NEW YORK, Sept 7 (Reuters) – General Motors (GM.N) was ordered by a federal appeals court on Thursday to defend against claims by a Black safety supervisor, who said she endured years of racism and sexism at an upstate New York plant where other workers displayed Confederate flags and nooses.

A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said a trial judge erred in dismissing Billie Banks’ hostile work environment, disparate treatment and retaliation lawsuit against the automaker. Continue reading “GM employee’s racial bias lawsuit is revived over NY plant where nooses were displayed”

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, Sept 8 (Reuters) – China’s passenger vehicle sales returned to growth in August year-on-year, as deeper discounts and tax breaks for environmentally friendly and electric vehicles boosted consumer sentiment even as economic growth remains weak.

Car sales jumped 2.2% in August from the same month a year ago to 1.94 million units, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed on Friday, the first year-on-year gain since May. Continue reading “China car sales return to growth in Aug, Tesla nearly doubles EV share”

Sept 7 (Reuters) – Founders behind defunct self-driving startup backed by Ford (F.N) and Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) launched a new autonomous trucking firm, Stack AV, on Thursday with investment from Japan’s SoftBank Group.

SoftBank declined to disclose its investment in response to a Reuters inquiry, but Bloomberg News said it will provide more than $1 billion, citing an economic development official in Pittsburgh where the startup will be based. Continue reading “SoftBank backs new autonomous trucking startup from founders of defunct Argo AI”

Sept 7 (Reuters) – General Motors (GM.N) on Thursday made a counterproposal to the union representing its U.S. hourly workers in a bid to avoid a costly strike, but United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain called the offer “insulting.”

The largest U.S. automaker said it offered workers a 10% wage hike and two additional 3% annual lump sum payments over four years in its offer to the union ahead of the Sept. 14 contract expiration. Continue reading “GM offers 10% wage hike in contract talks that UAW calls ‘insulting’”

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DETROIT, Sept 7 (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co (F.N) said about 8,000 U.S. workers represented by the United Auto Workers union will get an average $4.33 an hour in additional pay under provisions of the current contract agreed in 2019.

Ford announced the pay increases as talks with the UAW for a new contract are headed for a Sept. 14 strike deadline. Continue reading “Ford raises pay for 8,000 UAW workers in line with 2019 contract”

MILAN, Sept 7 (Reuters) – Carmaker Stellantis (STLAM.MI) believes internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles could be on the road until 2050, making it necessary to contain their carbon emissions until they’re finally replaced by fully electric ones.

The world’s third-largest carmaker by sales, whose brands include Fiat, Peugeot and Jeep, said this week tests it ran with Saudi oil giant Aramco (2222.SE) showed 24 types of internal combustion engines in European vehicles it produced since 2014 can use advanced e-fuels without modification. Continue reading “Stellantis sees long road ahead for internal combustion engine cars”

Source : PTI | New Delhi: State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will infuse about INR 15,000 crore in OPaL as part of a financial restructuring exercise that will see gas utility GAIL being edged out of the petrochemical firm. ONGC currently holds 49.36% stake in ONGC Petro-additions Ltd (OPaL), which operates a mega petrochemical plant at Dahej in Gujarat. GAIL (India) Ltd has 49.21% interest and Gujarat State Petrochemical Corp (GSPC) has the remaining 1.43%.

The ONGC board last week approved a financial restructuring of the petchem firm which had been making losses due to its high debt. Continue reading “ONGC to infuse INR 15,000 cr in OPaL, edge out GAIL to take control of petchem firm”

Sept 7 (Reuters) – J.P.Morgan on Thursday said supply chain disruptions from a potential United Auto Workers (UAW) union strike would cut new vehicle production, drive up used car prices and put pressure on margins in the personal auto insurance business.

UAW is currently in talks with the Detroit Three automakers – Ford Motor (F.N), Chrysler parent company Stellantis (STLAM.MI) and General Motors (GM.N) – ahead of the expiration on Sept. 14 of the current four-year labor agreements covering 146,000 workers. Continue reading “Potential UAW strike presents a near-term headwind for auto insurers – JPM”

TOKYO, Sept 7 (Reuters) – James Kuffner, the chief executive of Toyota Motor’s (7203.T) autonomous driving technology unit Woven by Toyota, will step down from his post effective Oct. 1, the subsidiary said in a statement on Thursday.

Kuffner will be appointed a senior fellow at a new unit that Toyota Motor will establish in October to drive software-related business and development, the world’s biggest automaker by sales said in a separate statement. Continue reading “Toyota mobility tech unit CEO Kuffner to leave post”

WASHINGTON, Sept 6 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden’s strategy of backing politically crucial unions while avoiding strikes that cripple the economy has hit a bump in Detroit.

During a summer of labor unrest, Biden has touted his pro-labor policies by speaking out for unions, while his administration behind the scenes tries to smooth the way for deals with employers to avoid costly walkouts, union leaders and administration officials said. Continue reading “Detroit UAW workers strike threat tests Biden’s plan to win union votes”

Sept 6 (Reuters) – The United Auto Workers (UAW) union on Wednesday made a labor contract counterproposal on economic issues to Ford Motor (F.N), while Chrysler parent company Stellantis (STLAM.MI) planned its counteroffer this week.

Talks are heating up ahead of the expiration on Sept. 14 of the current four-year labor agreements covering 146,000 workers at the Detroit Three automakers. The UAW has said 97% of members voted in favor of authorizing a strike if agreement is not reached. Continue reading “UAW makes contract counteroffer to Ford; Stellantis to make offer”

MEXICO CITY, Sept 6 (Reuters) – Tesla (TSLA.O) is eyeing 2026 or 2027 to potentially begin production at a major new factory planned for Mexico, according to a report published in Mexican daily Reforma on Wednesday.

The report cited an anonymous Chinese supplier saying that they and several other Chinese companies may delay plans to launch operations near the still un-built Tesla factory, set for the northern state of Nuevo Leon, after learning of Tesla’s slower-than-expected plans. Continue reading “Tesla suppliers say carmaker expects 2026 or 2027 Mexico production start, Reforma reports”

Summary

• Tesla required company shirts during union drive at factories
• Labor board said no ‘special circumstances’ justified policy
• Appeals judges noted that Tesla allowed union stickers, other items

Sept 6 (Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court panel on Wednesday seemed open to reversing a labor board’s ruling that Tesla Inc violated the rights of factory workers by barring them from wearing t-shirts supporting a union campaign. Continue reading “Tesla pushes US appeals court to uphold ban on workers’ union t-shirts”

MUNICH, Sept 6 (Reuters) – German carmakers are determined to tackle the problems they face in producing competitive electric vehicles, an executive at Chinese EV maker Xpeng said on Wednesday, as China’s carmakers put pressure on European rivals in the race to electrify.

German carmakers have shown their “strongest determination ever to change” to try and catch up and address their challenges, Xpeng (9868.HK) president Brian Gu said in an interview on the sidelines of Munich’s IAA car show. Continue reading “China’s Xpeng says German carmakers ready to tackle crisis in EV race”

Source : PTI | Suzuki Motor Corporation on Wednesday said it has inked a pact with National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), and Gujarat-based Banas Dairy to set up four biogas plants in Gujarat with an investment of around INR 230 crore. The three-party agreement between Suzuki R&D Center India, a wholly- owned subsidiary of Suzuki, NDDB and Banas Dairy was inked in Tokyo on Wednesday.

The project is aimed at making fuel for automobiles by refining methane from biogas, which is generated by fermenting cow dung, the Japanese carmaker said in a statement. Continue reading “Suzuki Motor inks pact with NDDB, Banas Dairy to set up biogas plants with INR 230 cr investment”

MUNICH, Sept 6 (Reuters) – BMW (BMWG.DE) Chief Executive Oliver Zipse, in a speech on Wednesday, called on China to expand its hydrogen network in urban areas and clarify public charging standards to encourage customer uptake of electric cars.

“The same policy incentives for electromobility are needed for hydrogen to achieve a breakthrough,” he said, speaking at China’s World New Energy Vehicle Congress taking place in Munich. Continue reading “BMW CEO calls on China to expand hydrogen network”

Sept 6 (Reuters) – Accelera, a zero-emissions business unit of Cummins (CMI.N), Daimler Trucks & Buses US Holding and PACCAR (PCAR.O) said on Wednesday they formed a joint venture to advance battery cell production in the United States.

Demand for lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery technology remains strong from companies such as Tesla (TSLA.O), Toyota Motor (7203.T), Ford Motor (F.N) and Hyundai Motor (005380.KS), looking to cut back expenses and push out more affordable electric vehicles (EV). Continue reading “Cummins, Daimler, PACCAR form joint venture for US battery cell production”

MUNICH, Sept 6 (Reuters) – German carmakers are ready to tackle their worst crisis, an executive at Chinese EV maker Xpeng said on Wednesday, as China’s carmakers expand overseas, putting pressure on Europe in the race to electrify.

German carmakers have shown their “strongest determination ever to change” to try and catch up and address the crisis they are in, Xpeng (9868.HK) president Brian Gu said in an interview on the sidelines of Munich’s IAA car show. Continue reading “China’s Xpeng says German carmakers ready to tackle crisis as EV race hots up”

MUNICH, Sept 6 (Reuters) – China’s industrial policy adviser and ‘father of EVs’ Wan Gang said efficient batteries, better EV architectures and intelligent driving systems were key to scaling up EVs, calling for international collaboration on research and standards.

Wan, the chairman of China’s World New Energy Vehicle Congress (WNEVC) taking place in Munich, said hybrid and fuel cell vehicles powered by hydrogen were an essential part of the transition to low-carbon mobility. Continue reading “China’s ‘father of EVs’ urges cooperation to scale up”

Source : PTI | With improved supply chain situation and positive economic sentiment, Swedish car maker Volvo expects the upcoming festival season to be “good” for India’s automobile industry. A top executive of Volvo Car India has said that price parity is being slowly seen between electric cars and ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) cars.

Volvo Car India on Monday launched its first ground up electric car C40 Recharge here at an introductory price of INR 61.25 lakh (excluding taxes). Continue reading “Volvo Car India expects ‘good’ festival season for domestic auto industry”

Source : PTI | Exide Industries Ltd’s INR 6,000 crore lithium-ion cell manufacturing project has secured a line of credit of INR 2,000 crore from banks. Exide’s wholly owned subsidiary, Exide Energy Solutions Limited, will be taking the credit facility for rolling out its lithium-ion cell manufacturing and associated projects, which are coming up near Bangalore, a company official said.

Exide has extended a corporate guarantee in favour of five banks for the sanctioned line of credit, the company informed the stock exchanges. Continue reading “Exide’s lithium-ion cell project secures INR 2,000 crore line of credit from banks”

MILAN, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Tests by automaker Stellantis (STLAM.MI) show that 24 types of internal combustion engines in European vehicles produced by the group since 2014 can use advanced e-fuels without modification, it said on Tuesday.

The group formed through the 2021 merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA, said in April that it was testing 28 engine types on synthetic e-fuels made with renewable energy as part of efforts to decarbonise its European fleet. Continue reading “Stellantis says 24 of its engine types can run on e-fuels”

NEW YORK, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Bankrupt electric vehicle manufacturer Lordstown Motors has proposed to pay nothing for Taiwan’s Foxconn’s preferred equity shares, saying it will prioritize other shareholders if an ongoing sales effort generates enough cash to repay other debts.

Lordstown Motors, named for the Ohio town where it is based, filed a Chapter 11 plan Friday in Delaware bankruptcy court, outlining how it intends to distribute proceeds from an ongoing effort to sell its assets. Lordstown’s Chapter 11 plan warned that the value of its assets is “necessarily speculative” at this stage in the bankruptcy and “could potentially be zero.” Continue reading “Bankrupt Lordstown Motors proposes zero payment for Foxconn shares”

DETROIT, Sept 5 (Reuters) – General Motors’ (GM.N) global head of manufacturing, Gerald Johnson, said in a video statement released on Tuesday the demands received from the United Auto Workers union have “significant costs attached that would threaten our ability to maintain our manufacturing momentum.”

Johnson appeared in the video with GM President Mark Reuss. Both executives reiterated they want to reach a “fair” agreement without a strike. The executives did not detail GM’s economic proposals to the UAW. Continue reading “GM exec says UAW demands ‘would threaten…manufacturing momentum’”

Source : PTI | With improved supply chain situation and positive economic sentiment, Swedish car maker Volvo expects the upcoming festival season to be “good” for India’s automobile industry. A top executive of Volvo Car India has said that price parity is being slowly seen between electric cars and ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) cars.

Volvo Car India on Monday launched its first ground up electric car C40 Recharge here at an introductory price of INR 61.25 lakh (excluding taxes). Continue reading “Volvo Car India expects ‘good’ festival season for domestic auto industry”

Source : PTI | New Delhi: India has raised the stature of G20, giving it a certain recognition of its ability to influence people in the world and the forum will be inspired in future by what has been done in the country during its presidency, Maruti Suzuki India Chairman R C Bhargava said on Tuesday. No other nation has taken the opportunity like India did to showcase its development, raise the profile of the country and also to use the G20 platform to make a lot of changes, and improvements in attitudinal differences in different parts of the country under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bhargava told PTI.

At a time when the world is facing a number of problems both economically and politically such as the Ukraine-Russia war, inflation, global warming and carbon footprint being everybody’s concern, India has taken the lead in trying to move the countries of the world towards recognising how they can deal with these problems, he added. Continue reading “India raised stature of G20, gave recognition to its ability to influence people in the world: RC Bhargava”

Source : PTI | New Delhi, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) on Tuesday said it has appointed Sreeram Venkateswaran as President and Chief Business Officer for domestic sales and customer service. In his new role, Venkateswaran will be responsible for driving domestic business growth, nurturing strategic partnerships, expanding the BharatBenz sales and service network among others, DICV said in a statement.

“Sreeram will be responsible for growing our domestic truck and bus businesses,” DICV Managing Director & CEO Satyakam Arya said. Continue reading “Daimler India names Sreeram Venkateswaran as President, Chief Business Officer”

MUNICH, Sept 5 (Reuters) – While Western carmakers look warily upon the European expansion plans of Chinese electric vehicle makers, major German auto suppliers are eager to expand on existing partnerships in China and provide those rising manufacturers with European-made parts.

“Chinese manufacturers will adapt vehicles to the European market step by step through user experience and customer orientation,” Bosch (ROBG.UL) CEO Stefan Hartung told Reuters at Munich’s IAA mobility show. “This is a good way to do it and also quite natural for us as a supplier because we all know these manufacturers from our collaboration in China.” Continue reading “German suppliers welcome Chinese EV makers’ European plans”

MUNICH, Sept 5 (Reuters) – China’s Leapmotor (9863.HK) needs to increase its sales by five times or more to survive a consolidating EV industry and is seeking partners outside China to license its technology, the company’s chief executive told Reuters.

The eight-year-old EV maker will target exports starting with Europe, Australia and New Zealand and five new models it is developing on a new platform, CEO Zhu Jiangming said in an interview at the Munich auto show on Monday evening. Continue reading “China’s Leapmotor looks to sell EV tech as it targets export growth”

NEW YORK/CHICAGO, Sept 5 (Reuters) – High costs and environmental opposition have prevented the construction of blast furnaces at steel mills in the United States since 1980. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (CLF.N) CEO Lourenco Goncalves is on a mission to snap up all that are left.

Since joining the U.S. steelmaker in 2014 as part of an activist hedge fund’s board takeover, Goncalves has made blast furnaces a hallmark of his strategy, positioning Cliffs as an outlier in an industry shifting towards cheaper and more environmentally friendly electric arc furnaces. Continue reading “Focus: Inside Cleveland-Cliffs’ bid to keep U.S. blast furnaces smelting”

BEIJING, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Tesla Shanghai has sued a Chinese firm over tech secret infringement and unfair competition disputes, Shanghai Securities Journal reported on Tuesday.

The lawsuit against Bingling Intelligent Technology, a chip designer and auto parts maker based in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, will be heard in the Shanghai intellectual property court on October 10, according to the report. Continue reading “Tesla sues Chinese firm over tech secret infringement -Chinese state media”

Source : PTI | Honda Cars India plans to introduce five sports utility vehicle in the country by 2030 as it looks to have a strong presence in the robustly growing segment, according to a top company executive. The company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japanese auto major Honda Motor Company, on Monday made a foray into the mid-sized SUV segment with an all-new product — Elevate — priced between INR 10.99-15.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The model will compete with the likes of Hyundai Creta, Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, Kia Seltos and Toyota’s Urban Cruiser Hyryder, among others. Continue reading “Honda to roll out 5 SUVs in India by 2030; enters high selling mid-sized segment with Elevate”

Source : PTI | New Delhi: Implementation of multiple proposed regulatory specifications can push up commercial vehicle prices by 10-12%, ratings agency ICRA said on Monday. In its report on the Indian commercial vehicle industry, ICRA said the domestic automotive industry is undergoing rapid transformations, with increased focus by the government on implementing emission norms, safety systems and other standards that will bring the country at par with other major automotive markets.

“Within the Indian automotive industry, the commercial vehicle (CV) sector has been the focus, given that CVs account for the major part of vehicular emissions in the country,” it said, adding mandatory standards towards driver comfort and safety can help improve the driving conditions and road safety to a large extent. Continue reading “New regulation can raise commercial vehicle prices by 10-12%: ICRA”

MUNICH, Sept 4 (Reuters) – Stellantis-owned carmaker Opel will be able to offer an electric vehicle at a price of about 25,000 euros ($26,967) without incentives from around 2026, the brand’s CEO said on Monday.

“With purely electric platforms from Stellantis, we will be able to offer prices that will allow us to touch a far wider audience,” Florian Huettl told reporters. Continue reading “Opel expects to offer electric vehicle for around 25,000 euros by 2026”

MUNICH, Sept 4 (Reuters) – Ford (F.N) will push back series production of its long-awaited SUV Explorer model at its Cologne site by around six months to wait for a new generation of Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) battery technology to be available, its Germany chief said on Monday.

Production will now begin in the summer of next year, he said in an interview on the sidelines of Munich’s IAA car show, adding discussions were underway on what this meant for the Cologne workforce. Continue reading “Ford pushes back Explorer series production in Europe”

MUNICH, Sept 4 (Reuters) – Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) languishing share price, which is near a three-and-a-half year low, is not the result of ownership control by the Porsche and Piech families, one of its most powerful members said on Monday.

Wolfgang Porsche, the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche who founded the sportscar manufacturer that still bears his name, called on Europe’s top carmaker to cut more costs and become more efficient. Continue reading “Volkswagen’s family ownership not behind share price trough – Wolfgang Porsche”