Source : PTI | New Delhi: Autonomous driving technology startup Minus Zero has entered into an alliance with commercial vehicle makerAshok Leyland for autonomous trucking solutions. The initial focus of this collaboration will be on developing tailored autonomous trucking solutions for ports, factory operations, and corporate campuses, the company said in a statement.

Future endeavours include expanding into hub-to-hub applications and long-haul trucking, subject to evolving regulatory frameworks surrounding autonomous driving, it added. Continue reading “Minus Zero, Ashok Leyland join hands for autonomous trucking solutions”

Source : PTI | Jindal Stainless on Tuesday said it will supply high-end stainless steel grade to JBM Auto for manufacturing of 500 lightweight electric buses. Under a partnership with JBM Auto, it will provide JT Tubes, made up of low-carbon, chromium-manganese austenitic stainless steel to the e-bus maker, Jindal Stainless Ltd (JSL) said in a statement.

Jindal Stainless has partnered with JBM Auto to roll out over 500 energy-efficient electric buses. JT Tubes has three times the strength of the carbon steel currently used to fabricate buses, according to the statement. Continue reading “Jindal Stainless to supply special stainless steel grade to JBM Auto”

Source : PTI | German automaker Audi plans to roll out over 20 new models by the end of 2025 across markets, Audi AG CEO Gernot Dollner said on Tuesday. The company also plans to electrify all core segments by 2027.

The automaker has also lined up a capex of EUR 41 billion for the period between 2024-2028.

Audi AG will invest EUR 11.5 billion in the development of ICE (internal combustion engine), PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) and other segments and EUR 29.5 billion for BEV (battery electric vehicles) and digitisation. Continue reading “Audi to drive in over 20 new models by 2025-end: CEO Gernot Dollner”

Source : PTI | New Delhi: Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd on Tuesday said it is looking to install 8,500 chargers for electric vehicles (EVs) across apartment blocks in the suburbs of the financial capital. The Adani group company said it has launched what it calls the “share charge” initiative, under which multiple vehicle owners can use the same charging infrastructure.

Vehicle owners can schedule charging sessions, monitor usage, and pay directly through a mobile app as part of the initiative, as per a statement. Continue reading “Adani Electricity aims to instal 8,500 EV chargers in suburban Mumbai”

Source : PTI | Vietnam’s electric car maker VinFast Auto on Monday said India’s new electric vehicle policy that provides import duty concessions for companies setting up manufacturing units in the country with a minimum investment of USD 500 million will allow it to introduce a wide variety of eco-friendly premium-quality SUVs at inclusive prices. The Indian government’s new electric vehicle (EV) scheme aims to drive large investments in manufacturing, create competencies and upskilling, set up a robust supply chain and offer consumers world-class, zero-tailpipe emission vehicles, VinFast India CEO Pham Sanh Chau said in a statement.

“This forward-looking policy helps us introduce a wide variety of smart, green, premium-quality SUVs, at inclusive prices, along with outstanding aftersales policies,” he added. Continue reading “India’s new EV policy to help launch many eco-friendly premium-quality SUVs: VinFast Auto”

(Reuters) – Daimler Truck set new ambitious targets for its bus division on Monday, now guiding for adjusted return on sales to rise to 8% from next year and to 9% by 2030.

Last year, the bus division’s adjusted return on sales recovered to 4.7% after weak sales during the pandemic. Continue reading “Daimler Buses aims for ambitious margin target from 2025”

BEIJING, (Reuters) – Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD launched on Monday a new version of its Destroyer 07 hybrid car at a starting price 11.3% lower than its predecessor, Reuters calculations showed. Continue reading “China’s BYD launches new version of Destroyer 07 hybrid at lower starting price”

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Monday it has opened an investigation into a recent Ford Mustang Mach-E fatal crash in San Antonio, Texas, where authorities suspect an advanced driver assistance system was in use.

On Friday, the National Transportation Safety Board opened a separate investigation into the Feb. 24 crash, saying initial information indicated the Ford struck the rear of a Honda CR-V that was stationary in a traffic lane on Interstate Highway 10. Continue reading “US agency probes driver assistance system use in fatal Ford crash”

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Workers at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga, Tennessee, assembly plant are seeking an election to join the United Auto Workers union, setting up a critical test for UAW President Shawn Fain’s unprecedented campaign to expand the union’s reach to foreign-owned automakers in the southern United States.

The UAW said a supermajority of eligible workers at the VW plant have signed union cards in about three months. The workers have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seeking a vote to join the union. It would be the third time in 10 years that the UAW has sought to represent VW Chattanooga workers. Continue reading “UAW says workers at VW Tennessee plant file for union election”

(Reuters) – Fisker said on Monday it would pause production of its electric vehicles for six weeks and raise up to $150 million in funding by selling convertible notes after missing an interest payment, as the startup tries to navigate a cash crunch.

The company added that none of its Ocean SUVs were produced in January, while its manufacturing partner Magna’s Austrian unit made about 1,000 vehicles between Feb. 1 and March 15. Continue reading “EV startup Fisker to raise funds, pause production after missing interest payment”

HANOI, (Reuters) – The founder of Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast on Monday launched an EV charging stations company, V-Green, which he said would prioritise supporting VinFast vehicles globally.

V-Green, of which billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong holds a 90% stake, will operate as a global partner, spearheading the creation of a comprehensive charging network, he said a statement. Continue reading “Founder of EV maker VinFast launches global charging stations venture”

(Reuters) – Daimler Truck set new ambitious targets for its bus division on Monday, now guiding for adjusted return on sales to rise to 8% from next year and to 9% by 2030.

Last year, the bus division’s adjusted return on sales recovered to 4.7% after weak sales during the pandemic. Continue reading “Daimler Buses aims for ambitious margin target from 2025”

BEIJING, (Reuters) – Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD launched on Monday a new version of its Destroyer 07 hybrid car at a starting price 11.3% lower than its predecessor, Reuters calculations showed. Continue reading “China’s BYD launches new version of Destroyer 07 hybrid at lower starting price”

SYDNEY, (Reuters) – Uber has agreed to pay A$271.8 million ($178 million) to settle a lawsuit brought by Australian taxi operators and drivers, who say they lost income when the ride-hailing company moved into the country, a law firm said on Monday.

The settlement is Australia’s fifth-largest, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers said in a statement. Continue reading “Uber to pay $178 million in Australia taxi class action settlement”

Source : PTI | New Delhi: Import duty concessions announced in the EV policy on Friday will not impact domestic players and on the contrary, expand the Indian electric vehicles market, a top government official said. Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said that the government has taken the view of all the concerned stakeholders on the policy, which was balanced to the public interest.

Continue reading “Duty cut benefit in EV policy not to impact domestic players; to expand mkt”

(Reuters) – Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius almost doubled his remuneration last year thanks to high bonus payouts, a company report published on Friday showed.

Including pension costs, the CEO took home 12.7 million euros ($13.9 million) last year, an 80% increase from the previous year, according to the report. Continue reading “Mercedes CEO nearly doubled 2023 remuneration with big bonus boost”

BEIJING, (Reuters) – German carmaker BMW apologized to Chinese drivers on Friday after its BMW 530Li model’s transmission shaft was singled out on the country’s annual consumer day gala television show for producing “disturbing” noises.

The two-hour show by state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) on March 15 every year focuses on infringements of consumer rights and has for years been followed closely by companies worried about public blowback should they be named. Continue reading “BMW apologizes after criticism from annual Chinese consumer show”

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said on Friday it was investigating the use of an advanced driver assistance system in a Ford Mustang Mach-E that was involved in a Feb. 24 fatal crash in San Antonio, Texas.

The NTSB said preliminary information indicated the Ford struck the rear of a Honda CR-V that was stationary in a traffic lane on Interstate Highway 10. A San Antonio police report said the Ford had “partial automation” engaged at the time of the crash. Continue reading “US NTSB probes driver assistance system use in fatal Ford crash”

Source : PTI | Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has sanctioned INR 699.19 crore for upgradation of a section of National Highway 58 in Palanpur, Gujarat. The amount will be used to upgrade Khokhra Gujarat Border – Vijayanagar – Antarsuba – Mathasur road section of NH-58, according to an official statement.

NH-58 connects Gujarat and Rajasthan and also connects Ambaji Temple, Udaipur, Polo Forest and other archaeological monuments and various tourist places. Continue reading “Road ministry sanctions INR 1,697 cr for NH projects in 3 states”

(Reuters) – Amazon.com’s self-driving car unit, Zoox, is seeking to stay abreast of rival Waymo by expanding its vehicles’ testing in California and Nevada to include a wider area, higher speeds and nighttime driving.

The changes, announced on Thursday, apply to Zoox’s fleet of vehicles that it designed and built itself. Those resemble toaster ovens on wheels and lack manual controls inside, like steering wheels, pedals and gear shifters. Zoox also operates retrofitted self-driving Toyota Highlanders in Seattle, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Foster City, California. Continue reading “Amazon’s Zoox robotaxis to drive faster, farther, at night in Las Vegas”

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – India said on Friday it will lower import taxes on certain electric vehicles for companies committing to at least $500 million in investment and manufacturing facilities within three years, potentially bolstering Tesla’s plans to enter the market.

The policy is a big win for Tesla as it’s in line with what the company had been lobbying for in New Delhi. Sources said last July that the carmaker had offered to build a factory but, in the meantime, wanted a cut in import taxes that CEO Elon Musk said were among the highest in the world. Continue reading “In big win for Tesla, India to lower EV import tax if $500 mln invested”

BERLIN,(Reuters) – Volkswagen group deliveries fell by 1.1% in February to 605,500 vehicles, hit by a sharp decrease in China, the German carmaker said on Friday.

Deliveries climbed by 5.6% in western Europe and by 1.6% in North America last month but fell by 16.7% in China, said Volkswagen, adding that overall deliveries were up 6.1% in the first two months of the year at 1.30 million vehicles. Continue reading “Volkswagen group deliveries down 1.1% in February”

Summary

• Have signed non-binding memorandum of understanding
• To look at areas of potential collaboration, no scope yet determined
• Open to working together in any region, Nissan CEO says
• “We are strapped for time and need to be speedy,” Honda’s Mibe says

TOKYO, (Reuters) – Japanese auto rivals Nissan Motor and Honda Motor are considering a strategic partnership to collaborate on producing key components for electric vehicles and artificial intelligence in automotive software platforms, the companies said Friday. Continue reading “Rivals Nissan and Honda sign MoU on EV partnership”

Source : PTI | New Delhi, The government is launching a pilot programme to provide cashless treatment to road accident victims, under which they will be entitled to cashless treatment up to a maximum of INR 1.5 lakh per accident, an official statement said on Thursday. The statement further said the pilot programme — being initiated in Chandigarh and developed under the aegis of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) — is aimed at establishing an ecosystem for providing timely medical care to the victims of road accidents, including during the golden hour.

“The broad contours of the pilot programme are — victims entitled to cashless treatment up to a maximum of INR 1.5 lakh per accident per person for a maximum period of 7 days from date of the accident,” it added. Continue reading “Govt launches pilot programme for cashless treatment of road accident victims”

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TURIN, Italy, (Reuters) – Italian bus and truck maker Iveco Group forecast revenue growth of 20% by 2028 as it unveiled a new business plan on Thursday focused on an expanding product portfolio and industrial partnerships.

The company said its net revenues from industrial activities would rise to around 19 billion euros ($20.8 billion) in 2028 from 15.877 billion euros last year. Continue reading “Italy’s Iveco Group sees 20% revenue growth to 2028, eyes partnerships”

(Reuters) – BMW reported a higher annual margin in its core automotive segment on Thursday, driven by full consolidation of its Chinese joint venture BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA) and better sales volumes.

The carmaker’s margin on earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) was 9.8% in 2023, versus 8.9% expected in the company-provided consensus. Continue reading “BMW’s annual automotive margin beats expectations”

SHANGHAI, (Reuters) – Chinese automakers seeking global growth are building more car factories in overseas markets, as foreign regulators mull imposing measures against imports of China-made electric cars.

Chery Auto is holding talks with the Italian government to manufacture there, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Should the talks succeed, Chery would be among the first Chinese automakers with a European manufacturing presence. Continue reading “Chinese automakers open factories abroad as export clout causes friction”

BEIJING, (Reuters) – Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio on Thursday signed a partnership agreement with battery giant CATL to develop longer life batteries as part of efforts to lower overall EV costs.

The partnership will leverage technologies from both companies seeking to lower the so-called “full life cycle” costs of batteries – key for the operating costs of Nio’s thousands of battery-swapping and charging stations, William Li, Nio’s founder and CEO, told reporters in Beijing. Continue reading “China’s Nio and CATL team up to develop longer life batteries”

SEOUL, (Reuters) – Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS), opens new tab and sister company Kia Corp (000270.KS), opens new tab will recall about 170,000 electric vehicles (EVs) in South Korea over problems with software in the charging systems, South Korea’s transport ministry said on Thursday.

Hyundai will recall 113,916 EVs in the country, affecting five EV models, including Ioniq-series and Genesis models, the ministry said. Continue reading “Hyundai and Kia to recall nearly 170,000 EVs over software problem in South Korea”

BERLIN, (Reuters) – Volkswagen on Thursday held out the prospect of launching an entry-level electric vehicle by 2027, with VW brand chief Thomas Schaefer saying the company would decide in coming weeks which model to move forward with.

Four project teams are currently working on proposals for the vehicle, which has the working title ID.1, Schaefer said at a group presentation, where a representative vehicle was on display. Slides from a presentation indicated the vehicle could be ready by 2027. Continue reading “Volkswagen holds out prospect of entry-level EV by 2027”

DETROIT, (Reuters) – HomeTown Services, a heating and cooling repair company in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is getting ready to install driver monitoring cameras in some of its trucks, and already uses streamed data to remind drivers not to sit too long in idle vehicles, wasting gasoline.

“People will sit in a vehicle for an hour or two,” said Del Underwood, vice president for purchasing and fleets for the company. Now, technicians get a text message instructing them to either turn off their trucks or move to the next assignment. Continue reading “Ford has big goals for software sales to small business truck fleets”

Source : PTI | Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday said that prices of petroleum products have come down in India when the global energy market is in turmoil. Speaking at the Viksit Bharat programme here, Singh said that there has been turmoil in the global energy markets.

“In India, prices of petrol and diesel have come down over the last two years. Prices increased in other countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka and even in advanced countries,” he said.

Continue reading “Petrol, diesel prices fallen in India when global energy market in turmoil: Puri”

Source : PTI | The initial share sale of Popular Vehicles and Services Limited got subscribed 45% on the second day of subscription on Wednesday. The INR 601.55 crore-Initial Public Offer (IPO) received bids for 65,31,800 shares against 1,44,15,110 shares on offer, as per NSE data.

The portion for Retail Individual Investors (RIIs) attracted 77% subscription while the non-institutional investors part got subscribed 20%. Continue reading “Popular Vehicles IPO subscribed 45% on day two of offer”

(Reuters) – Alphabet’s Waymo said on Wednesday it will begin offering free driverless robotaxi services to select members of the public in Los Angeles starting Thursday.

The company received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) earlier this month to start its ride-hailing program, Waymo One, in Los Angeles and some cities near San Francisco. Continue reading “Waymo to start offering free driverless robotaxi services in Los Angeles”

(Reuters) – Swedish electric-vehicle maker Polestar Automotive Holding, on Wednesday cut the base price of its Polestar 3 model by more than 12% and launched new variants, as it prepares to counter lackluster demand.

Faltering demand in the global EV market has led to a spate of job cuts and missed production targets, forcing EV-makers to cut prices in a bid to revive demand. Continue reading “Polestar cuts starting prices for its upcoming model as EV demand falters”

Summary

• Global lithium prices down over 80% in past 12 months
• Rystad slashes China’s mined lithium output growth forecast
• Analysts expect mining of lepidolite in China to be hit
• Almost half of China’s lithium output in 2023 came from lepidolite, Fastmarkets says

BEIJING, (Reuters) – A slump in the price of lithium, a key raw material in electric car batteries, is dragging on China’s mining of the ultralight metal which together with a costly extraction process is prompting a reassessment of output growth and new project plans. Continue reading “China lithium boom slows as sagging prices batter high-cost miners”

Summary

• Sees 3% rise in deliveries this year vs 12% increase in 2023
• Company plans a record number of new models in 2024
• Shares down 0.65%

BERLIN, (Reuters) – Volkswagen expects a 3% rise in its car sales this year, down sharply from 2023 amid a gloomy economic outlook and growing competition. Continue reading “Volkswagen says tough market to weigh on car sales growth in 2024”