risk cars and medical equipment that use it and expose highly sensitive systems to attackers, the U.S. drugs regulator and a federal agency said on Tuesday.

The warning came after the Canadian company disclosed that its QNX Real Time Operating System (QNX RTOS) has a vulnerability that could allow an attacker to execute an arbitrary code or flood a server with traffic until it crashes or gets paralyzed.

The software is used by automakers including Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), BMW (BMWG.DE) and Ford Motor (F.N) in many critical functions including the Advanced Driver Assistance System.

Continue reading “BlackBerry software flaw could impact cars, medical devices – U.S. agencies”

MEXICO CITY, Aug 18 (Reuters) – Volkswagen AG’s (VOWG_p.DE) Mexico unit said on Wednesday that it had agreed with a workers’ union to a 5.5% salary increase.

The deal with the Independent Union of Volkswagen Automotive Industry Workers (SITIAVW), also included a 1% increase to workers’ savings funds, the company said in a statement.

The agreement was reached in “an environment of challenges, where the automotive industry struggles to keep its recovery going after more than a year of the coronavirus pandemic, and in the face of the semiconductor (chip) shortage,” Volkswagen said.

Continue reading “Volkswagen’s Mexico unit says strikes deal with union for 5.5% salary rise”

BICESTER, England, Aug 17 (Reuters) – Electric car and van startups racing to become the next Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) all want to avoid Elon Musk’s journey through “manufacturing hell.”

But electric vehicle firms such as UK van company Arrival SA (47K.F) and Fisker Inc (FSR.N) are taking very different roads to overcome the challenges of profitable mass production that almost broke Tesla.

A few have found investors willing to hand over billions to fund their journey. Rivian has raised around $10.5 billion from Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), Ford Motor Co (F.N) and others as it ramps up production to build electric vans, pickups and SUVs.

Continue reading “EV startups hunt for low-cost roads to mass production”

SILAO, Mexico, Aug 17 (Reuters) – General Motors (GM.N) employee Mari says that for the past decade, she has felt powerless to demand higher pay at the plant in central Mexico that cranks out hundreds of thousands of profitable pickup trucks annually.

But on Tuesday and Wednesday, the plant’s nearly 6,500 unionized workers are to vote on what Mari and many coworkers see as a historic opportunity to oust their union, which they say protects the company’s interests over their own.

If workers reject the Miguel Trujillo Lopez union, it would open the door for them to bring in new representation.

Continue reading “GM workers’ historic vote in Mexico tests new trade deal”

BEIJING, Aug 17 (Reuters) – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) is hiring managers for legal and external relations teams in China, according to a job post on its Wechat account, as the electric-car maker faces public scrutiny in the country over safety and customer service complaints.

U.S.-headquartered Tesla, which is making electric Model 3 sedans and Model Y sport-utility vehicles in Shanghai, is hiring external relation managers in several Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, according to the post.

The job advertisement did not go into details of external relation positions, but separate posts showed the managers will handle government relations as well.

Continue reading “Tesla expands legal, external relations workforce in China”

WASHINGTON, Aug 17 (Reuters) – Production at U.S. factories surged in July, boosted by an acceleration in motor vehicle output as auto makers either pared or canceled annual retooling shutdowns to work around a global semiconductor shortage.

Manufacturing output jumped 1.4% last month after falling 0.3% in June, the Federal Reserve said on Tuesday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast manufacturing production rising 0.6%.

Continue reading “U.S. manufacturing production accelerates on autos in July”

CHENNAI, Aug 17 (Reuters) – An Indian arbitrator has asked Renault-Nissan to pay its 3,542 workers at its southern Indian plant an average of over 7,100 Indian rupees ($95.52) per month in additional wages as interim relief, according to a copy of the order reviewed by Reuters.

Workers at the Renault-Nissan plant in Chennai filed an industrial arbitration suit demanding 20,000 rupees as a monthly interim settlement after the expiry of a previous wage agreement in March 2019.

The consortium had agreed to pay on an average 2,250 rupees every month ending March 2021.

Continue reading “Indian arbitrator asks Renault-Nissan to pay workers $9.5 mln interim dues”

WASHINGTON, Aug 16 (Reuters) – U.S. auto safety regulators said Monday they had opened a formal safety probe into Tesla Inc’s (TSLA.O) driver assistance system Autopilot in 765,000 U.S. vehicles built since 2014 after a series of crashes involving emergency vehicles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said that since January 2018 it had identified 11 crashes in which Tesla models “have encountered first responder scenes and subsequently struck one or more vehicles involved with those scenes.”

Tesla shares fell 5% on the news.

After investigating, NHTSA could opt to take no action, or it could demand a recall, which might effectively impose limits on how, when and where Autopilot operates. Any restrictions could narrow the competitive gap between Tesla’s system and similar advanced driver assistance systems offered by established automakers.

Continue reading “U.S. opens probe into Tesla’s Autopilot over emergency vehicle crashes”