BEIJING, (Reuters) – (This Dec. 21 story has been corrected to clarify that the ban was on the export of technology to make rare earth magnets and that the ban on technology to extract and separate critical materials was already in place, in paragraphs 1 and 6. It also removes context and the comment on rare earth processing operations, in paragraphs 3 and paragraphs 18-20)

China, the world’s top processor of rare earths, banned the export of technology to make rare earth magnets on Thursday, adding it to a ban already in place on technology to extract and separate the critical materials. Continue reading “China bans export of rare earths processing tech over national security”

SHANGHAI, (Reuters) – Chinese automaker Geely (0175.HK) warned on Friday its EV sales are likely to be impacted by a delay in deliveries due to the “situation” in the Red Sea, where Yemeni militants are attacking vessels, forcing shippers to take longer, more expensive routes.

Geely, China’s second largest automaker by sales, told Reuters that most of the shipping firms it uses to export its electric vehicles to Europe have plans to go around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Suez Canal, the shortest route from Asia to Europe, due to the hostilities. Continue reading “China’s Geely warns Red Sea attacks to delay Europe-bound EV shipments”

(Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin placed Russia’s biggest car dealership under temporary state management on Friday, in a step the Kremlin said was driven by commercial logic but which its founder said made the country look uninvestable.

Rolf, which is owned by a Cyprus-based firm and was founded by Russian businessman Sergei Petrov, was one of the first car dealerships to emerge after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Continue reading “Putin seizes control of Russia’s biggest car dealership”

Source : PTI | New Delhi: Various government-owned entities including NTPC and GAIL are taking a number of steps to aid the ambitious National Green Hydrogen Mission by setting up projects, Parliament was informed on Thursday. In January, the Centre approved the mission with an outlay of INR 19,744 crore.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is implementing the mission which aims to make India the global hub for production, usage and export of green hydrogen and its derivatives, Union Minister R K Singh told the Lok Sabha in response to a question.

Continue reading “What NTPC, GAIL and other govt entities doing under Green Hydrogen Mission”

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Honda Motor’s (7267.T) American unit is recalling about 4.5 million vehicles worldwide over risks of fuel pump failure, the Japanese automaker said.

The recall includes 2.54 million vehicles in the United States and comes after the automaker previously recalled 628,000 U.S. vehicles in 2021 and 136,000 in 2020 for the same issue.

Honda issued recalls earlier this month over the same issue in China and Japan. Continue reading “Honda recalling about 4.5 million vehicles worldwide over fuel pump issue”

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Hydrogen makes itself at home WAF Continue reading “WAF Auto News | The Auto World This Week (22nd December 2023)”

SEOUL, Dec 21 (Reuters) – Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) said on Thursday it plans to stop operations at two parts forging plants in South Korea next year as the automaker accelerates a shift away from petrol-powered cars.

The plants in Ulsan, South Korea, which have been in operation since 1991 making engine parts, are expected to be closed in January and October, respectively.

Hyundai Motor, the world’s No.3 automaker by sales with its affiliate Kia Corp (000270.KS), is gradually reducing the proportion of internal combustion engines in its finished cars in favour of electrified vehicles. Continue reading “Hyundai Motor to shut South Korean parts plants in pivot toward EVs”

Source : PTI | The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the city government to state within four weeks the status of formulation and implementation of a policy for release of seized end-of-life vehicles to their owners. Justice Jasmeet Singh observed that the court was “flooded” every day with petitions by aggrieved people in the absence of a policy, and that although the government was trying to control pollution “at the same time the citizens cannot be harassed”.

“This is troublesome. Don’t harass the citizens. Every day I have five petitions (on such seizure and non-release of vehicles),” the judge said. Continue reading “HC asks Delhi govt to state status of policy for end-of-life vehicles”

Source : PTI | The auto component industry is looking to invest around USD 6.5 to 7 billion over the next five years on capacity expansion and technology upgradation, with the demand expected to remain robust over the period.

The industry, which recorded a 12.6 % year-on-year revenue growth in the first half (April-September) of the current fiscal at INR 2.98 lakh crore, expects double digit sales growth to continue in the rest of the current fiscal and in the upcoming financial year as well. Continue reading “Auto component industry looks to invest USD 7 bn over next 5 years to expand capacity, upgrade tech”

ROME, (Reuters) – Italy’s government is working to encourage other major carmakers besides Fiat-owner Stellantis (STLAM.MI) to manufacture in the country and boost production, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said on Wednesday.

Speaking in Parliament, Urso reiterated that Rome aims to strike a deal with Stellantis to increase annual domestic production of cars and vans to 1 million vehicles by 2028. Continue reading “Italy govt wants to bring in more carmakers to boost domestic output”

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. new vehicles set a record high for fuel economy in 2022, with the biggest yearly improvement in nine years to an average of 26 miles per gallon (mpg) as electric vehicle sales jumped but the Detroit Three automakers continued to lag rivals.

Vehicles were up 0.6 mpg over 2021 after being unchanged versus 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency said, noting electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles improved the average fuel economy by 1.2 mpg in 2022. Fuel economy is forecast to increase to 26.9 mpg in 2023, the EPA said. Continue reading “US vehicles set fuel economy record in 2022 as EV sales climb”

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Toyota Motor (7203.T) said on Wednesday it will recall 1.12 million vehicles worldwide because a short circuit in a sensor could cause air bags not to deploy as designed.

The recall covers 2020 through 2022 model year vehicles including various Avalon, Camry, Corolla, RAV4, Lexus ES250, ES300H, ES350, RX350 Highlander and Sienna Hybrid vehicles and could result in the Occupant Classification System (OCS) sensors not working. It includes 1 million vehicles in the United States. Continue reading “Toyota recalling 1.12 million vehicles over potential air bag issue”

(Reuters) – American car dealers are set to wrap the year with generous incentives and discounts during winter sales, aiming to clear older vehicle stocks and prepare for the new year capitalizing on sustained demand from consumers.

Over four consecutive years of year-end sales, automakers have offered minimal discounts to prospective customers as they looked to cash in on new vehicle demand, helping dealers clear inventory. Continue reading “US new vehicle dealers jump-start holiday sales with better incentives”

COPENHAGEN,  (Reuters) – Danish dockworkers and lorry drivers have stopped unloading and transporting Tesla (TSLA.O) cars destined for Sweden as Danish labour union 3F on Wednesday joined Swedish mechanics in their strike action against Tesla.

Tesla is facing a backlash from unions and some pension funds in the Nordic region as the U.S. carmaker refuses to accept a demand from Swedish mechanics for collective bargaining rights covering wages and other conditions.

Continue reading “Danish labour union joins Swedish strike action against Tesla”

TOKYO, (Reuters) – Toyota Motor’s (7203.T) Daihatsu unit will halt shipments of all of its vehicles, Japan’s biggest automaker said on Wednesday, after a safety scandal investigation found issues involving 64 models, including almost two dozen sold under Toyota’s brand.

An independent panel has been investigating Daihatsu after it said in April it had rigged side-collision safety tests carried out for 88,000 small cars, most of those sold as Toyotas. Continue reading “Toyota’s Daihatsu to halt all vehicle shipments, in widening safety scandal”

Shreyansh Jain was ecstatic in March when he picked up his first electric vehicle, a brand-new 2023 Tesla Model Y. He used a sizable chunk of family savings to buy it with cash.

“We were over the moon!” said Jain, an electronics engineer in Cambridge, England.

His exuberance came to a “grinding halt” one day later, with 115 miles on the odometer, Jain told Reuters. As he drove with his wife and three-year-old daughter, he suddenly lost steering control as he made a slow turn into their neighborhood. The vehicle’s front-right suspension had collapsed, and parts of the car loudly scraped the road as it came to a stop. Continue reading “Tesla blamed drivers for failures of parts it long knew were defective”

PTI

Updated On Dec 20, 2023 at 08:03 AM IST

White Iris Investment on Tuesday pared 4.5 % stake in tyre manufacturing company Apollo Tyres for INR 1,281 crore through open market transactions. White Iris Investment, a public shareholder in Apollo Tyres, offloaded more than 2.85 crore shares of the company in 22 tranches.

Edelweiss Mutual Fund (MF), UTI MF, ICICI Prudential MF, Nippon India MF, Invesco MF, Societe Generale, Goldman Sachs Investments (Mauritius) I Ltd, Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore, and Plutus Wealth Management LLP, among others were the buyers of the shares.

Continue reading “White Iris Investment divests 4.5% stake in Apollo Tyres worth INR 1,281 cr”

Reuters

By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA, Dec 19 (Reuters) – Canada on Tuesday released final regulations mandating that all passenger cars, SUVs, crossovers and light trucks sold by 2035 must be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), part of the government’s overall plan to combat climate change.

ZEVs must make up at least 20% of all cars sold by 2026 and at least 60% by 2030. Industry officials say electric vehicles (EVs) represented 12.1% of new vehicle sales in the third quarter of 2023.

Continue reading “Canada says all cars and trucks must be zero emission by 2035, industry unhappy”

Source : PTI | The Ministry of Heavy Industries has given a subsidy amounting to INR 5,294 crore to electric vehicle manufacturers on the sale of 1.1 million electric vehicles under phase-II of ‘Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India’, Minister of State for Heavy Industries Krishan Pal Gurjar said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Further, the minister said his ministry sanctioned 6,862 electric buses to various cities, its transport corporations, and other government entities for intracity operations. Out of 6862 e-buses, 3487 e-buses have been supplied to state transport corporations.

Continue reading “INR 5,294 cr subsidy provided to EV makers under phase-II of FAME scheme: Centre”

Source : PTI | The second Varanasi-New Delhi Vande Bharat Express, which was flagged off on Monday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here, is equipped with the anti-train collision system ‘Kavach’, the Northern Railway said. However, railway officials said installation of only loco component of Kavach is not effective to protect a train from collision unless the full system is in place on the entire route of the train.

“It (Varanasi-New Delhi Vande Bharat) has superior designs, interiors and speed, providing passengers a comfortable and convenient travel experience. The trainset is also equipped with the most advanced safety features including the Kavach technology,” the Northern Railway said in a statement on Monday.

Continue reading “‘Kavach fitted in Varanasi-New Delhi Vande Bharat has no safety benefit at present’”

Source : PTI | New Delhi: Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday said the country needs 1,000 vehicle scrapping centres and 400 automated fitness test centres. Launching ‘DigiELV’, Gadkari said the road ministry has so far approved 85 vehicle scrapping facilities across the country.

“We need 1,000 vehicle scrapping centres in the country and at least 400 automated fitness test centres,” he said. Continue reading “India needs 1,000 scrapping centres, 400 fitness test points: Nitin Gadkari”

(Reuters) – French car parts maker Forvia (FRVIA.PA) wants to cut its Research and development (R&D) costs by half by 2028 thanks mainly to generative artificial intelligence (AI) to keep up with electrification challenges and Asian competition in the automotive industry.

The world’s 7th largest car equipment supplier, born from the French group Faurecia’s takeover of Germany’s Hella (HLE.DE), currently employs 157,000 people worldwide, including more than 15,000 engineers in 76 R&D centres. Continue reading “Forvia aims to halve its R&D costs by 2028 thanks to AI-CEO”

(Reuters) – Electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) has informed workers at its battery factory in Sparks, Nevada, that some of the set-rate hourly workers will see pay increases of around 10% starting early January, CNBC reported on Monday.

The EV maker will bump the pay for hourly workers from $20 to $22 an hour on the low end, and up to $34.50 an hour from $30.65 on the high end, according to the report, citing internal materials, adding that the raise can add anywhere from $2 to $8.30 an hour to their pay. Continue reading “Tesla to raise pay for hourly Nevada Gigafactory workers in Jan – CNBC”

BERLIN, Dec 19 (Reuters) – Buyers of Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) ID. all-electric vehicles will have their subsidy paid for by the automaker after the government ended a state scheme prematurely, the company said on Tuesday.

The offer will apply to private customers in Germany who ordered an eligible vehicle from the all-electric ID. range before Dec 15, it said.

Vehicles delivered and registered this year will receive the full subsidy of up to 6,750 euros ($7,386). Continue reading “Volkswagen to pay subsidies for ID. EV buyers in Germany”

SEOUL, Dec 19 (Reuters) – South Korea’s Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) plans to sell its plant in Russia for a nominal 7,000 roubles ($77.67), a company official said on Tuesday, making it the latest global automaker to sell Russian assets since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

Hyundai Motor, in a regulatory filing, said it would take a 287 billion won ($219.19 million) loss on selling the plant, in which operations have been suspended since March 2022. Continue reading “Hyundai Motor to take $219 mln hit on sale of Russian plant”

Source : PTI | Among a cluster of new homes on the northern outskirts of Melbourne, there is one house that stands apart. Not that you’d know it by looking from the outside. HyHome, unveiled this year by the Australian Gas Infrastructure Group, is Australia’s first hydrogen-powered home.

The demonstration house in Wollert is equipped with hydrogen-powered hot water systems, heating, cooktop and barbecue; some of the first 100 per cent hydrogen compatible appliances to be developed for the domestic market. Continue reading “Hydrogen makes itself at home”

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee wants Congress to vote on reversing the Treasury Department’s electric vehicle tax credit guidance, saying it will increase U.S. reliance on China.

Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat, said the Treasury’s guidance will make it easier for Chinese companies to take advantage of the EV tax credit “while hurting American taxpayers and increasing America’s reliance on foreign nations for battery and vehicle component supply chains, including China.” Continue reading “Manchin seeks to reverse Treasury exemption allowing some Chinese minerals in EVs”

(Reuters) – French car parts maker Forvia (FRVIA.PA) wants to cut its Research and development (R&D) costs by half by 2028 thanks mainly to generative artificial intelligence (AI) to keep up with electrification challenges and Asian competition in the automotive industry.

The world’s 7th largest car equipment supplier, born from the French group Faurecia’s takeover of Germany’s Hella (HLE.DE), currently employs 157,000 people worldwide, including more than 15,000 engineers in 76 R&D centres. Continue reading “Forvia aims to halve its R&D costs by 2028 thanks to AI-CEO”

HANOI,(Reuters) – Vietnamese electric vehicles (EV) maker VinFast said on Monday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Japan’s Marubeni Corp (8002.T) to recycle used EV batteries.

VinFast will supply the used batteries and Marubeni will repurpose into what it said would be affordable Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) that were easy to manufacture, the Vietnamese firm said in a statement. Continue reading “Vietnam’s VinFast agrees deal with Marubeni to recycle used EV batteries”

BEIJING, (Reuters) – Nissan Motor (7201.T) said on Sunday it would sell China-developed electric vehicles (EVs) globally as it struck a deal with the country’s top university to leverage local resources to accelerate research and development on electrification.

The Japanese automaker is considering exporting the line-up of existing internal combustion engine vehicles and upcoming pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars manufactured and developed in China to overseas markets, Masashi Matsuyama, vice president of Nissan Motor and president of Nissan China, told reporters in Beijing. Continue reading “Nissan to export China-developed EVs to global markets”

SHANGHAI, (Reuters) – Electric vehicle maker Nio (9866.HK) has signed a pact for an investment of $2.2 billion from CYVN Holdings, an investment vehicle based in Abu Dhabi, the Chinese company said on Monday.

The investment comes as Nio, with its EV sales and profitability under pressure in a price war started by Tesla (TSLA.O), has sought to boost efficiency by cutting a tenth of the workforce and deferring non-core projects. Continue reading “China’s Nio to get $2.2 bln investment from Abu Dhabi’s CYVN”

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Trevor Milton, the convicted founder of electric- and hydrogen-powered truck maker Nikola (NKLA.O), was sentenced to four years in prison on Monday after a jury last year found him guilty of lying to investors about the company’s technology.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Milton misled investors by stating that Nikola had built a pickup from the “ground up,” that it had developed its own batteries even though he knew it was buying them, and that it had early success creating a “Nikola One” semi-truck that he knew did not work. Continue reading “Nikola founder Trevor Milton sentenced to four years for fraud conviction”

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The acting head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Friday she is stepping down from her post after overseeing the agency’s investigation into Tesla (TSLA.O) Autopilot and efforts to strengthen fuel efficiency regulations.

Acting NHTSA Administrator Ann Carlson, who has run the agency since September 2022, told employees in an email she will leave her post on Dec. 26 because of a law limiting how long officials can remain in a temporary role. Continue reading “Top US auto safety official will leave agency”

Source : PTI | South Korean automaker Kia is looking to expand production, sales network and its product range in India next year as part of an “aggressive business” plan to counter enhanced competition in the market, a top company official said on Thursday. The automaker, which on Thursday globally premiered the latest version of its compact SUV Sonet, also plans to curtail exports from the country in order to effectively cater to the demand in the domestic market.

“We have an aggressive business plan for next year. We are looking to add 100 more sales outlets and enhance installed production capacity by 1 lakh units,” Kia India Managing Director and CEO Tae-Jin Park told PTI in an interaction.

Continue reading “Kia India draws up aggressive biz plan; to jack up production, widen sales network next year”